THE SAME ONLY DIFFERENT

by Margaret Webster ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 6, 1969

Five generations of a remarkable theatrical family spanning some 150 years chronicled here by the actress/director who triumphed in America with her production of Richard II starring Maurice Evans. This is lively, lucid and stimulating history starting with great-great-grandfather Benjamin, the dancing master who sired eleven little hoofers; proceeding to great-grandfather Benjamin Nottingham Webster who started out on twopence a day and eventually found his niche as the actor/manager/founder of London's Haymarket Theatre, consorting with everyone from Edmund Kean to Charles Dickens. He also carried on a lively illicit romance with Madame Celeste and was forced into a shotgun wedding at 79 to a much, much younger bride. Miss Webster's father, Ben II, operated on a calmer scale, offset perhaps by the caprices of her mother, Dame May Whitty, as the two of them stormed the boards with Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, Gordon Craig, the Barrymores and ""the Royal Tigerine,"" Mrs. Pat. The book is resplendent with amusing anecdote and surprising correspondences from notables like G. Bernard Shaw, and Miss Webster has, herself, carried on the family tradition in fine style. A real theatrical find.

Pub Date: May 6, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION