The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes

by Gyles Brandreth

This is the ultimate anthology of theatrical anecdotes, edited by lifelong theatre-lover Gyles Brandreth in the Oxford tradition, and covering every kind of theatrical story and experience from the age of Shakespeare and Marlowe to the age of Stoppard and Mamet, from Richard Burbage to Richard
Briers, from Nell Gwynn to Daniel Day-Lewis, from Sarah Bernhardt to Judi Dench.

Players, playwrights, prompters, producers--they all feature. The Oxford Book of Theatrical Anecdotes provides a comprehensive, revealing, and hugely entertaining portrait of the world of theatre across four hundred years.

Many of the anecdotes are humorous: all have something pertinent and illuminating to say about an aspect of theatrical life--whether it is the art of playwriting, the craft of covering up missed cues, the drama of the First Night, the nightmare of touring, or the secret ingredients of star quality.

Edmund Kean, Henry Irving, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Ellen Terry, Edith Evans, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren--the great 'names' are all here, of course, but there are tales of the unexpected, too--and the unknown. This is a book--presented in five acts, with a suitably anecdotal and personal
prologue from Gyles Brandreth--where, once in a while, the understudy takes centre-stage and Gyles Brandreth treats triumph and disaster just the same, including stories from the tattiest touring companies as well as from Broadway, the West End and theatres, large and small, in Australia, India, and
across Europe.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre

832 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2020

About the author

Full name: Gyles Daubeney Brandreth.
A former Oxford Scholar, President of the Oxford Union and MP for the City of Chester, Gyles Brandreth’s career has ranged from being a Whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in John Major’s government to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London’s West End. A prolific broadcaster (in programmes ranging from Just a Minute to Have I Got News for You), an acclaimed interviewer (principally for the Sunday Telegraph), a novelist, children’s author and biographer, his best-selling diary, Breaking the Code, was described as ‘By far the best political diary of recent years, far more perceptive and revealing than Alan Clark’s’ (The Times) and ‘Searingly honest, wildly indiscreet, and incredibly funny’ (Daily Mail). He is the author of two acclaimed royal biographies: Philip Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage and Charles Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair. In 2007/2008, John Murray in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US began publishing The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries, his series of Victorian murder mysteries featuring Oscar Wilde as the detective.

As a performer, Gyles Brandreth has been seen most recently in ZIPP! ONE HUNDRED MUSICALS FOR LESS THAN THE PRICE OF ONE at the Duchess Theatre and on tour throughout the UK, and as Malvolio and the Sea Captain in TWELFTH NIGHT THE MUSICAL at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Gyles Brandreth is one of Britain’s busiest after-dinner speakers and award ceremony hosts. He has won awards himself, and been nominated for awards, as a public speaker, novelist, children’s writer, broadcaster (Sony), political diarist (Channel Four), journalist (British Press Awards), theatre producer (Olivier), and businessman (British Tourist Authority Come to Britain Trophy).

He is married to writer and publisher Michèle Brown, with whom he co-curated the exhibition of twentieth century children’s authors at the National Portrait Gallery and founded the award-winning Teddy Bear Museum now based at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon. He is a trustee of the British Forces Foundation, and a former chairman and now vice-president of the National Playing Fields Association.

Gyles Brandreth’s forebears include George R. Sims (the highest-paid journalist of his day, who wrote the ballad Christmas Day in the Workhouse) and Jeremiah Brandreth (the last man in England to be beheaded for treason). His great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Brandreth, promoted ‘Brandreth’s Pills’ (a medicine that cured everything!) and was a pioneer of modern advertising and a New York state senator. Today, Gyles Brandreth has family living in New York, Maryland, South Carolina and California. He has been London correspondent for “Up to the Minute” on CBS News and his books published in the United States include the New York Times best-seller, The Joy of Lex and, most recently, Philip Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage.

Reviews

[Malcolm Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection by Gyles Brandreth!
it covers stories from the earliest days of the Theatre to the present day.
A book I'm sure to drop into for fun again over the years.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is A labour of love has produced a veritable account of theatrical anecdotes!

[Mick Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

this sort of book can be dipped into randomly.some interesting anecdotes over the centuries,backed by proof of another party.some I knew,many I didn't.worth while read.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half.

Either actors are overwhelmingly insecure, immature, egomaniacs with a tendency towards alcoholism or those are the only actors who generate good anecdotes.

This book is full of anecdotes about famous actors and actresses attempting to upstage or trip up colleagues or showing an amazing need for praise or having childish temper tantrums or being uncontrollable drunk.

It is difficult to think of any great actor or actress who didn't leave behind those kinds of stories. I suspect it takes a massive ego to walk onto an empty stage and entertain an audience simply with your physical presence and your voice.

Brandreth, who had a long career in the theater, doesn't really look for funny stories. He scoured memoirs and theater histories, back to Shakespeare's time, to get anecdotes that show the character and personality of the great actors.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly detailed book of stories about directors, actors etc, over the years, some funnier than others. Some of the really old stories are a little hard to understand but that made it all the more interesting. Is quite a meaty read.