Howard Brenton

Sue Lawley's castaway is the playwright Howard Brenton. In the 1960s he was part of a movement called the New Jacobeans. They took drama out of the drawing room and on to a bigger stage. Often controversial, in Romans in Britain he drew parallels with Northern Ireland and earned the wrath of Mary Whitehouse for what she described as "procuring the cast to commit immoral acts".

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Weichet nur, Betrube Schatten, from the Wedding Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Luxury: Champagne