Questors, Jesters and Renegades

A fascinating book on am-dram. * The Observer * [Michael Coveney’s] approach is serious and respectful. He has travelled to unearth histories of many of Britain’s long-established amateur groups and venues … Coveney is not of the school that looks to am-dram for what he encapsulates as ‘the hilarity of mishap’ … Rather, he makes the case for its worthiness, the closeness of much of its work to that of at least the lower ranks of the professional, and its role as a seedbed of talent. * The Spectator * Michael Coveney’s book not only charts the development of the amateur scene, (mainly in England), but also celebrates the joy of amateur theatre, warts and all … a lively celebration of a quite British phenomenon. * British Theatre Guide * A wide-ranging, insightful and very funny book that charts our fascination with theatre. * Camden New Journal * Richly entertaining and informative ... What comes across vividly is that the amateur movement has made a huge contribution to the nation's story and even to the idea of a National Theatre. * Country Life * An irresistible snoop into the world where so many of us were first tempted into the footlights. Michael Coveney is a trail-blazing theatrical critic; no one could tell this story better. * Celia Imrie * I particularly admire its readiness to face the patronage and belittlement of amdram and find compelling arguments to persuade sceptical readers to think again ... [it] is continuously well-researched and propelled by argument, but never preachy. * Irving Wardle, writer and theatre critic * The book will also fill a vital gap in the theatrical bookshelves and relate the amateur movement to professional theatre and the wider society. * Michael Billington, Guardian theatre critic * The subject is fascinating and under-investigated: to the best of my belief this is the first attempt to provide an account of it. Michael Coveney, one of our most widely experienced and highly respected theatre critics, is an ideal narrator. * Sir Stanley Wells, scholar and author * Amateur theatre in his vision is the Brazilian forest of the stage, pumping out the oxygen we all feed off. It’s historically informative, vividly personal, and - that rare thing - literally indispensable to an in-depth understanding of the place of theatre in the life of the nation. A genuinely important book, which also manages to be continuously entertaining. * Simon Callow, actor *