... WRITE STUFF We are all aware that actors are well down the list when it comes to the planning of a production. But a sometimes visible but not often regarded figure is that of the writer's agent, and the most significant of these shadowy figures for nearly 40 years was the formidable Margaret 'Peggy' Ramsay, who ruled the roost from her small office in Goodwin's Court, just off St Martin's ...

... FRESH FACTS Michael Meyer's three-volume life of Henrlk Ibsen can probably never be surpassed for scholarship and depth. But it is not an easy read even for those with more than a casual interest in the work of the great dramatist. More approachable is Robert r ciguion s one-volume, Out still formidably meaty, new biography (Richard Cohen Books, £25). Not that his book brings Ibsen to life ...

... Tome for some Harold Pinter! Settle into spring with a selection of recent books and records, reviewed by Peter Hepple BOOKS I may have known the name Harold Pinter for longer than most, because when I first met rny wife, more than 45 years ago, she was inclined to recall her only-just-concluded schooldays and the time she appeared on the same stage as Pinter. She too grew up in Hackney and ...

... Today's tabloids would have loved Tallulah The British 'summer' is upon us, so what better time for Peter Hepple to help you catch up on your reading The Chichester production about the life of Tallulah Bankhead has focused attention again upon the most outrageous actress of all time, whose exploits and behaviour make the well-reported activities of our present-day pop stars seem like child's ...

... Positive state of two minds Peter Hepple reviews a selection of theatrical books, which would make ideal Christmas presents. .. Reading John Tytells book The Living Theatre: Art, Exie and Outrage (Methuen, £14.99, paperback) one is left in two minds. Is it good riddance to this type of highly political, deliberately outrageous and ultimately pretentious theatre? Or is it a pity that we no ...

... No substitute for inspiration Lyrical maestro Sir Tim Rice casts a critical eye over Richard Andrews' new book Writing a Musical It is strange how so many books that purport to be the definitive guide to artistic success are written by people who haven't actually achieved that success. Here we have Richard Andrews, not known for his hit shows, telling us all how to write one. Naturally, I ...

... Dad's fight for classic status Dad's Army has always been too popular to be called a cult show. A show that can stand constant repeats nearly 30 years since it was first shown has truly reached classic status. Like many shows, it may have seemed a dodgy idea when David Croft and Jimmy Perry first conceived it, and it is not sur prising to discover from Richard Webber's book Dad's Army, a ...

... Heart and soul Pop has thrown up its share of phenomena over the past 40 years, but most have related to performers. Soul Survivors (Robson Books, £16.95), however, is about a venue, the Wigan Casino, a rurvdown building, opened originally as a dance hall, then a cabaret club during the sixties boom but in 1973 re-inventing itself as one of the best-known soul venues in the world, let alone ...

... Luscious coffee table reading What better way to begin the New Year than with an enjoyable book? Peter Hepple reviews a selection I am never quite sure whether the term 'coffee table books' refers to the size of the books themselves or the table you have to rest them on. But there is no doubt that Red Hot and Blue, by Amy Henderson and Dwight Blocker Bowers, comes into both categories. It ...

... LIVING A FICTION Michael TRB Tumbulls biography of Mary Garden (Scolar Press, £29.95) is not of the sensational kind. As is the case with this imprint, the book is scholarly and detailed, more an account of a career than a life. But controversy and a certain amount of scandal played its part in the life of a woman who many consider to have been the great est opera singer bom in the British ...

... 'Bum Actor' is ready good By Peter Hepple Michael Sheard subtitles his book Yes, Mr Bronson (Summersdale, 46 West Street, Chichester, West Sussex P019 1RP, £6.99) Memoirs of a Bum Actor. Not a term, one might think, that the young and earnest might take to. But one sees what he means. It is meant to refer to those who take acting life as it comes, like Sheard himself, who won an award at ...

... UNEASY FAME Were it not for the success of One Foot in the Grave, it is doubtful whether anybody would have thought it worthwhile to write a biography of Richard Wilson. It is almost certain that the subject would be the first to disagree even now that he is famous, for he is an intensely private and self-contained man. Those of us who have been around the theatre for a few years were aware ...