This book is the authorised and fully documented history of the late Sir Nigel Hawthorne's fifty-year career in the theatre. It presents an appraisal of post-war theatre by focusing on the personal journey of one of Britain's finest and most respected actors. Sir Nigel gave his approval to the book while writing his autobiography because he saw the two projects as essentially complementary. It provides the detailed analysis of his stage work, which he himself did not attempt, but it has been illuminated and enriched by the personal insights derived from his own generous interviews and those conducted with some of his close friends and colleagues in the theatre. The book comprises three distinct sections. The first (chapters 1-5) is concerned with the developmental phases of Hawthorne's career and the influence exerted by certain individuals and theatre companies on his evolving style and philosophy. It includes his amateur and early professional performances on the South African stage; his relocation to England in 1951 and involvement with provincial repertory companies; his temporary return to South Africa in 1957 and work with the revolutionary Cockpit Players; his life-changing discovery by Joan Littlewood; and his years with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court, the Sheffield Playhouse, and the Young Vic. The second section (chapters 7-10) explores the distinctive qualities of the mature actor, and the affirmation of his unique gifts and artistic principles. These later chapters constitute a case study of his theatrical methodology, having particular regard to his dissection of the text; his research into and preparation for a role; and his interaction, during the creative process, with writers, directors and fellow actors. Among Hawthorne's performances given special attention are those in "Privates on Parade", "Shadowlands", "The Madness of George III" and "King Lear". Linking the first two sections is a short chapter (6) on Hawthorne's occasional forays into playwriting and directing. The third section is a series of chronologies, including particularly a comprehensive record of Hawthorne's amateur and professional stage work from 1947 to 2000.

Before "Fred and Ginger," there was "Fred and Adele," a show-business partnership and cultural sensation like no other. In our celebrity-saturated era, it's hard to comprehend what a genuine phenomenon these two siblings from Omaha were. At the height of their success in the mid-1920s, the Astaires seemed to define the Jazz Age. They were Gershwin's music in motion, a fascinating pair who wove spellbinding rhythms in song and dance. In this book, the first comprehensive study of their theatrical career together, Kathleen Riley traces the Astaires' rise to fame from humble midwestern origins and early days as child performers on small-time vaudeville stages (where Fred, fatefully, first donned top hat and tails) to their 1917 debut on Broadway to star billings on both sides of the Atlantic. They became ambassadors of an art form they helped to revolutionize, adored by audiences, feted by royalty, and courted socially by elites everywhere they went. From the start, Adele was the more natural performer, spontaneous, funny, and self-possessed, while Fred had to hone his trademark timing and elegance through endless hours of rehearsal, a disciplined regimen that Adele loathed. Ultimately, Fred's dancing expertise surpassed his sister's, and their paths diverged: Adele married into British aristocracy, and Fred headed for Hollywood. The Astaires examines in depth the extraordinary story of this great brother-sister team, with full attention to its historical and theatrical context. It is not merely an account of the first part of Fred's long and illustrious career but one with its own significance. Born at the close of the 1800s, Fred and Adele grew up together with the new century, and when they reached superstardom during the interwar years, they shone as an affirmation of life and hope amid a prevailing crisis of faith and identity.

Euripides' Herakles, which tells the story of the hero's sudden descent into filicidal madness, is one of the least familiar and least performed plays in the Greek tragic canon. Kathleen Riley explores its reception and performance history from the fifth century BC to AD 2006. Her focus is upon changing ideas of Heraklean madness, its causes, its consequences, and its therapy. Writers subsequent to Euripides have tried to 'reason' or make sense of the madness, often in accordance with contemporary thinking on mental illness. She concurrently explores how these attempts have, in the process, necessarily entailed redefining Herakles' heroism.
Riley demonstrates that, in spite of its relatively infrequent staging, the Herakles has always surfaced in historically charged circumstances - Nero's Rome, Shakespeare's England, Freud's Vienna, Cold-War and post-9/11 America - and has had an undeniable impact on the history of ideas. As an analysis of heroism in crisis, a tragedy about the greatest of heroes facing an abyss of despair but ultimately finding redemption through human love and friendship, the play resonates powerfully with individuals and communities at historical and ethical crossroads.