"Violence is never a solution in my plays, just as ultimately violence is never a solution in human affairs"

Edward Bond’s assertion that violence is never a solution within his plays, as it is in life, reflects a deep ethical and philosophical position about the role of violence in human behavior and art. Bond, renowned for his controversial and often brutal dramatic work, is keenly aware of the power of violence to shock and provoke, but he is equally insistent that such force does not resolve deeper conflicts or create lasting justice.

Violence, both literal and metaphorical, is frequently depicted in Bond’s theatre as a manifestation of unresolved social and personal problems. Characters may lash out, attack, or destroy, but these acts serve only to magnify underlying tensions, inequality, miscommunication, alienation, rather than eradicate them. As such, Bond’s dramaturgy exposes the futility of violent solutions: aggression begets further aggression, pain perpetuates more pain, and cycles of harm repeat endlessly without transformative insight.

His statement extends beyond the stage, representing a moral commentary on broader human affairs. He suggests that while violence is often used as an expedient or cathartic action, it ultimately fails to address the structural roots of conflict and suffering. Instead, dialogue, empathy, and critical inquiry are positioned as the only genuine avenues to social progress or personal healing. By consistently denying violence the role of ‘solution’, in narrative as in life, Bond compels audiences to question the normalization of violence in society and to confront uncomfortable truths about complicity and responsibility.

In effect, his plays challenge spectators to resist the easy catharsis of revenge or punishment and to contemplate the arduous demands of understanding and justice. Through refusing simple answers, Bond’s work insists upon the complexity of human affairs and the persistent necessity for nonviolent, creative engagement with the problems that define our existence.