PlayBill. A History of the Theatre in the West Country.

Great Britain: Macdonald and Evans, 1980. In this masterly survey of the theatrical history of Devon and Cornwall, the author begins the story with what he believes may be the very origins of British theatre, the Cornish ordinalia, or word books, on which the peasant and clerical players of the thirteenth century based their popular presentations of biblical and religious themes. Harvey Crane's wide sympathy and deep knowledge enable him to cover almost every aspect of the triumphs and disasters which mark the long struggle between the stern Puritanism of the South West and the pleasurable seductions of the stage: the success and the failures of the strolling players, the actor-managers, the speculative builders, and the stars of successive generations of theatre-goers. The history is brought right up to the immediate present, tracing the links between the West Country and the modern world of entertainment through such varied personalities as Agatha Christie, Paul Rogers, Danny La Rue and Angela Rippon. This is a book, not only for the actor, historian and student, but for all those who have the furtherance and well-being of the theatre at heart. Illustrated. Price clipped. Message to owner inside cover.. First Edition. Cloth. Good/Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Hardback.