As Much as I Dare
As Much as I Dare

Author: Arnold Wesker

Publisher: Random House (UK)

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 656

ISBN-13:

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The son of a Russian refugee father and a Hungarian mother, Arnold Wesker was born in 1932 in the East End of London. After a state school education, he was first apprenticed to a furniture maker, and became in turn a bookseller's assistant, a farm labourer, a kitchen porter, and a pastry cook, with a spell in the RAF before turning to playwriting while attending a school of film technique. Along with John Osborne and Harold Pinter, Wesker was part of the explosion of theatrical talent in the late 50s that revolutionized playwriting in Britain. His autobiography is a personal history from the inside of modern British theatre.

Stage Blood
Stage Blood

Author: Michael Blakemore

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2013-11-07

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0571311237

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In 1971, Michael Blakemore joined the National Theatre as Associate Director under Laurence Olivier. The National, still based at the Old Vic, was at a moment of transition awaiting the move to its vast new home on the South Bank. Relying on generous subsidy, it would need an extensive network of supporters in high places. Olivier, a scrupulous and brilliant autocrat from a previous generation, was not the man to deal with these political ramifications. His tenure began to unravel and, behind his back, Peter Hall was appointed to replace him in 1973. As in other aspects of British life, the ethos of public service, which Olivier espoused, was in retreat. Having staged eight productions for the National, Blakemore found himself increasingly uncomfortable under Hall's regime. Stage Blood is the candid and at times painfully funny story of the events that led to his dramatic exit in 1976. He recalls the theatrical triumphs and flops, his volatile relationship with Olivier including directing him in Long Day's Journey into Night, the extravagant dinners in Hall's Barbican flat with Harold Pinter, Jonathan Miller and the other associates, the opening of the new building, and Blakemore's brave and misrepresented decision to speak out. He would not return to the National for fifteen years.

An Inconvenient Black History of British Musical Theatre
An Inconvenient Black History of British Musical Theatre

Author: Sean Mayes

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-08-26

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1350119644

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A radically urgent intervention, An Inconvenient Black History of British Musical Theatre: 1900 - 1950 uncovers the hidden Black history of this most influential of artforms. Drawing on lost archive material and digitised newspapers from the turn of the century onwards, this exciting story has been re-traced and restored to its rightful place. A vital and significant part of British cultural history between 1900 and 1950, Black performance practice was fundamental to resisting and challenging racism in the UK. Join Mayes (a Broadway- and Toronto-based Music Director) and Whitfield (a musical theatre historian and researcher) as they take readers on a journey through a historically-inconvenient and brilliant reality that has long been overlooked. Get to know the Black theatre community in London's Roaring 20s, and hear about the secret Florence Mills memorial concert they held in 1928. Acquaint yourself with Buddy Bradley, Black tap and ballet choreographer, who reshaped dance in British musicals - often to be found at Noël Coward's apartment for late-night rehearsals, such was Bradley's importance. Meet Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight Boxing Champion, who toured Britain's theatres during World War 1 and brought the sounds of Chicago to places like war-weary Dundee. Discover the most prolific Black theatre practitioner you've never heard of, William Garland, who worked for 40 years across multiple continents and championed Black British performers. Marvel at performers like cabaret star Mabel Mercer, born in Stafford in 1900, who sang and conducted theatre orchestras across the UK, as well as Black Birmingham comedian Eddie Emerson, who was Garland's partner for decades. Many of their names and works have never been included in histories of the British musical - until now.