Balancing Acts: Behind the Scenes at London's National Theatre

NICHOLAS HYTNER is a theatre director and producer. He was director of London's National theatre from 2003 to 2015 and co-founded the London Theatre Company, whose first theatre, The Bridge, opened in October 2017

It should be read not simply by anyone who has an interest in British theatre, but anyone interested in that oldest of questions: how you make art that sells…Engagingly open…astute and unsentimental…His insights on Shakespeare and Bennett are worth the price of the book alone.” –Andrew Dickson, The Guardian (UK)     “The qualities of Hytner’s writing are the qualities of his work as a director —he’s specific, he’s detailed, he’s witty and entertaining, and he’s ab

He directed both the London and Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, each of which ran for ten years. From the Tony Award and Laurence Olivier Award-winning former director of London's National Theatre--this is a fascinating, candid, eloquent memoir about his career directing theater, producing films and opera, and working closely with some of the world's most celebrated actors.The list of Nicholas Hytner's accomplishments is long and distinguished: as Artistic Director of London's National Theatre from 2003-2015, he directed and produced a great number of their most popular and memorable plays and musicals, many of which have come to Broadway: Carousel, Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors, David Hare's Stuff Happens among them. In Balancing Acts, Hytner gives us a detailed behind-the-scenes look at his creative process. From reviving classic musicals and mastering Shakespeare to commissioning new plays, he shows theater making to be a necessarily collaborative exercise, and he writes insightfully about the actors and playwrights he's work