Preface

Over forty-plus years, Joseph Donohue spent many days in London libraries researching thea­trical subjects and many after­noons and evenings in London theatres, witnessing almost one hundred twenty-five productions of original plays and revivals and recording his exper­ience in a series of metic­ulously kept journals. This chronicle of West End and fringe perform­ance sets down the per­cep­tions of a lifelong American theatregoer who over time made London almost a second home. It reveals a writer with a­­ persistently curious, skeptical mind, alive to innovation and open to fresh interpret­ation, while always aware of the pitfalls that make theatrical production one of the riskiest but also one of the most reward­ing of artistic pursuits.

The result, documented in these pages, amounts to a­n account of the London theatre over decades of sometimes turbulent social change and artistic advance­ment. It is a history informed by a lifetime of study and teaching of ancient, Renaissance, modern, and post-modern plays and their vital theatrical dimen­sions. The focus lies centrally on the individual character of each prod­uction, embracing the action of the play, the quality of the acting and other produc­tion values, and the ideas that give shape and purpose to the dramatist’s self-imposed task.The writing, personal yet objective, is by turns serious and humor­ous. It does not mince words, and yet remains fair and even generous. Keeping the theatre audience much in mind, as well as a varied readership, it aims at vivid, incisive description and, finally, measured judgment of production, play, and author. Gradually a deeply felt, cumulative sense emerges of what dedicated playgoing is really like and why the London theatre has been preeminent for so very long.

The programs that accompany these reviews have been donated to the Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and may be consulted on application to the Special Collections librarian. The collection is called the Joseph Donohue Collection of Theatre Programs and Theatrical Ephemera.