Next Season

by Michael Blakemore, Simon Callow (Introduction)

(Applause Books). Noted director Michael Blakemore is renowned for such Broadway successes as Joe Egg, Noises Off and City of Angels . In the introduction, Simon Callow says of Blakemore's book, "There have been remarkable novels of the theatre, but no other book has so truly depicted the creative anarchic excitement of acting. Next Season is the finest fictional celebration of the passionate craft of the actor ... about the demands and rewards of acting, what it takes from you, what it gives you back. Acting as work, work as possion!" "An outstanding theatre novel ... extremely readable and informative." The London Times

Genres: Fiction, Theatre

368 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 1996

Reviews

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This follows the life of a young actor during one theatre season. The parts of the book relating to the staging and rehearsing of the plays are excellent. Not surprising, given the author's background. What I didn't enjoy so much was the story about the actor's pursuit of two women. It appeared dated and the female characters lacked authenticity. They didn't seem to have any real feelings of their own, they were only there to satisfy the sexual needs of the protagonist. That marked it down to only 3 stars for me.

[Neale · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Next Season’ is a book about an actor who discovers that he isn’t really an actor, by a novelist who discovered that he wasn’t really a novelist. Blakemore went on to become a superb theatre director, and in later years a memoirist of note, but he never attempted another novel: ‘Next Season’ is a wonderful book, but I can see why.

As a recreation of the process of acting and rehearsal it is in a class of its own, utterly fascinating and engrossing - although its virtues are not really fictional ones, and might be better off in a memoir. Blakemore’s descriptions of the rehearsal process in his recent ‘Stage Blood’ are equally good, unencumbered by fictional apparatus.

As roman-a-clef about certain well-known theatre people of its era the book has an undoubted fascination, to those in the know.

As bildungsroman it suffers as many first novels do. There is a great deal of description of the main character’s offstage affairs which is no doubt of interest to the author, but not really compelling in itself – at no point does the narrator ever really come alive except when on stage.

‘Next Season’ definitely deserves its cult status as a novel about the theatrical process, for those who love the theatre. Theatre is such an evanescent form, so lost in its own moment, that only by writing about it can we really keep it alive. The best criticism does this, as does the best actorly gossip – and this book has elements of both…

[Navida · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the story focused on the main character as an actor and the repertory company, it was marvelous...but I lost interest when the story was about his obsession with the two women

[Vansa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books about the entertainment industry and this book set in the 50s is considered one of the most authentic warts-and-all look at theatre. Michael Blakemore was a famous director, who started off with acting ambitions, and this book is a fictionalized account of his season at Stratford-upon-Avon, being directed by Peter Hall, his great rival, and his affair with Vanessa Redgrave. Blakemore never got along with Peter Hall, and his directing style, and seems to have been very fond of, and admiring of Tyrone Guthrie, who directed another play of the season. It's a compelling look at life under the spotlights-the uncertainty, the low wages, and the boredom of having to repeat the same lines over and over again at rehearsals, but also make sure you're not really bored by it, since this was meant to be a calling. It can still pall , though, particularly for actors just starting off, who are kept in a state of tension about their parts being finally dropped from the play or not ( something the director does to the protagonist, merely to please another actor). BLakemore writes of taking extra efforts, coming up with costume and makeup ideas (and making those himself with papier mache and wires), just to make his character memorable in the rehearsals so the director would not finally cut his part. There's also a very interesting love...quadrilateral practically, ( it was nearly the 60s) that manages to not be cliched at all, probably because it really happened. There's a fictionalised version of Vanessa Redgrave, and BLakemore writes of the resentment they feel at this fellow young actress, who is undeniably talented, but also gets incredible opportunities because of her famous surname. It's a very fast read because it's so entertaining but it's also deeply insightful about showbiz. It reminded me of 'SLings and Arrows', and given that one of the main characters in this book was a founder of the Stratford festival that's the setting for the former, I wonder if the showrunners read this book and were inspired.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a good read for those in live theatre. Some of Sam's experiences are theatrical universalities. Live actors would all understand the circumstances. I wasn't impressed with the ending. It seemed almost like it was written by another author. And after Sam spent so much time in pursuit of Amanda, he seemingly puts this plotline away and gives him Sally as a consolation prize. I guess that's seasonal theatre, just like summer camp, where relationships take on a temporary but uber-important meaning, only to fall away in the ensuing ten months.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Very much enjoyed all of the theatre interactions and insight into rep and the rivalries that must no doubt be part of a summer season.

Thought this was in reality two books the theatre element which I loved and wanted more of - these sections I would rate as 4.5
The other sections of the book covered the relationship with three women and was narrated in what is now a very dated way and was less gripping.

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

One the best novels about theatre ever written!

[Lee Schlesinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book — so finely observed and expressed. If you've ever acted or had anything to do with the theatre, you should read this. You'll find in it many things you can identify with.

[M H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read and an interesting insight into theatre. I am not used to reading books like this so I do not know if the ending was obvious, but it really took me by surprise, nicely.

[Toby Knutson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine Challengers, but instead of tennis, it’s theater

[Antonia Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with many of the comments here: I enjoyed the realistic account of a supporting player's experiences with a repertory company, but definitely did not appreciate his caddish behavior toward the women in his life.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost exactly the novel I wanted it to be - mostly very focused, with more than half of the novel actually taking place in the theatre, with stand-out characters loosely based on Charles Laughton and Vanessa Redgrave, who Blakemore had worked with, and a plot inspired by the season Blakemore spent at Stratford when Laurence Olivier and Paul Robeson were there. I loved the first three-quarters of the book for being a crisp, smart tale of daily life in a major theatre from the perspective of someone other than one of the huge stars, a real theatre worker. The book doesn't aspire to more, and I admire the restraint and precision of most of Blakemore's writing. There needed to be a book a lot like this one out there. I hadn't expected that there was one, and I'm very glad I found it. The last quarter, though, suffers a little from being mostly about a failing relationship and the protagonist's desperation and heartbreak. I got a little annoyed with his weakness, both in the relationship, and when it came to accepting the slings and arrows of his theatrical fortunes. But the book ended on a solid up-note, and not unrealistically either. Having read Michael Blakemore's later memoir Arguments With England which, among other things, deals with the period in his life that was the basis for Next Season, as well as the subsequent period in which he wrote the novel, I'd say that he did a great job of narrating the most compelling parts of his early life in the theatre in a fictional context. Definitely a book I'll be re-reading.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his introduction, Simon Callow says, "There have been remarkable novels of the theatre - from Wliheim Meister to John Arden's magnificent Silence Among The Weapons - but no other book has so truly depicted the creative anarchic excitement of acting." This was the reason I read the book and it's completely true, as true today as it was in 1968 when it was first published.

This is a novel which pulls the reader completely into the world of the theatre, the day-to-day job of putting on a season of plays in a regional theatre and what it's like to be an actor in that company. It's a novel full of love and romance, drama and political intrigue, comedy and tragedy, as well as a vision of art. I blasted through it in about 3 days because I couldn't put it down though the atmosphere of it will cling to me for months. A great little book - vivid and compelling in every sentence. - BH.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and thoughtful novel on life in the theatre as seen through the eyes of a mid-level player in a prominent provincial repertory company in 1960's England. Still relevant today across the pond. Shows the joys and heart-break, struggles and small successes, of the life of an actor as he negotiates the politics, sexual and otherwise, of the company and comes to terms with his own limitations.

[Johan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading the book after 23 years.

[John Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A portrait of the art of acting, the profession of acting, the life of acting. Also an enticing portrait of the British repertory system.

[Lauryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very true look at acting and the idiosyncrasies of the artist and the job. This was very engaging and a little bit frightening in it's truth.

[Piers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wise, witty and occasionally profound insight into theatre and acting. Must read for anyone considering joining "the circus"