A book of selected theatre reviews from 2020 from one of the foremost
authorities on British theatre.
Starting each chapter is a brief commentary on the developments of that
era and the social, political and cultural context within which this
theatre was being produced. Also included are key obituaries and letters
in response to reviews written, providing a rich collection of curated
archival material.
Following on from his first collection, One Night Stands, Michael
Billington's chronicle offers a rich, authoritative insight into British
theatre over the last 3 decades from his unique professional
perspective. It begins with Tony Kushner's UK premiere of Angels in
America at the National Theatre in 1992 and culminates with Inua
Ellams's celebrated adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters at the same
venue almost 30 years later. En route, we're exposed to the fallibility
of theatre criticism through his much-regretted original criticism of
Sarah Kane's Blasted and its role in identifying major talents at the
first opportunity.
Having fairly recently retired from his 48-year position as the Guardian
newspaper's drama critic during which time he wrote around 10,000
theatre reviews, Michael Billiington was Britain's longest-serving
theatre critic. Through his work, he was present at an eye-watering
number of premieres during this time and witnessed first-hand the
exciting developments in British theatre over the past 30 years and the
substantial pressures it faced - never more so than today.
