CRITICS are often snooty about amateur theatre. Kenneth Tynan described it as ‘an exhibitionist alternative to bridge’ and James Agate, in his heyday at The Sunday Times, used to say that the difference between amateur and professional actors was that the former lacked the technique to convey emotion when they felt it, whereas the latter had the skill to express it even when they didn’t.
Now, a critic, Michael Coveney, has come along with a richly entertaining and informative book, Questors, Jesters and Renegades (Methuen), that at last does justice to the massive contribution of amateur theatre to national life.
One of Mr Coveney’s sharpest points is that almost all the best actors started as amateurs. Dame Judi Dench made her debut in the 1951 staging of the York Mystery Cycle, starting with a small role and graduating, in later years, to the Virgin Mary; in 1952, Sir Ian McKellen played a page in a Bolton Little Theatre production of Emlyn Williams’s Spring 1600, a forerunner of the film Shakespeare in Love; Sir Michael Gambon was a Vickers apprentice engineer who first trod the boards at the Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre in Crayford and at the Unity Theatre in London, where he was Buck Mulligan in Joyce’s Bloomsday; Sir Kenneth Branagh, patron of the Little Theatre Guild, was a 16 year old when he joined The Progress Theatre in Reading and, as he records in the book, went on to make a total hash of his job as a stage manager.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin March 18, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin March 18, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
