Theatre: individual actors & directors

  • Behind the shoulder pads

    £22.00

    Dame Joan Collins has always believed one should retain some mystery in life, and hide a knowing smile behind one’s shoulder pads. In her book, she shares her most memorable moments from her eclectic and vibrant life, in and out of the limelight. Taking us on a spectacular journey from her early years as a young starlet in Hollywood to stamping her stilettos in Dynasty; from the glittering heights of Saint Tropez to the busy Oscars season in LA over the years. Joan writes movingly about her adventures with and grief for sister Jackie, delving deeper into the ups and downs of love and relationships, and her happiness with husband Percy. Filled with a cast of household names, ‘Behind the Shoulder Pads’ is a spectacularly entertaining tour-de-force bound to delight and shock in equal measures.

  • The Empire

    £9.99

    The Empire is not just a theatre. From music hall to vaudeville, from revue to grand musical spectacular, it holds a special place in the nation’s heart. For its audience, for its actors and singers, for the stagehands, the front-of-house staff, for its backers and its debtors – and above all for its owners – it truly is a palace of dreams. And for young Jack Treadwell, struggling to adapt to civilian life after the war, it’s a lifeline. Looking for work, he arrives at The Empire, it’s owned by the family of his former commanding officer, Edmund Lassiter so he hopes to be given a chance. But as Jack soon discovers, it is not just the actors who are donning a disguise. With whispers of a cover-up, a scandal and sibling rivalry, tensions rise, along with the curtain. For there is treachery at the heart of The Empire and a dark secret waiting in the wings.

  • The Noel Coward Diaries

    £16.99

    For over half a century Noël Coward was the British theatre’s most renowned dramatist, director and star. These diaries chronicle the last 30 years of his life, from his war-time concert tours, to his triumphant re-emergence in the 1960s.

  • The Empire

    £20.00

    The Empire is not just a theatre. From music hall to vaudeville, from revue to grand musical spectacular, it holds a special place in the nation’s heart. For its audience, for its actors and singers, for the stagehands, the front-of-house staff, for its backers and its debtors – and above all for its owners – it truly is a palace of dreams. And for young Jack Treadwell, struggling to adapt to civilian life after the war, it’s a lifeline. Looking for work, he arrives at The Empire, it’s owned by the family of his former commanding officer, Edmund Lassiter so he hopes to be given a chance. But as Jack soon discovers, it is not just the actors who are donning a disguise. With whispers of a cover-up, a scandal and sibling rivalry, tensions rise, along with the curtain. For there is treachery at the heart of The Empire and a dark secret waiting in the wings.

  • What Are You Doing Here?

    £20.00

    A moving, powerful autobiography from an inspirational woman, one of the Windrush generation who became a member of the House of Lords.

  • The Disappearing Act

    The Disappearing Act

    £8.99

    The critically acclaimed and bestselling author Catherine Steadman returns with her next breathless, Hitchcockian thriller, full of twists that hit one after another – perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Harriet Tyce and Paula Hawkins. 
     

  • Walking with ghosts

    £16.99

    A highly anticipated memoir by Gabriel Byrne, award-winning actor. Walking with Ghosts is an exquisite portrait of an Irish childhood and a remarkable journey to Hollywood and Broadway success.

  • Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years

    £20.00

    In this follow-up to her critically acclaimed memoir ‘Home’, the enchanting Julie Andrews picks up her story with her arrival in Hollywood, sharing the career highlights, personal experiences and reflections behind her astonishing career, including such classics as ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Victor/Victoria’, and many others. In ‘Home Work’, Julie describes her years in Hollywood – from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she detail her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television; she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, moving on from her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards.

  • Behind the Lens: My Life in Photos

    £25.00

    Much-loved actor David Suchet has been a stalwart of British stage and television for almost 50 years. From Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde, Freud to Poirot, Edward Teller to Doctor Who, Questions of Faith to Decline and Fall, right up to 2018’s Press, David has done it all. Throughout this spectacular career, David has never been without a camera, enabling him to vividly document his life in photographs. Seamlessly combining photo and memoir, ‘Behind the Lens’ is the story of David’s remarkable life and career, showcasing his wonderful photographs and accompanied by his revelatory and engaging commentary.

  • Balancing Acts

    £20.00

    In 2003, Nicholas Hytner took up his position as Director of the National Theatre. He would dedicate the next twelve years of his life to the job, and it would occupy nearly every waking thought. ‘Balancing Acts’ is the story of those twelve years. It is a story about actors, writers and directors; about directing new plays like ‘The History Boys’ and ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’; movies like ‘The Madness of King George’; musicals and operas. About probing Shakespeare from every angle and reinventing the classics. About coming up time and again against the challenge of reconciling art and commerce. About opening the doors of the National to a broader audience than ever before, and changing the public’s perception of what the theatre is for. Its cast includes the likes of Alan Bennett, Arthur Miller, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Daniel Day-Lewis, John Gielgud and Mike Leigh.

  • Orson Welles: v. 3

    £25.00

    In ‘One-Man Band’, the third volume in his epic survey of Orson Welles’ life and work, Simon Callow again probes in comprehensive and penetrating detail into one of the most complex artists of the 20th century, looking closely at the triumphs and failures of an ambitious one-man assault on one medium after another – theatre, radio, film, television – even, at one point, ballet – in each of which his radical and original approach opened up new directions and hitherto unglimpsed possibilities.

  • Peter O Toole

    £20.00

    Robert Seller’s highly researched, definitive biography of Peter O’Toole