Now 77, the playwright who has chronicled British life for 50 years, says he is stepping up his work rate as he has limited scope to tell important stories

Sir David Hare has charted the forces and habits shaping British life for more than half a century, on stage and on screen. His work for cinema stretches from the 1985 film of his play Plenty, starring Meryl Streep, to his screenplays for Damage, The Hours and 2016’s Denial. And his string of theatrical “state of the nation” accounts of political and moral dilemmas, with hits such as Pravda, starring Anthony Hopkins, The Absence of War, starring John Thaw, and Amy’s View, with Judi Dench, have regularly set the cultural agenda.

But now, at 77, Hare has revealed he is to seriously step up his work rate because he fears that, for him, it is already “five minutes to midnight” and so he has limited scope remaining to tell important stories.