A brown-noser’s history of the Old Vic and National Theatre

The Old Vic: The Story of a Great Theatre from Kean to Olivier to Spacey Terry Coleman

Faber, pp.274, £25, ISBN: 9780571311255

Closely Observed Theatre: From the National to the Old Vic Jonathan Croall

Fantom, pp.220, £10.99, ISBN: 9781781961179

The moment Waterloo Bridge was planned across the Thames, a new theatre to serve the transpontine coach trade was inevitable. The Old Vic opened in 1818. Originally called the Royal Coburg, it could seat a whopping 3,800. Kean was the first great actor to perform there. In 1831 he played Richard III, King Lear and Othello in one week.

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TaggedBook review - theatrical history, Ed Mirvish, Kevin Spacey, Lilian Baylis, Matthew Warchus, Peter Brook

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A brown-noser's history of the Old Vic and National Theatre

<span style="color: #222222;">A review of The Old Vic: The Story of a Great Theatre from Kean to Olivier to Spacey, by Terry Coleman, and Closely Observed Theatre: From the National to the Old Vic, by Jonathan Croall. Where's the critical thinking?</span>

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