Reviews for The Boys: Biography of Michael MacLiammoir & Hilton Edwards

The average rating for The Boys: Biography of Michael MacLiammoir & Hilton Edwards based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-12-17 00:00:00 Serafina Greengrass The book is not really what it seems to be. It really is not a biography of the two men. You won't really be much the wiser about their relationship or really know anything more about them that isn't available via other means. There are no 'revelations'. How they related to one another, even what they thought about one another is not explored. What this should have been titled is 'A History of the Gate Theatre' - because that is exactly what it is. Nothing wrong with that. 'The Boys' (as they were affectionately known) were the heart and soul, inspiration, designers etc of the whole project. The book starts with a brief background of both men but there is so little to go on and they did everything they could to keep it that way. We have no knowledge of any personal relationships they had prior to meeting each other. The whole personal element is missing. As a history it is well researched - too well possibly. I don't think lists and lists of the plays performed on every tour was really necessary as a lot of it was repetitive. It would have been nice to have some human stories, anecdotes, witty repartee , just to break up the 'then they went here and performed this, then that, and they went on to X and performed that'. You will be a lot better informed at the end of the book than you were at the beginning. No denying that. But not about the 'the boys'. About The Gate. Yes. About the history of Irish Theatre from the foundation of the State - yes. This is interesting in itself. But it fails as biography.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-02-03 00:00:00 Andy Riley An inspiring overview to the great minds and methods that have influenced the contemporary theatre world today. Great to track ideas that are now pitched as new back through the centuries and to read about big ideas realised in climates more hostile to arts funding than the current one.