Theatre Book Prize finalists revealed

Published Friday 29 February 2008 at 12:10 by Lalayn Baluch

Michael Billington’s The State of the Nation and a new biography based on the life of Rudolf Nureyev are among the six finalists shortlisted for this year’s Theatre Book Prize by the Society for Theatre Research.

The competition aims to find the best book on theatre history and practice, published in 2007. Now in its 11th year, the prize will be judged by actress Sian Phillips, Lancaster University professor of cultural history Jeffery Richards, and theatre critic and journalist Claire Allfree.

The winner will be announced on April 1, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

The six finalists are:

• Children and Theatre in Victorian Britain by Anne Varty
• London’s Grand Guignol and the Theatre of Horror by Richard J Hand and Michael Wilson
• Harlequin Empire: Race, Ethnicity and the Drama of the Popular Enlightenment by David Worrall
• Rudolf Nureyev by Julie Kavanagh
• Spectacular Flirtations by Gill Perry
• The State of the Nation by Michael Billington