John Gielgud's Notes from the Gods: Playgoing in the Twenties by Sir John Gielgud
As a drama student at RADA and as a tyro actor in the 20s, Gielgud was a passionate playgoer, seeing everthing of note in the London theatre - ballet, revue and melodrama as well as straight plays. He attended the premieres of Shaw, O'Neill and A.A. Milne classics, and of course watched the leading players of his day. He kept every single programme, carefully noting down his views on the front cover. This fully-illustrated giftbook gives nostalgic glimpses into the theatre of the 20s, as seen through the eyes - and programme notes - of the young John Gielgud, and comes complete with comments by Gielgud, spanning the years 1919 to 1925. This collection of programmes, jealously guarded for many years by his mother, has recently been gifted to the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection.