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Just Adrian
By Adrian Mitchell
Oberon Books £9.99
158 pages
Dateline: 30th November, 2011
Just Adrian is like a scrapbook that has been compiled by its editors, Celia Mitchell and Daniel Cohen, to reflect one man's love affair with the theatre.
In around 35 generally very short pieces, the multi-talented Adrian Mitchell’s writings both public and private are mined for gems that reflect his views and opinions.
This means that collectively one can build a pretty good picture of an iconoclastic, left-leaning artist whose interests could hardly be more varied.
While he wrote his own straight plays for adults, Mitchell did so much more. He adapted plays by the greats from the Spanish Golden Age for the RSC and the National, he had a deep affection for musical theatre and was proud of his ability to bring children into theatres and instil enthusiasm for the art form into them.
The book alternates very short numbered selections with longer pieces that tend to be articles drawn from other sources about specific subjects.
After starting with a little autobiography, other topics include his relationship with Kenneth Tynan when they worked together on Tyger, a celebration of the life and work of William Blake, eulogies to Joan Littlewood from Theatre Workshop and John McGrath of 7:84 fame and to complement these, an article on Theatre and the Left.
Many of his other works are also explored in some depth and perhaps best remembered these days are his work on CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Peter Brook's production of Marat/Sade both for the RSC.
Overall, this is a splendid read that pays homage to an unusual, dedicated man who must have been delightful, if sometimes abrasive company.
Philip Fisher
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