Apprenticeship is Peter Gill's potent recollection of the changing theatrical landscape of the 1960s. Part history, part memoir, part polemic, it puts into context his recently discovered diary of 1962 in which he vividly recalls his experiences as a young actor in Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle as part of their first London season. This intensely personal account, by turns witty and evocative, includes a penetrating analysis of the figures and themes of twentieth century drama and marks the beginning of Gill's development into one of the most important and influential playwrights and directors in the British Theatre.
Chekhov’s great play, written in 1896, bursts into the 21st century with the burdens of the past bearing witness to the freedoms of the future.
First performed at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1904, directed by Konstantin Stanislavski, The Cherry Orchard remains a classic of the theatre. Completed less than a year before his death at the age of forty-four, Chekhov’s last ‘comedy’ still ranks supreme as a human tragedy of dispossession with audiences and actors alike. Peter Gill’s luminous version brings the psychological realism of Chekhov’s characters into sharp focus; fragile souls poised on the brink of happiness which never comes, or trapped in a void between the old world and the new.