Victoria Wood Unseen on TV

Victoria Wood Unseen on TV
Author: Jasper Rees
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2021-11-11
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1398707481

'There was none like her before and there's been none like her since' Dawn French In the five years since Victoria Wood's death, one great sadness has been the realisation that we will never again be surprised by new material from her. But as part of the research for Let's Do It, the critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller, her official biographer Jasper Rees uncovered a treasure chest of unseen work. From her first piece of comic prose, for the school magazine, through to material written for the great TV shows of her maturity, this joyful hoard of unreleased material spans nearly half a century. Victoria Wood: Unseen on TV is a unique and intimate insight into the working of an irreplaceable genius of comedy. From the first to the last, here are sketches, songs and stand-up monologues that no one else could have written, which will make you laugh in the way that only she could. 'He was a lovely man he had a lovely gap between his two front teeth. I specially noticed it cos he had a mushy pea stuck in it. He said can I take you home I said hang on I haven't finished my Tizer. So, we get home he says can I come in for a coffee. I said I haven't got any coffee but you can come in for a Horlicks if you don't mind sucking your own lumps.' Praise for Let's Do It: 'Rees pulls off the trick of writing a brilliant tribute while also - somehow, almost - bringing Victoria Wood back to life in all her complicated glory.' Guardian 'An immersive, authoritative book' Spectator 'Impeccable' Daily Telegraph 'A must-read' Daily Mirror 'A joy' Daily Mail

Mr. Wilder and Me

Mr. Wilder and Me
Author: Jonathan Coe
Publisher: Europa Editions
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2022-09-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1609457935

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE ROTTERS’ CLUB AND MIDDLE ENGLAND In the heady summer of 1977, a naïve young woman called Calista sets out from Athens to venture into the wider world. On a Greek island that has been turned into a film set, she finds herself working for the famed Hollywood director Billy Wilder, about whom she knows almost nothing. But the time she spends in this glamorous, unfamiliar new life will change her for good. While Calista is thrilled with her new adventure, Wilder himself is living with the realization that his star may be on the wane. Rebuffed by Hollywood, he has financed his new film with German money, and when Calista follows him to Munich for the shooting of further scenes, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the dark heart of his family history. In a novel that is at once a tender coming-of-age story and an intimate portrait of one of cinema’s most intriguing figures, Jonathan Coe turns his gaze on the nature of time and fame, of family and the treacherous lure of nostalgia. When the world is catapulting towards change, do you hold on for dear life or decide it's time to let go? “Outstanding... In a sense, the novel toward which Coe’s fiction has always been heading.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

A Spectacle of Dust

A Spectacle of Dust
Author: Pete Postlethwaite
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2011-06-23
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0297864947

Vibrant and candid memoirs of the late, great British character actor, Pete Postlethwaite. After training as a teacher, Pete Postlethwaite started his acting career at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre where his colleagues included Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Antony Sher and Julie Walters. After routine early appearances in small parts for television programmes such as THE PROFESSIONALS, Postlethwaite's first success came with the acclaimed British film DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES in 1988. He then received an Academy Award nomination for his role in THE NAME OF THE FATHER in 1993. His performance as the mysterious lawyer "Kobayashi" in THE USUAL SUSPECTS is well-known, and he appeared in many successful films including ALIEN 3, BRASSED OFF, THE SHIPPING NEWS, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, as Friar Lawrence in Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET, and in INCEPTION with Leonardo diCaprio. Pete Postlethwaite was one of the best-loved and widely admired performers on stage, TV (SHARPE, THE SINS) and in cinema. In THE ART OF DISCWORLD, Terry Pratchett said that he had always imagined Sam Vimes as 'a younger, slightly bulkier version of Pete Postlethwaite', while Steven Spielberg called him 'the best actor in the world', about which Postlethwaite said: 'I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, "the thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world."' This is the story of a diverse and multi-talented actor's eventful life, told in his own candid and vibrant words.

Lucky Bag

Lucky Bag
Author: Victoria Wood
Publisher:
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2016-05-19
Genre:
ISBN: 9780413777935

That's Another Story

That's Another Story
Author: Julie Walters
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2009-04-16
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0297857487

The number-one Sunday Times bestseller 'Walters's book - also well written - has moments of Alan Bennett warmth' SUNDAY TIMES 'This is a humorous and, at times, moving read from this much-loved actress' WOMAN AND HOME 'I was enthralled by her memoirs ... a celebrity memoir which is actually worth reading as a work of literature' AN Wilson, READER'S DIGEST Her mum wanted her to be a nurse so that is what Julie did. But in her heart she had always wanted to be an actress and soon she was on stage at the local theatre in Liverpool. Her career snowballed with highlights that include Educating Rita, Billy Elliot, Harry Potter, Acorn Antiques, Dinner Ladies and Mamma Mia! She has been nominated for two Oscars, been awarded multiple BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, plus been honoured with a DBE. This is the heart-warming and funny story of that journey.

Written

Written
Author: Bec Evans
Publisher: Icon Books
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2023-01-05
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 178578904X

**With a Foreword by OLIVER BURKEMAN, bestselling author of the Sunday Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks** Written is a transformative guide that anyone can use to overcome their blocks and build a successful writing habit. Many people think that there's only one 'right' way to get the writing done - or that trying harder is the key. Award-winning writers, productivity coaches and co-founders of Prolifiko Bec Evans and Chris Smith know this isn't true. Having coached over 10,000 writers, they've learned that productivity is personal. Their unique, results-driven approach is designed to help you find a realistic and sustainable practice that will get you to the end of any writing project, no matter how stuck you feel. Applying research from neuroscience and psychology, and based on the authors' own practice and findings, Written will show you how to manage your time effectively, how to visualise and set successful goals, how to recover from setbacks, and ultimately how to create writing habits that work for you. Along the way, you'll hear inspiring and relatable stories from other writers who have overcome their struggles to find success. Each chapter ends with practical coaching exercises that you can start implementing right now. For anyone with a project they need to get written - whether a business book, thesis or work of fiction - this inspiring book offers practical strategies to beat the inner critic, find time, keep motivated and write.

UK and Irish Television Comedy

UK and Irish Television Comedy
Author: Mary Irwin
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2023-09-19
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 3031236297

This book looks at television comedy, drawn from across the UK and Ireland, and ranging chronologically from the 1980s to the 2020s. It explores depictions of distinctive geographical, historical and cultural communities presented from the insiders’ perspective, simultaneously interrogating the particularity of the lived experience of time, and place, embedded within the wide variety of depictions of contrasting lives, experiences and sensibilities, which the collected individual chapters offer. Comedies considered include Victoria Wood’s work on ‘the north’, Ireland’s Father Ted and Derry Girls, Michaela Coel’s east London set Chewing Gum, and Wales’ Gavin and Stacey. There are chapters on Scottish sketch and animation comedy, and on series set in the Midlands, the North East, the South West and London’s home counties. The book offers thoughtful reflection on funny and engaging representations of the diverse, fragmented complexity of UK and Irish identity explored through the intersections of class, ethnicity and gender.

Clive Barker and His Legacy

Clive Barker and His Legacy
Author:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2022-02-24
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 135012849X

An edited collection of essays exploring the work and legacy of the academic and theatre-maker Clive Barker. Together, the essays trace the development of his work from his early years as an actor with Joan Littlewood's company, Theatre Workshop, via his career as an academic and teacher, through the publication of his seminal book, Theatre Games (Methuen Drama). The book looks beyond Barker's death in 2005 at the enduring influence of his work upon contemporary theatre training and theatre-making. Each writer featured in the collection responds to a specific aspect of Barker's work, focusing primarily on his early and formative career experiences with Theatre Workshop and his hugely influential development of Theatre Games. The collection as a whole thereby seeks to situate Clive Barker's work and influence in an international and multi-disciplinary context, by examining not only his origins as an actor, director, teacher and academic, but also the broad influence he has had on generations of theatre-makers.

Edinburgh's Festivals

Edinburgh's Festivals
Author: David Pollock
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd
Total Pages: 454
Release: 2023-08-04
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 180425116X

In August 1947, an émigré Austrian opera impresario launched the Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama to heal the scars of the Second World War through a celebration of the arts. At the same time, a socialist theatre group from Glasgow and other amateur companies protested their exclusion from the festival by performing anyway, inventing the concept of 'fringe' theatre. Now the annual celebration known collectively as the Edinburgh Festival is the largest arts festival in the world, incorporating events dedicated to theatre, film, art, literature, comedy, dance, jazz and even military pageantry. It has launched careers – from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Beyond the Fringe to Phoebe Waller-Bridge with Fleabag – mirrored the political and social mood of its times, shaped the city of Edinburgh around it and welcomed a huge all-star cast, including Orson Welles, Grace Kelly, Yehudi Menuhin and Mark E Smith's The Fall and many many more. This is its story.