No modern British dramatist polarized his countrymen as much as Edward Bond, who died on Sunday at age 89. To some, he was an unholy terror, relentless in his doctrinaire socialism and disconcertingly fond of violent theatrical effects. But both parties would agree that his first important play, “Saved,” precipitated the end of theatrical censorship in Britain. In 1965, the Royal Court Theater submitted “Saved,” a graphic portrait of mostly young and sometimes violent no-hopers adrift in London’s lower depths, to the Lord Chamberlain, who had held absolute power over British drama since 1737. The response by a functionary was widely thought of as absurdly anachronistic: A scene in which hooligans stone to death a baby in a pram could not be publicly staged.

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Persons: Edward Bond, ”, Lord Chamberlain Organizations: Royal Court Locations: British, Britain