Festmag wrote ”Self-aware and pin-sharp, Edgar delivers a personal and political play that's more radical than his 20-year-old firebrand self could ever imagine.” The production went on to tour England and Wales in autumn 2019. Edgar was president of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain from 2007 to 2013 and architect of the Writers' Guild's New Play Commission Scheme. In January 2023 he received an Outstanding Contribution Award. The award honoured his outstanding contribution to British playwriting, four decades of service to playwrights, and the instrumental role played in the Writers' Guild's crisis response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Books Apart from the plays in print Edgar has written on theatre, politics and play-writing. The Second Time as Farce: Reflections on the Drama of Mean Times (Lawrence & Wishart) was published in 1988. The subjects of the fifteen essays included political drama, conservatism of the 1980s, drama-documentary, the National Front, John Osborne, adapting Nicholas Nickleby, the role of public theatre and Live Aid. He was editor of The State of Play: Playwrights on Playwriting (Faber 1999). Edgar was author of a 31-page essay Provocative Acts: British Playwriting in the Post-war Era and Beyond. The book contained contributions from producer Peter Ansorge, director Mike Bradwell and twenty-three playwrights. The dramatists included April de Angelis, Sebastian Barry, David Eldridge, Dusty Hughes, Kevin Elyot, David Greig, Christopher Hampton, Phyllis Nagy, Conor McPherson, Winsome Pinnock, Diane Samuels, Mark Ravenhill and Peter Whelan. How Plays Work (Nick Hern Books, 2009; revised 2021) was a crystallisation of his play-teaching experience. Its eight chapters were headed: Audiences, Actions, Character, Genre, Structure, Scenes, Devices, Endings. Personal life Edgar married the social activist Eve Brook in 1979; she died of lung cancer aged 53 in 1998. In 1999, he met fellow dramatist Stephanie Dale. In 2007 they wrote together A Time to Keep, a play for large cast based on a story by Dale. Political views In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Edgar signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few." Selected playography Two Kinds of Angel (1970) A Truer Shade of Blue (1970) Bloody Rosa (1971) Still Life: Man in Bed (1971) Acid