Name: Balancing Acts
Price: 21.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Nicholas Hytner
ISBN: 9781101972885

Here is Nicholas Hytner’s fascinating, candid memoir of his tenure at the helm of Britain’s greatest theater. As artistic director of London’s National Theatre from 2003 to 2015, Hytner was in charge of three stages, directing and producing such plays and musicals as The Madness of George III, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, David Hare’s Stuff Happens, Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors, and War Horse, among many others.
Combining touches of gossip with serious insight into the processes that bring a production to life, Hytner discusses his major failures and spectacular successes. He looks at Shakespeare from every angle and writes about reinventing the classics; changing the public’s perception of what theater is in our times; balancing the idea of art with what will sell; encouraging new talent; and collaborating with actors and playwrights, including Richard Griffiths, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Mike Leigh, Daniel Day-Lewis, Michael Gambon, Simon Russell Beale, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, and Harold Pinter. Intimate and insightful, Balancing Acts is a passionate exploration of the art and alchemy of making theater.

From the Tony Award and Laurence Olivier Award-winning former director of London’s National Theatre–this is a fascinating, candid, eloquent memoir about his career directing theater, producing films and opera, and working closely with some of the world’s most celebrated actors.

The list of Nicholas Hytner’s accomplishments is long and distinguished: as Artistic Director of London’s National Theatre from 2003-2015, he directed and produced a great number of their most popular and memorable plays and musicals, many of which have come to Broadway: Carousel, Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors, David Hare’s Stuff Happens among them. He directed both the London and Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, each of which ran for ten years. He directed Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III on both stage and screen. In short: He is one of today’s most successful and admired theatrical impresarios.

In Balancing Acts, Hytner gives us a detailed behind-the-scenes look at his creative process. From reviving classic musicals and mastering Shakespeare to commissioning new plays, he shows theater making to be a necessarily collaborative exercise, and he writes insightfully about the actors and playwrights he’s worked with: Derek Jacobi, Richard Griffiths, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Harold Pinter, and Tom Stoppard among them. With a cultural range that spans from The Mikado to The Lady in the Van, Balancing Acts is not only a memoir but a gathering of illuminating notes on the art of directing and a thoughtful meditation on the purpose of theater.

“Funny and immediate and ring[s] true. . . . Hytner is indisputably one of the best theater directors in the world.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A masterclass in creative leadership. . . . As engrossing as it is entertaining.” —The Economist

“Absorbing. . . . Astute. . . . Should be read not simply by anyone who has an interest in British theatre, but anyone interested in that oldest of questions: how you make art that sells.” —The Guardian

“Engaging and illuminating.” —The New York Review of Books

“Hugely entertaining. . . . Hytner has a writer’s instinct for detail, drawing you into the room with luminaries such as Arthur Miller, John Gielgud, Alan Bennett. . . . He balances wit with intellectual gravitas, gossip with self-deprecation, and mischief with serious insight.” —Financial Times

“Priceless.” —The New York Post

“Vivid, engaging, alive with anecdotes and continually invigorated by ideas.” —The Sunday Times (London)

“Balancing Acts is both history and illumination. . . . Wonderfully lucid. . . . Witty and entertaining. . . . Reveals both the ecstasy and the agony of staging large and ambitious shows.” —The Evening Standard

“A wonderful book: stimulating, intelligent, gossipy, heartfelt, affectionate, honest and, perhaps above all, fun.” —The Mail on Sunday

“Revelatory. . . . Full of anecdotes about the terrifying art of bringing a play alive, and full of insight about the sheer daredevil tightrope act that running the National Theatre involves. . . . A vital reminder both of what theatre can do—and what is at stake if we take it for granted.” —What’s On Stage

““Hytner has produced a rare thing: an absorbing memoir by a director-turned-arts-administrator. . . . The insouciance of Balancing Acts is magic dust, sprinkled by a master Oberon.” —Standpoint

“A tremendous book about life in the theatre—and theatre, and life. Honest, shrewd and heartfelt. A classic of its kind.” —William Boyd, author of Sweet Caress

“An unqualified rave for this title. . . . The pages sparkles with luminaries with whom the author has worked. . . . Exquisitely written. . . . The theater crowd is the obvious audience for this book, but the intelligence, wit, and humor throughout expands the scope of readership to anyone interested in the arts.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“A captivating narrative. . . . A detailed and stimulating look at the state of the art.” —Publishers Weekly

Balancing Acts

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By Nicholas Hytner