Questors, Jesters and Renegades: The Story of Britain's Amateur Theatre

"I now realise that I’ve picked out five books that take you into different worlds: books that introduce you to the five key elements of theatre, in my opinion. One is the tradition of acting from Henry Irving, the second is the French school with Jean-Louis Barrault, the third is music hall and comedy, and this is amateur theatre. It was written by a friend of mine, Michael Coveney, who was a theatre critic. I have his collections of criticism, including one of his very amusingly entitled The Aisle is Full of Noises . As in, The Tempest . Yes. I first met Michael Coveney when we were at university together. I put on a production of a Victorian version of Cinderella , by H J Byron – not the poet, his less well-known cousin. But who I reckon gave more happiness to the world than Lord Byron. H J Byron gave us Widow Twanky. He invented the character of Buttons. Anyway, Michael Coveney has written a number of wonderful books, including a great biography of Maggie Smith . But this new book is called Questors, Jesters and Renegades: The Story of Britain’s Amateur Theatre. What I love about this book is that it isn’t snobbish at all. It’s a celebration of amateur theatre across the centuries, and there have been some marvellous, talented actors. My father was a lawyer. He wanted to be an actor, but it wasn’t to be: his parents wanted him to be a solicitor. All his life, though, he was a splendid amateur actor. I loved going as a child to see amateur actors at work. “If we’re going to have a collection that gives you a picture of the world of theatre, you need this in your collection” And then I found myself working with a wonderful double act called Hinge and Bracket. They were a double act: Dame Hilda Bracket and Dr Evadne Hinge. They were a drag act, but not a normal drag act. They played a couple of elderly musical ladies, and were very popular in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. I wrote a sitcom for BBC Two called Dear Ladies with them. My point is, the characters they played were great musical enthusiasts and loved the world of Gilbert and Sullivan, amateurs putting on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly … they spoofed the world of amateur theatre. So I love the idea of amateur theatre, both when it’s spoofed and the real thing. There are still a remarkable number of amateur theatres in this country, and what I learned from Michael’s book is how old the tradition really is. It really developed from medieval guilds predating Shakespeare. And, of course, many of the people involved in the founding of the National Theatre were enthusiasts of amateur theatre. So it was the first proper account of amateur theatre. If we’re going to have a collection that gives you a picture of the world of theatre, you need it in your collection. Well, what I don’t like is the snobbery that exists around it. I mean, amateur theatre is the true ‘national theatre’, because there are more amateur companies in the country than professional ones. They are creating and celebrating theatre. But we have to acknowledge that, on the whole, amateur theatre is a different phenomenon. It’s there for the audiences to enjoy, but it’s also a kind of social exercise. Like singing in a choir. It has a cultural purpose that is different to professional theatre. But I love it. I love nothing more than an amateur production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream . In fact, we’ve been celebrating amateur theatre since Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream , for what are the Rude Mechanicals but amateur theatre? Without amateur theatre, we wouldn’t have Bottom. We wouldn’t have Pyramus and Thisbe and the Wall. So it’s part of the story of theatre. We’ve been poking affectionate fun at the expense of amateur theatre for hundreds of years, and this book celebrates that brilliantly."