Pages From Stages

Anthony Field explores the changing style of theatres including interior design, exterior design, ticket and seat prices, and levels of service, while questionning whether the theatre still exists as a place of entertainment for regular theatre-goers or has become merely a tourist venture. He talks of "the death of the theatre and theatre-going" in the new millennium, laments the loss of good actors, and studies the changing nature of the Arts Council in a Britain which has lost its 'theatre-going' culture.

The book extends from examining the system of playwriting to theatre management to investigating the economic, political and financial aspects of the theatre which make it what it is today and not what it used to be.

Paul Webb provides commentaries on each of the articles, adding his own insight into the topics.



A regular columnist on theatre for the industry's newspaper, The Stage, Anthony Field was, in the 1950s, Chief Accountant to a group of companies involved in West End theatres and cinemas before moving to the Arts Council, where he worked for over 25 years. As Finance Director he controlled a budget of over £100 million, and was on the Board of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He is Vice Chairman of Theatre Projects Consultants, advising on the construction of theatres, concert halls and opera houses around the world. As a theatre producer he created the Watergate Theatre Club, whose staging of modern dramas helped end the anachronistic censorship of plays by the Lord Chamberlain. Among the shows he has produced have been I'm Not Rappaport, Hello Again and Nixon's Nixon. He lectured at Harvard Business School from 1971-1980 and is Visiting Professor in Arts Administration at the City University, where he initiated the training of arts administrators.

Paperback 204 pages (July 15, 2004)
Publisher: Entertainment Technology Press
ISBN: 1904031269