The English Actor

What separates English actors from their rivals? Peter Ackroyd’s starstruck history celebrates a thousand years of strutting thesps. In this admiring tome, the English actor, incarnated by [Laurence] Olivier, was and remains a breed apart. He belongs to “a tradition that has lasted more than a thousand years”; and, by fairly strong implication, he is quite superior to his cousins abroad. Across 26 chapters [Ackroyd] gives a running history of English theatre from the medieval mysteries to the present day. - Tim Smith-Laing, The Daily Telegraph
Sir Ralph Richardson pursued a desire to “illustrate literature”. This, the eminent writer and historian Peter Ackroyd says, is the essence of the English actor. A respect for the text, a devotion to words on the page. Ackroyd begins his history in medieval times … This is when Ackroyd’s book works best, documenting the birth of acting, its evolution from the church tradition of mystery plays to what we would recognise as modern stagecraft. - Martin Samuel, The Sunday Times
What makes a great stage actor? Peter Ackroyd attempts to answer this question in his magnificent chronicle of the history and legacy of the English theatre … Driven by a passion for his subject that is the author’s hallmark, this is an essential read for anyone fascinated by the smell of the greasepaint and the roar of the crowd. - Michael Simkins, The Mail on Sunday
Bright ghosts of performances past haunt these pages, electric ephemera conjured from the shadows of history, and it’s impossible not to feel some of the shivers they originally inspired. Ackroyd generously gives us both the prose and the poetry of great English acting – the craft and commerce that allowed it to happen and the magic that made it mythic. - Ben Brantley, former chief theatre critic for the New York Times
Acting is like sculpting in snow. All the more splendid that Peter Ackroyd has written a book which gives so much life to performances long melted away. - Sir Richard Eyre
Peter Ackroyd has given us another sweep through history, roaring through the centuries. This time, we learn about the origins of spoken performance in England and how the art of acting has developed. The book is colourfully informative about the bridge between the pre-modern and modern ages in acting. As we would expect from Ackroyd, there is a lot of entertainment and enjoyable, ornate characters. - Robert Bathurst, The Oldie
[An] impressively lively and ambitious study. - Benedict Nightingale, Literary Review
Bestselling author Peter Ackroyd traces the history of acting - from its traditions in the 19th century to the rise of the celebrity and decline of speciality. - The Stage
Peter Ackroyd’s study of the English actor from medieval times to the modern day … [showcases] an astonishingly expansive cast of leading actors and actresses through the centuries, giving an inkling of what it might have been like to be in their company and watch them at their best … his handsomely published and authoritative book stands as an invaluable account of an art form at which the English have so long excelled. - Stephen Unwin, BBC History Magazine
The training, development and landscape for the English actor has changed dramatically over the last century … Peter Ackroyd reflects on the new identity of the English actor. - Drama & Theatre
An appraisal of the English approach to stagecraft across the centuries featuring biographies of noted actors. - The Bookseller
In The English Actor Ackroyd offers a sweeping look at English stage actors of the last twelve centuries. This is not a book about acting theory, actor training, or the evolution of playwriting, although all are mentioned. This work looks at theater from a historian’s perspective, offering a listing of the great stage actors throughout the ages . . The book is impeccably researched and annotated, and readers will find the pantheon of the English stage. This not a dry reporting, but an entertaining assessment of actors and their audiences through time. Fewer female actors are mentioned (and very few people of color), but that reflects history. Ackroyd’s personal connection to literature and theater makes the final third of the book very intimate, as if he has followed the career of each actor mentioned … This well-organized, well-written tome will be an excellent resource for those working on a production history or biographical study of any English actor. Recommended. - Choice

Peter Ackroyd is one of Britain’s most respected historians and novelists. His many books include London: The Biography, Hawksmoor, and the bestselling History of England series. He is also the author of The English Actor, a fascinating study of the English actor from medieval times to the modern day.

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