Charity Shops... and Libraries

I have a thirst for knowledge, I must know that which I do not already and that is never so obvious as when it comes to the theatre. In an industry like ours where the very artform itself is changing day by day and tastes are altering it is important to try and capture that tsunami of information. It doesn't of course help that there is a vast history out there of the theatre and that is what interests me the most. I will freely admit to not being able to keep up with the modern theatre as well as I would like mainly due to my own personal tastes and judgements but I will quite happily read and listen to articles, books etc about things that happened in the past. That is why I am so addicted to trawling second hand book shops, car boot sales, charity shops and of course Libraries. My own personal library of dramatic books is of course growing by the week which in a room as small as ours is a bit of a pain. The biggest complaint despite the lack of space is that these books sometimes go unread, the majority of the technical ones on directing and design etc have been pored over at length same as the plays, but the history ones are neglected which is why I have started reading them with an aim to review them and see what they can teach us today.

I get the majority of my books funnily enough from the Library service who sell off old books they no longer need or want due to the condition age or whatever of the book. The prices range from 50p to a couple of pounds and are really a steal, you can pick up old paperbacks and hardbacks on all sorts of subjects for those prices thanks to the library needing to update its stock. Then of course there are charity shops, the past two weekends we spent time in Littlehampton and managed to over those two saturdays pay out £30 for a collection of about 30 rarish and old books that are now out of print. My favourite so far, apart from a beautiful copy of To the Actor by Michael Chekov, is a theatre criticism book from the early 19th century (its a reprint and re-edited) by an author named William Hazlitt who writes about the performances of great early actors like Edmund Kean and Mrs Alsop in a book titled: Hazlitt on Theatre. So that is the first I will review and look forward to that soon everyone. However like I said charity shops are a great place to find bargains, at the end of terms near well known drama schools and colleges you can normally find tonnes of plays from students who do not keep their texts. I implore you if you are looking for something different from the same old typical books you find in Waterstones and WHSmiths then look in the Charity shops or the Libraries they may have some rare books at a steal which can interest you.

Support your local charity shops and go have a look.

Xtofer