Hello I'm Krestey Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive

for rights reasons we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in the year 2000 and the presenter was Sue Lawley. My castaway this week is a playwright born in South Africa the child of a

loveless marriage he was nevertheless spoiled rotten by both his parents

aged 17 he set sail to make his fortune in England as an actor. In this he failed and ended up as

Sir Donald Wolfit's dresser, an experience he later turned into his most famous and successful

play. His work often reveals his passionate belief in freedom of

speech, articles of faith, a novel about South Africa, taking sides, a portrait of Foothvengler's decision to conduct for the Nazis or his screenplay of

Solgenitzen's one day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. Highly prolific and happy

working in television, film and the stage, he confesses that writing is like being in analysis.

That's why I never see a psychiatrist, he says. He is Ronald Harwood.

So there's a lot of yourself in your work Ronald not to mention your

problems. Oh I won't tell you about my problems. My problems are apparent in the place I

right. I do see we've heard a lot about them. It is a form of analysis, you know. You have these anxieties and you write them out.

And does that work them out for you? Does that, do you leave them behind you in the doing?

No, if they're really serious, they keep coming back. That's why one seems to write the same play over again.

One hasn't got rid of that particular problem.

The problem is when you write about, as you know only too well, when you write about real life experiences it means you're

writing about other people as well and often your nearest and dearest and you have

upset people oh I have upset people the Wolfid family were terribly upset

this was your play the dresser about working with Donald Wolfen.

It was inspired by Wolfit. There's no denying that.

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