Exit Through the Fireplace: Great Days of Rep

by Kate Dunn

A nostalgic and humorous evocation of the days of local rep through the memories of those who worked in it. Many of today's best known actors pay tribute to rep as the place where they learned their craft. Dunn draws on theatre people's experiences to trace the rise and fall of the institution of British rep.

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Kate Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm partisan as I wrote it, but I hope it provides an affectionate and comprehensive account of the disappearing world of repertory theatre, from people who were intimately involved.

[Mary Pagones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread of a somewhat obscure book I purchased many years ago. It's very anecdotal, and doesn't have a clear narrative, but the stories captured within it aren't available elsewhere. The British rep system, in which companies would put on multiple plays per week, seems absolutely grueling (like boot camp for actors) and while it clearly did result in broad characterizations at times, those who survived and went on to national acclaim clearly benefited from the variety of parts they played as actors.

On a more meta level, even as a writer, I think there's something to be said for having a forum to produce an artistic product at a quick pace, something that self-publishing has empowered for novelists like myself. The fact that writers have to wait for their books to get in the hands of readers for so long isn't necessarily a good thing. In theater and in writing in general, there's something to be said about the pressure of having to produce a cracking story, without obsessing too much.

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Dunn has done an excellent job of research here, interviewing an impressive number of actors and somehow managing to assemble a great deal of material into a coherent and very readable book. However, I felt it was a little too long. A lot of it consists of anecdotes, which are of wildly varying quality, some being priceless and others falling rather flat. Perhaps she felt that some of her interviewees may have been offended if their anecdotes had been left out, but I think a slightly leaner book would have done the job. Having said that, there's so little out there specifically about repertory theatre that this is an essential read for anyone interested in this subject. Four stars is maybe a tad generous, but I think three would be stingy so I'm giving it three and a half!

[Philip Meeks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great anecdotes very badly and blandly stitched together.