Stage Blood, by Michael Blakemore – review

Stage Blood, as its title suggests, is as full of vitriol, back-stabbing and conspiracy as any Jacobean tragedy. In this sequel to Arguments with England, his superb first volume of memoirs, Michael Blakemore presents us with an enthralling account of his five embattled years as an associate director of the National Theatre.

When in 1970 Blakemore was offered the position by Laurence Olivier, he had a distinguished career as an actor behind him and was already well-established as a successful director.  It was an exciting time: the National was still in formation, several years away from moving into its permanent home on the South Bank; and Olivier was not only the greatest actor of his generation but a man of formidable powers of leadership, brilliantly imaginative and wholly dedicated to the theatre. Blakemore’s colleagues in the company — John Dexter, Jonathan Miller, Kenneth Tynan — were all at the top of their profession.