Lots of new books to read

Is one of your new year resolutions to read more books about whatever aspect of the theatre industry you’re involved in or want to be? If not, then perhaps it should be. Whatever your specialism then there’s probably something recently published awaiting you.

If you want to bone up on the history of drama, for  example, then try Gary Day’s very readable The Story of Drama (Bloomsbury) which examines drama and how it has developed from the Greeks to the 21^st century mostly through the themes of tragedy, comedy and sacrifice.

Or perhaps you want practical advice about acting. Amanda Brennan’s The Energetic Performer (Singing Dragon) is useful. She teachers at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and her book focuses on the use of the body to create performance. Feldenkrais for Actors by Victoria Worsley (NHB) is also strong on movement and using the Feldenkrais approach to it, Worsley teaches at various drama schools and at The Actors’ Centre in London.

Still on how-to books for actors, Mastering the Shakespeare Audition by Donna Soto-Morettini is a handbook for actors of all ages and levels of experience who have to start preparing a Shakespeare audition speech and are in need of practical help. And when you’ve done that read Harriet Walter’s Brutus and Other Heroines for inspiring insights into playing Shakespeare from an actor at the very top of her game.

Then there are books about other aspects of theatre making such as two new editions of books by award-winning playwright Rib Davis. Writing Dialogue for Scripts and Creating Compelling Characters for Film, TV, Theatre and Radio are both published by Bloomsbury and contain much useful advice for budding script writers from all points of view. If, on the other hand it’s theatre music you want to write then try Writing Music for the Stage by Michael Bruce (NHB). It covers the whole show from working out when music might add something through to booking and working with musicians – all very practical and useful. There’s a lot of hand-on advice along with some thoughtful theory in The Art and Practice of Directing for Theatre by Paul B Crook,  too (Routledge). And there’s still more theory likely to help people working on theatre academically and trying to place it in context in the third edition of Mark Fortier’s Theory/Theatre (Routledge).

Also new from Routledge are three new large format immaculately illustrated practical books relating to back stage skills and crafts. The Art and Practice of Costume Design is a series of enlightening essays edited by Melissa L Merz. Concert Lighting by James L Moody and Paul Dexter is subtitled  “the art and business of entertainment lighting” and takes the reader through every aspect of the subject. Stage Management Basics by Emily Roth, Jonathan Allender-Zivic and Katy McGlaughlin is a primer which introduces the student/reader to a complex function in a commendably simple step-by-step format.

Are you a director in search of more interesting drama games to use in your rehearsals? Jessica Swale’s Drama Games for Rehearsals (NHB) is her latest contribution and like her earlier book Drama Games for Devising there is no shortage of strong ideas likely to be fun to use. New in the same series is Drama Games for Young Children by Katherine Zachest – a real gift for any primary school teacher or an actor who teaches children part-time.

Lastly maybe you need, or want, to learn about theatre companies or venues and their history and achievements.  Forest Fringe: the first ten years (Oberon Books) describes and examines a decade of performance at a cutting-edge Edinburgh venue. Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago by John Mayer (Bloomsbury) traces a famous innovative company from its founding in 1974 to the present day. John Bull’s British Theatre Companies (Bloomsbury) is a detailed, well researched history of what has happened in the industry in the last half century and is good on social and political influences.

If you read them all these books will probably see you through the whole of 2017. Happy learning!

Robin Hood at Egg Theatre, Bath. Photo: Nick Spratling.

It’s that time of year again. It’s customary for critics and others who purport to have some kind of overview to look back over the previous twelve months and come up with a list or two.

What follows is a list of the 10 shows which have impressed me most this year. They’re in no particular order.

Bear in mind, though, that my list isn’t quite like other people’s because a) I see a great deal of young audience work b) I review a fair amount of student and amateur work and see absolutely no reason to exclude it c) I’m more often at fringe venues than major ones d) I’ve seen “only” 132 shows this year whereas some critics will have seen two or three times as many e) owing to the above I don’t always get to the Big Shows which all my colleagues are busy raving about.

1.King Lear, directed by Tom Morris, which Bristol Old Vic Theatre School mounted at Bristol Old Vic with Timothy West, Stephanie Cole and David Hargreaves in the three lead roles and graduating students playing everything else. It was both an inspired concept and a fine piece of theatre.

2.Babe the Sheep Pig directed by Michael Fentiman. David Wood’s adaptation looks and sounds (talented actor musos) terrific at Polka Theatre and the story telling is really strong. It runs until 5 February.

3.Half a Sixpence directed by Rachel Kavanaugh. Unbeatable for warmth and smiles. I saw it in Chichester and then at Noel Coward Theatre where I’m due to see it a third time (my Christmas present to Mr E) next week. It’s now booking well into 2017 and I think it will run and run.

4.Spamalot, directed by Emily Starr for Cambridge Theatre Company and staged at Cambridge’s ADC Theatre. They’re a non professional company but they achieve a most enjoyable standard and if you want smiles and jolly tunes, Spamalot hits all the buttons.

5.Sasha Reagan’s all male HMS Pinafore which toured again this year is a terrific show. Set on a submarine where the crew does the show for something to do, the singing is top notch and the score and text do the rest of the work.

6. The Revenger’s Tragedy directed by Tom Espiner for Fourth Monkey Training Company. Fourth Monkey offers full-time ensemble training and makes a speciality of staging Elizabethan and Jacobean drama beyond Shakespeare. This was an impressive and ambitious project staged in Fourth Monkey’s own traverse theatre at Monkey House, near Finsbury Park.

7.Aladdin, directed by Nick Mowat for Capitol Horsham and definitely the best panto I saw this year – not least, but not only, because of Ben Ofoedu’s wonderful Genie. It was clean fun and foot tappingly cheerful. Sadly it ends this weekend.

8.Frankenstein directed by Eliot Guiralarocca for BlackEyed Theatre. I saw it at the Wilde Theatre, Bracknell but it’s touring until March 2017. It’s a magnificent, brooding take on Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece. The star is Yvonne Stone’s slightly larger than life puppet monster.

9.Richard III, directed by Rupert Goold at Almeida Theatre with Ralph Fiennes in the title role and Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Margaret. This very compelling production made sense of the evil which lies at the heart of the play and I loved its design and theatricality.

10. Robin Hood directed by Greg Banks for Egg Theatre, Bath. This is a delightful, gently musical, take on the Robin Hood legend for today.  It’s muscular, funny, thoughtful, as far from panto as it could possibly be – and it runs until 15 January.

Happy new year, folks.