Winner: Theatre Book Prize 2012

At a reception held in the Val Parnell Suite at the London Palladium the winner of the Theatre Book Prize 2012, administered by The Society for Theatre Research, was announced as actor Ian Kelly for his ‘highly informative and entertaining book’, Mr Foote’s Other Leg, published by Picador.

Ian Kelly © The Society for Theatre Research

Actor Timothy West, who is President of the STR, presented the prize to Ian Kelly who has previously published volumes on Casanova and Beau Brummel. “I am an actor and I am speechless,” he said.

A “finely judged narrative” and “thoroughly entertaining” were the comments made by one of the judges, Professor Gavin Henderson. Foote “sees the funny side of everything – including the amputation of his leg”.

To read more about Kelly’s book and the prize-giving ceremony, go to the STR website.

The other books on the shortlist comprised:

In Two Minds: A Biography of Jonathan Miller by Kate Bassett (Oberon Books)
My Old Man: A Personal History of Music Hall by John Major (Harper Press)
The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Drama edited by Thomas Betteridge and Greg Walker (Oxford University Press)
Lena Ashwell: Actress, patriot, pioneer by Margaret Leask (Hertford University Press/ STR)

Alongside Gavin Henderson, the judges numbered actress Penelope Keith CBE, DL,(Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) and Evening Standard theatre critic Henry Hitchings.

The STR thanks The Really Useful Theatres Group and Dewynters for their support.

ABOUT THE THEATRE BOOK PRIZE

The Theatre Book Prize, co-ordinated by Howard Loxton, is an annual award first presented in 1998 to mark the Jubilee of the Society for Theatre Research. It was created to encourage the writing and publication of books on British, or British-related theatre history and practice, both those which present the theatre of the past and those which record contemporary theatre for the future. All new works of original research first published in English on British or British-related theatre are eligible except for play texts and studies of drama as literature. The winner is chosen by an independent panel of judges which changes every year.