William Archer by Peter Whitebrook
As a drama critic for more than 40 years, William Archer transformed the Victorian theatre from the home of burlesque and melodrama into the playwright's theatre that is known today. He introduced George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen to the British stage, encouraged Pinero, Wilde, Galsworthy and Granville-Barker, and had a grand affair with one of the greatest actresses of her generation, Elizabeth Robins, who played Hedda Gabler in Archer's own translation of Ibsen's play. This account of William Archer's life (1856-1924), is a portrait of an enigmatic man, a late Victorian whose inexpressive demeanour and iron integrity concealed a passionate and forward-thinking character. Whitebrook writes on theatre for "The Scotsman". In 1987 he co-adapted John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and wrote a book on the experience, "Staging Steinbeck".
Peter Whitebrook was born in London and has written and broadcast widely on the theatre. Based in Edinburgh for many years, he was a cultural journalist and drama critic for The Scotsman newspaper. He covered several years of the Edinburgh Festival and won a Fringe First award for his co-adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. As a broadcaster, he has worked in commercial radio, made regular appearances on BBC Radio Scotland arts review programmes and has written and presented several arts documentaries for BBC Radio Scotland, Radio 4 and the World Service. He has regularly chaired events at the Edinburgh Book Festival and now does so at the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden. He has published an acclaimed biography of William Archer, the theatre critic, close friend of Bernard Shaw and the first to translate Ibsen into English, and was a consultant and contributor to a major Channel 4 documentary on John Osborne. He lives in Stockholm.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780413655202 |
| ISBN 10 | 0413655202 |
| Title | William Archer |
| Author | Peter Whitebrook |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Methuen Publishing Ltd |
| Year published | 1993-09-13 |
| Number of pages | 435 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |