In two contrasted readings for the stage, David Hare visits a place where a famous wall has come down; then another where a wall is going up.

Berlin

For his whole adult life, David Hare has been visiting the city which so many young people regard as the most exciting in Europe. But there s something in Berlin s elusive character that makes him feel he s always missing the point. Now, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the reunification, he offers a meditation about Germany s restored capital - both what it represents in European history, and the peculiar part it has played in his own life.

Wall

The Israeli/Palestine security fence will one day stretch 486 miles, from one end of Israel to the other. It will be four times as long as the Berlin wall, and in places twice as high. In this second monologue, the playwright recalls his trips to both Israel and the Palestinian territory and offers a history of the wall s building, an exploration of the philosophy behind it and a personal account of those who live on either side.

Berlin premiered at the National Theatre, London, in February 2009 and Wall premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in March 2009.

Of all British dramatists, Hare is the one who has always seemed to have the sharpest awareness of what is going on around him, which is what makes him such an eagerly sought-after journalist. Michael Billington