Book Review: A Chronicle of Small Beer

'A Chronicle of Small Beer' covers the theatrical life of a young woman who at 18 decided to pursue her dreams of being on the stage. Winifred Dolan was born in 1867, she was the niece of Alfred Austin the Poet Laureate of England after the death of Lord Tennyson, quickly showed a natural ability for performance and a passion for the theatre. From a young age she attended the theatre in Leeds seeing all the big stars touring the provinces, it inspired her to train for the stage herself.  Her career began when she joined the company of the Margate Theatre Royal in 1891and began learning her trade, she was able to move up in late 1891 to the St James's Theatre, London. Dolan's career would generally consist of mainly understudy parts but gained popularity both with her peers and the audiences and reviewers of the time. It was unfortuanate for her that she never broke out and became a leading lady but she got to do many great things in her 13 year career on the stage. I won't list them here because really you need to read the book. Her memoir  is an honest and frank appraisal of theatre at the time and her own talents mixed with some choice gossip and tales of the stars of the time. It is a fantastic little book which gives an insiders view of the London theatres of the 1890s. I really enjoyed reading it, it is a treasure trove of stories and with only 120 pages its not too long so makes for a nice light read. It was published by the STR, of whom I am a member, and continues their long run of printing interesting and varied titles on the subject of the Theatre. Rating this book out of 5 I would give it a 4.5 because I can see myself revisiting this title again and again.

If this book would interest you, and trust me if you want to read about the Victorian Theatre from a first hand account this book WILL interest you, then please purchase it straight from the STR at this link here.