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The Actor's Crucible

Port Talbot and the Making of Burton, Hopkins, Sheen and All the Others

Prof Angela V John author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Parthian Books

Published:1st Nov '15

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The Actor's Crucible cover

Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen count amongst the world's most renowned and gifted actors. Yet they have something else in common: they all come from the south Wales steel town of Port Talbot. What is it about this industrial community that has produced such superstars? Angela V. John, who also hails from the town, explores the lives of these acting legends before they became famous. She presents their emergence as part of a rich culture and commitment to drama long embedded in the town's history. She reveals too a host of other famous Port Talbot faces, from early stars such as Ronald Lewis and Ivor Emmanuel to more recent performers like Rob Brydon and Di Botcher, along with a cluster of young actors starting to make their mark on London's West End stage, and on the big and small screen. Her account culminates in the spectacular three-day event of Easter 2011 when Michael Sheen resurrected Port Talbot's pride and hopes through the unforgettable theatrical experience of The Passion. This book puts centre-stage the shifting fortunes of a town, its actors and, crucially, its enablers - those unsung heroes who helped to nurture talent in schools, youth centres and youth theatre. Using extensive interviews, it provides a refreshing way of looking at the history of a community and a profession, as well as casting new and unexpected light on the backgrounds of its most famous stars.

'This is a brilliantly insightful and much needed study by one of Wales' leading historians, using a range of sources including her own personal memories of Port Talbot and its stars' --Hywel Francis, historian 'This is an important work that deepens our sense of a changing Wales... nicely combining local with international and popular with scholarship' --Peter Stead, author of Acting Wales 'Tremendous... it tells a fascinating and very important story and does so in a way that will be accessible to a very wide readership' --Chris Williams, editor of The Richard Burton Diaries 'Local knowledge is the foundation of this well-researched and very readable account. Richard Burton and Company are the stars but Angela John shows just how they came to attain that celestial state' --Sally Roberts Jones, Port Talbot historian

ISBN: 9781910409947

Dimensions: 216mm x 140mm x 23mm

Weight: 386g

240 pages