We’ve not discussed Restoration or Tremain. The Road Home has a big scene at a major opening night at the Royal Court. On a Sunday. Lousy editing, yes, but..
Typically illuminating. Thank you. Shamefully, I have only seen the (very good) film of An Awfully Big Adventure which I recommend highly, not least for Hugh Grant serving notice on what a good actor he is. (Something most critics have only recently caught up with.) Not read (yet) At Freddie’s either by the excellent Fitzgerald.
I am largely allergic to mist backstage adult novels because they tend to get so much badly wrong - the theatre passages in Rose Tremain’s The Road Home are particularly egregious - but have you read Anthony Quinn’s Curtain Call. Set in theatreland in 1930. All the detail is spot on. Terrific book which has been made into a film to be released soon, script by Patrick Marber starring Ian McKellen in the title role of The Critic.
Thanks, David. I haven't seen the film, sadly. I must check it out and can picture Hugh Grant as Meredith. And no, I haven't read the Quinn, and I don't own it – I've just ordered a copy!
I love theatre novels but take your point – though more often for me it's film that gets it all wrong (pre-tech rehearsals inside theatres not rehearsal rooms, etc.).
Put At Freddie's near the top of your pile, it's not a long novel, and my guess is you'll admire it and appreciate what Fitzgerald does with the characters of Jonathan and Mattie. It's a much richer thing than it first appears, a great novel about the innocence of artists.
(I think we've spoken about Tremain's Restoration, in which she has Merivel excited by the prospect of some music by Purcell - in 1664, when Purcell would have been three or something. Mistakes happen; the editor's fault?!)
OMG you've never read The L Shaped Room, i'm JEALOUS! It's possibly in my top three of all time. there's a wonderful film too that's worth a watch but the book first. I adapted it into a play a few years ago,Lynne is still alive and it was a dream to meet and work with her. She's nearly 90 now I think. Can't wait to discuss. And will definitely read AABA some time soon xx
I haven't read this book of Bainbridge's, but I did read 'The Bottle Factory Outing' for a writing class a few years ago and found both her writing and the story funny, dark, and a little bit strange...but not in a bad way! Enjoyed your comparisons with Barrie's Peter Pan here. (Incidentally, Pan was the first play I remember seeing at the theatre as a child!)
Funny, dark and a little bit strange is Bainbridge to a T. I love that your first play memory is Peter Pan, Kate: that’s very pure and English and wonderful! I love that here BB digs into its strangeness to find her own.
There are some brief but gorgeous descriptions of working in rep theatre in one of my all-time favourite novels 'The L-Shaped Room' by Lynne Reid Banks: although fleeting and minor they help form the backbone of the backstory. I also had the thrilling opportunity of meeting Beryl once at an award ceremony (I think she was on the judging panel of the Pearson the year I was placed) and told her through a fug of her fag smoke how much her writing had meant to me, particularly The Bottle Factory Outing which I adored and read several times in my teens. 'Oh jolly good', she replied to my homage, or something less pompous. I don't know this book of hers though and will definitely read at some point. x
I don’t know the Lynne Reid Banks and am ordering immediately. I love that story — and hope it was ‘oh jolly good’ through the fag smoke! An Awfully Big Adventure is worth reading — I think you’ll like it — though there are some disturbing sequences. I kept thinking: Don’t Put Your Daughter, Son or Very Worst Enemy on the Stage, Mrs Worthington. xx
We’ve not discussed Restoration or Tremain. The Road Home has a big scene at a major opening night at the Royal Court. On a Sunday. Lousy editing, yes, but..
Typically illuminating. Thank you. Shamefully, I have only seen the (very good) film of An Awfully Big Adventure which I recommend highly, not least for Hugh Grant serving notice on what a good actor he is. (Something most critics have only recently caught up with.) Not read (yet) At Freddie’s either by the excellent Fitzgerald.
I am largely allergic to mist backstage adult novels because they tend to get so much badly wrong - the theatre passages in Rose Tremain’s The Road Home are particularly egregious - but have you read Anthony Quinn’s Curtain Call. Set in theatreland in 1930. All the detail is spot on. Terrific book which has been made into a film to be released soon, script by Patrick Marber starring Ian McKellen in the title role of The Critic.
Thanks, David. I haven't seen the film, sadly. I must check it out and can picture Hugh Grant as Meredith. And no, I haven't read the Quinn, and I don't own it – I've just ordered a copy!
I love theatre novels but take your point – though more often for me it's film that gets it all wrong (pre-tech rehearsals inside theatres not rehearsal rooms, etc.).
Put At Freddie's near the top of your pile, it's not a long novel, and my guess is you'll admire it and appreciate what Fitzgerald does with the characters of Jonathan and Mattie. It's a much richer thing than it first appears, a great novel about the innocence of artists.
(I think we've spoken about Tremain's Restoration, in which she has Merivel excited by the prospect of some music by Purcell - in 1664, when Purcell would have been three or something. Mistakes happen; the editor's fault?!)
Ha! Well I’d read the book first, the film can wait xx
Where you lead, I follow. Looking forward to it. xx
OMG you've never read The L Shaped Room, i'm JEALOUS! It's possibly in my top three of all time. there's a wonderful film too that's worth a watch but the book first. I adapted it into a play a few years ago,Lynne is still alive and it was a dream to meet and work with her. She's nearly 90 now I think. Can't wait to discuss. And will definitely read AABA some time soon xx
I’ve seen bits of the film over the years but never the whole thing — a terrible gap! Will rectify: book on its way. xx
I haven't read this book of Bainbridge's, but I did read 'The Bottle Factory Outing' for a writing class a few years ago and found both her writing and the story funny, dark, and a little bit strange...but not in a bad way! Enjoyed your comparisons with Barrie's Peter Pan here. (Incidentally, Pan was the first play I remember seeing at the theatre as a child!)
Funny, dark and a little bit strange is Bainbridge to a T. I love that your first play memory is Peter Pan, Kate: that’s very pure and English and wonderful! I love that here BB digs into its strangeness to find her own.
The Bottle Factory Outing is FABULOUS!!!
Such a dark and quirky story!
It really is. Freda. What a woman.
There are some brief but gorgeous descriptions of working in rep theatre in one of my all-time favourite novels 'The L-Shaped Room' by Lynne Reid Banks: although fleeting and minor they help form the backbone of the backstory. I also had the thrilling opportunity of meeting Beryl once at an award ceremony (I think she was on the judging panel of the Pearson the year I was placed) and told her through a fug of her fag smoke how much her writing had meant to me, particularly The Bottle Factory Outing which I adored and read several times in my teens. 'Oh jolly good', she replied to my homage, or something less pompous. I don't know this book of hers though and will definitely read at some point. x
I don’t know the Lynne Reid Banks and am ordering immediately. I love that story — and hope it was ‘oh jolly good’ through the fag smoke! An Awfully Big Adventure is worth reading — I think you’ll like it — though there are some disturbing sequences. I kept thinking: Don’t Put Your Daughter, Son or Very Worst Enemy on the Stage, Mrs Worthington. xx