Light Fantastic

John Lahr describes the lives and careers of playwrights, directors and performers, providing a vivid backdrop to his critique of particular productions in this book of theatrical criticism, history and gossip. He also makes the reader feel present at the run-up to an opening night: in London with Dame Edna, with Tony Kushner in Los Angeles. Lahr is everywhere, from the newesst Brian Friel play in Dublin, to Toronto on a Hal Prince revival of Show Boat, from Stockholm on Ingmar Bergman's production of Yukio Mishima's Madame de Sade, to London and Broadway. He includes a special collection on Funny Men which captures Joe Orton's laughter in the face of Halliwell's notorious scowl, pinpoints why the outlaw stance of Bill Hick's delights in Britain but strikes fear in middle America, and even picks up on aspects of Oscar Wilde's childhood that Richard Ellmann missed.