The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes

The ultimate anthology of theatrical anecdotes, edited by lifelong theatre-lover Gyles Brandreth in the Oxford tradition, and providing a wonderfully entertaining and revealing portrait of the world of the theatre across four hundred years.

Completely brilliant. Gyles knows all the best theatre stories and he has collected them just for us. What a treat!

Autorentext
Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, and former MP who, over forty years, has worked in the theatre as an actor and producer. On stage he has appeared in pantomime, in Shakespeare, in The Importance of Being Earnest, and in his own musical revue in the West End. In Edinburgh he has won the Most Popular Show at the Fringe Award and multiple 5 star reviews and taken his acclaimed one-man show to more than a hundred UK theatres. On stage, radio, TV, and in print he has interviewed most of the leading theatre personalities of our time. His books include a history of pantomime and biographies of Sir John Gielgud and Dan Leno. Best known as a reporter on The One Show on BBC1 and a regular on Radio 4's Just A Minute, he has appeared on Have I Got News For You, QI and Countdown. He is the editor of the Oxford Book of Humorous Quotations, president of the Oscar Wilde Society, founder of the national Poetry Together project, and Chancellor of the University of Chester.

Inhalt

• Prologue

• Act One: Players from WIlliam Shakespeare to Henry Irving

• Act Two: Players from Sarah Bernhardt to Tallulah Bankhead

• Act Three: Players from Ralph Richardson to Naeem Hyat

• Interval: Audiences and Critics

• Act Four: Playwrights, Producers, and Directors

• Act Five: Unforeseen Circumstances

• Epilogue