When it was first published in 1984, this book exposed the pressures, rewards and insecurity of an actor's life, and caused a storm of controversy for its forthright views on the shortcomings of contemporary directors. Ten years later, Simon Callow has provided a new and gloomy assessment of the state of British theatre today, with the decline of ensemble playing, a lack of training for young actors, "brochure theatre" where novelty replaces substance, and audiences who applaud the hydraulics of the stage machinery rather than the quality of the actor's performace. It ends with a warning that without attention to the roots of the art of stagecraft, the tree of British theatre will surely die.
- ISBN10 0140239251
- ISBN13 9780140239256
- Publish Date 23 February 1995 (first published 1 March 1984)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 14 February 2006
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
- Edition 2nd Revised edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 256
- Language English