About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherParthian Books

ISBN-101910409944

ISBN-139781910409947

eBay Product ID (ePID)219143321

Product Key Features

Number of Pages205 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameActors' Crucible : Port Talbot and the Making of Burton, Hopkins, Sheen and All the Others

SubjectEntertainment & Performing Arts, Europe / Great Britain / General

Publication Year2016

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaBiography & Autobiography, History

AuthorAngela V. John

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight14.3 Oz

Item Length8.5 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2017-491477

Reviews"Margaret, Lady Rhondda, was an improbable revolutionary ... Angela John's excellent biography is thus to be welcomed warmly." -Independent, "This is a well-written, comprehensive life of Elizabeth Robins, the American-born actress and novelist....For social history that links the United States and Britain, the stage and dominant literary circles, early to mid-twentieth-century politics, and the British suffrage movement, this book is required reading." -- American Historical Review, "This is a well-written, comprehensive life of Elizabeth Robins, the American-born actress and novelist....For social history that links the United States and Britain, the stage and dominant literary circles, early to mid-twentieth-century politics, and the British suffrage movement, this book is required reading." -American Historical Review, This is a brilliantly insightful and much needed study by one of Wales leading historians, using a range of sources including her own personal memories of Port Talbot and its stars --Hywel Francis, historian This is an important work that deepens our sense of a changing Wales... nicely combining local with international and popular with scholarship --Peter Stead, author of Acting Wales Tremendous... it tells a fascinating and very important story and does so in a way that will be accessible to a very wide readership --Chris Williams, editor of The Richard Burton Diaries Local knowledge is the foundation of this well-researched and very readable account. Richard Burton and Company are the stars but Angela John shows just how they came to attain that celestial state --Sally Roberts Jones, Port Talbot historian Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen count amongst the world's most renowned and gifted actors. Yet they have something else in common: they all come from the south Wales steel town of Port Talbot. What is it about this industrial community that has produced such superstars? Angela V. John, who also hails from the town, explores the lives of these acting legends before they became famous. She presents their emergence as part of a rich culture and commitment to drama long embedded in the town's history. She reveals too a host of other famous Port Talbot faces, from early stars such as Ronald Lewis and Ivor Emmanuel to more recent performers like Rob Brydon and Di Botcher, along with a cluster of young actors starting to make their mark on London's West End stage, and on the big and small screen. Her account culminates in the spectacular three-day event of Easter 2011 when Michael Sheen resurrected Port Talbot's pride and hopes through the unforgettable theatrical experience of The Passion . This book puts centre-stage the shifting fortunes of a town, its actors and, crucially, its enablers those unsung heroes who helped to nurture talent in schools, youth centres and youth theatre. Using extensive interviews, it provides a refreshing way of looking at the history of a community and a profession, as well as casting new and unexpected light on the backgrounds of its most famous stars., "Margaret, Lady Rhondda, was an improbable revolutionary ... Angela John's excellent biography is thus to be welcomed warmly." -- Independent

Dewey Edition23

TitleLeadingThe

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal792.02/80922

SynopsisRichard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen count amongst the world's most renowned and gifted actors. Yet they have something else in common: they all come from the south Wales steel town of Port Talbot. What is it about this industrial community that has produced such superstars? Angela V. John, who also hails from the town, explores the lives of these acting legends before they became famous. She presents their emergence as part of a rich culture and commitment to drama long embedded in the town's history. She reveals too a host of other famous Port Talbot faces, from early stars such as Ronald Lewis and Ivor Emmanuel to more recent performers like Rob Brydon and Di Botcher, along with a cluster of young actors starting to make their mark on London's West End stage, and on the big and small screen. Her account culminates in the spectacular three-day event of Easter 2011 when Michael Sheen resurrected Port Talbot's pride and hopes through the unforgettable theatrical experience of The Passion . This book puts centre-stage the shifting fortunes of a town, its actors and, crucially, its enablers those unsung heroes who helped to nurture talent in schools, youth centres and youth theatre. Using extensive interviews, it provides a refreshing way of looking at the history of a community and a profession, as well as casting new and unexpected light on the backgrounds of its most famous stars., Port Talbot has an undisputed claim to be called the actors capital of Wales, producing a remarkable number of actors since the inter-war years including Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen. This book suggests explanations for this phenomenon, while also surveying the careers of 50 actors from Port Talbot and considering what its most famous stars have put back into their community., The town of Port Talbot has long been seen (quite literally) as synonymous with the steel industry. Yet it also has another claim to fame as the actors' capital of Wales. It has produced a remarkable number of actors since the inter-war years. Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen head the glittering cast but there are many others including early stars such as Ronald Lewis and Ivor Emmanuel, more recent figures like Rob Brydon and Di Botcher as well as a cluster of exciting young actors starting to make their names in the West End and on the big and small screen. This book explores the provision of educational and cultural facilities for young people over the years and demonstrates a commitment to drama that is deeply embedded in the town's history. It tells in some depth the stories of the superstars but in a novel way, focusing on how they emerged and on those who nurtured their talent, presenting the actors as part of a tradition that was set in motion even before Richard Burton began to make his mark. Such an approach also raises wider questions about the importance of the arts and of drama in particular to the wellbeing of communities.

LC Classification NumberPN2215