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Dateline: 12th April, 2007 Philip Fisher reports on the Theatre Book Prize 2006 ceremony The paparazzi were taking a day off from their normal pursuit of glittery superstars in Cannes and Hollywood. It is a toss-up as to who was more bemused at their appearance en masse for the Society for Theatre Research's annual Theatre Book Prize award for 2006, the Society or the photographers. Sadly, the excitement was probably not generated by the tussle between Alex Sierz' book on Martin Crimp and a scholarly biography of Lilian Baylis by Elizabeth Shafer, or indeed any of the other four short-listed titles. Because society president Timothy West was unavailable due to a prior engagement with the RSC in Washington DC, his place was taken by the ubiquitous nude superstar, Daniel (Harry Potter) Radcliffe. His reputation may have been based on being youthfully winsomely on screen and more recently youthfully undressed on stage. However, on this occasion, the pink T-shirted Mr Radcliffe proved himself adept at the one liner, since that is all that he delivered in an appearance that didn't stretch to 30 seconds - or, in paparazzi terms, no more than around 500 snaps. His line was critical though, as he announced that the winner of the 2006 Theatre Book Prize was John Heilpern for his biography John Osborne - A Patriot for Us published by Chatto and Windus. This is the tenth occasion on which the prize has been awarded and the occasion took on a political element as various speakers debated the sorry plight of the Theatre Museum at which it was taking place, almost certainly for the last time. This is very sad and made even more so by an enjoyable ceremony overseen by an attractive portrait of a belligerent Richard Burton playing Henry V. First, Geoffrey Marsh the director of the Theatre Museum, talked a little about plans for the future at the V and A where the collection will be displayed in a very limited form in only four rooms commencing in 2009/10. There is also to be a Theatre Design Exhibition opening on 20th November this year at the V&A. This can hardly be regarded as a good shop window for the performing arts, more of a lock-up garage Cutting to the final speech of the afternoon, the wonderful Sir Donald Sinden, playing a part that he clearly thoroughly enjoys, was the big bad wolf huffing and puffing at the iniquities perpetrated on the Museum by its ineffectual proprietors. He made impassioned speech on behalf of the Guardians of the Theatre Museum and asked those present, and by extension all readers of this article, to help the appeal raise the final £500,000 that will secure the future of this valuable national asset. After an introductory speech by BTG critic and award administrator Howard Loxton, the three judges each picked their favourites, talking not only about books on the shortlist but also others that they enjoyed during the year. Opening the batting was Richard Mangan, the editor of Gielgud's Letters and also administrator of the Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson Theatre Collection. He clearly likes pioneering women, focusing on two books about Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop (by Robert Leach and Murray Melvin respectively) and the aforementioned biography of Lilian Baylis. He showed his true colours at the end, championing a biography of comedian, Tommy Cooper: Always Leave Them Laughing by John Fisher and giving an execrable imitation of his hero! Following him, critic Heather Neill talked a little about the pleasures and pains of receiving books to read. She was less than impressed that having had plenty of leisure time to read the first three, the remaining forty or so arrived on her doorstep almost simultaneously. Despite her reservations, Ms Neill very much enjoyed reading Staging New Britain, a short-listed book about Black and South Asian theatre in this country edited by Geoffrey V. Davis and Anne Fuchs. She also had plenty of time for Dominic Dromgoole's Shakespearean homage Will and Me and Robert Butler's The Alchemist Exposed about the rehearsal process behind Nicholas Hytner's recent production starring Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale at the National Theatre. The paparazzi started to get into focus with the arrival of the final judge, actor John Woodvine. He is also a fan of comedians enjoying a book of memoirs, Victor Spinetti Up Front, and he then went to considerable trouble to read out comic extracts from The Victorian Clown by Jacky Bratton and Ann Featherstone. He has a more serious side and was clearly very taken with the Jack Shepherd and Keith Dewhurst book about the early days of the Cottesloe Theatre under Bill Bryden, Impossible Plays. He also spoke about the winner describing it as "a terrific book - it's beautifully written". Bryden was present and, in the absence of winning author John Heilpern, collected the award and spoke movingly of the winning book about which he was full of admiration, although he thought that John Osborne would have hated it! Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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