David Edgar’s epic theatre play from 1983 ranged across continents and decades to explore how young activists who came of age in the 1960s subsequently made the leap from the far left to the die-hard right. After revising the text in 2018, Edgar has now reworked the rich and compelling narrative into a sweeping three-part audio version.

Maydays was originally produced on stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre in London in 1983, directed by Ron Daniels. The play was revived in a new version at the Other Place in Stratford in 2018, directed by Owen Horsley.

David Edgar wrote a solo show, Trying it On, which reveals the autobiographical background to Maydays. First seen on stage in 2018 in an engagingly honest performance by its author, it was then reversioned for Radio 4 and recorded in front of an audience at the Radio Theatre in London Broadcasting House in 2019.