Great Moments in the Theatre

His informative and entertaining essays cover and celebrate a vast array of diverse, historical and important openings and events

He starts with the first performance of Aeschylus' Oresteia on an Athenian hillside in 458 BC and ends with the premiere of Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem in London 2009 AD

Each informative and entertaining entry is between 650 and 850 words, covering a remarkable diversity of theatrical openings and events, many of significant historical interest and importance, and many witnessed by Nightingale himself during his 50-year reviewing career

The plays and shows that Nightingale crisply and authoritatively brings to life range from Sheridan's School for Scandal to Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, from Gogol's Government Inspector to the Ian McKellen Macbeth, from Synge's Playboy of the Western World, which provoked serious riots in the Dublin of 1907, to Lionel Bart's Twang! in 1965 - possibly the most disastrous musical ever

Throughout the book Nightingale celebrates leading dramatists and performers, directors and composers, everywhere sharing the fulfilment and fun he has found in the art-form he loves

"Benedict Nightingale's characteristically witty, insightful and enthusiastic reports make you wish you'd been sitting next to him during his greatest moments in the theatre" ~ Ian McKellen

"A magnificently readable tour of theatrical history conducted by our best-informed living critic" ~ Michael Billington, Guardian

"I've known Benedict Nightingale for more than fifty years over which time he has become one of the Theatre's most distinguished and influential commentators. He writes with style, perspective and wit, and with a deep knowledge of his subject. In turn he is greatly admired by the theatre profession and, as importantly, by his readers and the audiences who trust the fairness of his opinions" ~ Sir Peter Hall