Get Me the Urgent Biscuits

by Sweetpea Slight

'A sparkling memoir full of charm and wit' NINA STIBBE
'Anyone who loves the theatre will love this book' ZOË WANAMAKER

At eighteen, after moving to London with dreams of becoming an actress, an impressionable girl who paints freckles on her face begins work experience in a West End theatre company. In between mail-outs and making cups of coffee she meets the formidable producer Thelma Holt. Within a fortnight Thelma has stolen her, cancelled her audition for RADA, sent her to evening classes to learn to type, organised a miniscule salary and renamed her. From that moment she becomes Sweetpea.

Her days are spent in an eccentric office where Alan Rickman or Vanessa Redgrave might pop in at any moment. Evenings are filled with the adrenaline of an opening-night performance or the chatter of a smart restaurant where casting for the next production is discussed. Existing somewhere between glamour and penury, Sweetpea finds herself surrounded by dynamic personalities and struggling to trust her own creative instincts. Over the years her apprenticeship takes in unusual demands, misbehaving actors, divinely inspired directors and a hot-air balloon ride with British theatre's finest.

GET ME THE URGENT BISCUITS is a keenly observed memoir about the vanishing world of London's West End in the 1980s and 1990s, in which a young woman is swept into the orbit of a theatrical impresario. Shrewd, poignant and irresistibly funny, above all it is a coming-of-age story about the search for independence and an ode to the beguiling nature of theatre.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Theatre, Unfinished

272 pages, Paperback

Published July 12, 2018

Reviews

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more than I did, but it felt like it skimmed the surface a lot of the time. There were really interesting things going on in Sweetpea's life that I would like to have known much more about, but which were totally skated over. And it's fine not to want to share everything about your life with readers, but you need to share enough that people feel like they got an insight and I'm not sure that you get that from this.

[Laura Spira · Rating 1 out of 5]

I heard mention of this book on R4 and the title was intriguing. It's not a long book but I've abandoned it half way through as I became bored with the feeble anecdotes of the author's brush with theatrical celebrities. Is it a paean to Thelma Holt, her mentor (which with more detail about Thelma and her background might have been worthwhile) or is it a memoir written by someone who is too young to have done anything really interesting (other than adopt a rather silly name)? It desperately needed a good editor to put right the shifting tenses and tighten the woolly prose. When I reached the three page list of the author's health concerns, apparently recorded by her long-suffering office mate, I had had enough. Slight, indeed. Nina Stibbe's "Love, Nina" does a much better job of parlaying a menial job on the fringes of London's cultural scene into a good read.

[Leigh Drury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! OK, so I used to work in the theatre business, so I knew a lot of the names mentioned, and a lot of the jargon, but even without that connection, I'd have enjoyed this book! It's a love letter to old-fashioned theatre, told in a gentle and respectful way. Lots of lovely warm anecdotes - a very sweet book.

[Lizzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually found this quite a sad book towards the end, a lesson to look round at your life every so often and check your still happy. Also this book really sets Alan Rickman down as a great guy, which is nice to know. I don't remember a single other person she mentioned. she did name drop almost constantly. I liked hearing about her home arrangements- I seemed to missed out on all that partying. Where was I?

[Susanne Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful journey through the crazy business called show!

[KatForsyth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't finish this. I HATE not finishing a book, and usually it's because I seriously dislike the book, but this...was just BORING BEYOND BELIEF. I actually feel cheated, because it had all the ingredients to be something really funny and interesting, and it's about one of my favourite things in all the world (West End Theatre), and yet the author chose to tell really random anecdotes that had no bearing on anything, or stories that started out like they could be interesting, but which she just then abandoned. Like there's one bit about how it was really windy one day on her way into the office, and she had to crawl along the bridge so she wouldn't get blown over. And then...nothing. It has no bearing on anything that happens next, it's not a catalyst for a funny story about how she had to go meet an important actor looking like she'd been in a tornado...just...nothing. This book seriously needed an editor to cut this sort of extraneous filler - except that the entire book reads like extraneous filler.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly ordered this before looking it up on here. Sounded interesting but very dull. 1 chapter is just a long list of her ailments.. teases with half anecdotes of famous people that just peter out and skim the surface rather than placed in context and rounded off. Also really hard to believe in places.. the whole bird in the jogging pants incident that leads to her losing her entire wardrobe is pretty implausible. I find it difficult to grasp anyone as dense as that would get far in the arts world. Also is anyone buying the Helen Mirren tracked me down and gave me money yarn??? Certainly not I.

[Katy Wheatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting wander through the life of Sweetpea Slight, a woman who spent years of her life working with theatrical legend Thelma Holt. It's a strange mix of celebrity stories and autobiography. I was really interested in Sweetpea as a person but was a little frustrated that she would start a story about herself and it would not be 'finished' off. I felt that there was at least another book's worth of material in here. I'd like to read more by her.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only finished this book on principle not because I wanted to or I was enjoying it. Interesting storylines would end abruptly. the reader is left hanging after throw away comments or anecdotes about actors/actress that are not explored further. It was more of an ode to Thelma Holt rather than being an insiders view of the theatre world.

[MRS K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Open door to stage world

Not only see the plays at theatre but to see what's all behind that's what counts on the book. Sweetpea was lucky and unlucky at the same time. She was lucky for the experience but so unlucky having not established her personal life. I had the feeling it could and up very tragic and certainly felt very melancholic after finishing the book.

[Regina Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this memoir. It is a love story to theatre and Thelma Holt. It's wonderfully gossipy and full of celebrities. It does feel hastely written and could have been better edited. l would like to know what was the author's next adventure, maybe another another book is necessary.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The compelling story of a young woman's foray into the entertainment world. I liked reading about all the celebrities she met and how she dealt with the unforeseen situations that come up in this particular line of work.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

inadvertently hilarious + impeccably enjoyable for all sorts of reasons

[Mick Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a chrysalis a butterfly emerges,a good story about theatreland and self discovery.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh what a lovely book! If you love theatre. If you want to know what makes up a fabulous production. If you want to know life in London’s 1980’s - this is the book for you. Really heartwarming.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent stories.

[The Over London Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable, gently scathing and very grounded take on working in Theatreland. Colourful characters abound. This was a fun, interesting read that I finished in one sitting.

[Joice ❥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt like a fever dream and it was interesting looking at how theatres worked since I have never been to one before. Very interesting...

[Lydia Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my job. V amusing anecdotes, and is highly relatable

[Ann Baxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real gem - funny in parts , eye opening in others . Well written -a must for theatre fans

[Ruth MacLure · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another DNF.

[Joel Wall · Rating 2 out of 5]

an interesting book but with all the name dropping, short and tenuously related anecdotes, and almost semi-biography of Thelma Holt, it kind of suffers from not really being anything