Gareth Armstrong

Is a man's Memorial Service the right time to tell the truth?Reunited for the occasion a group of friends gather to celebrate a life. But who are they remembering? A creative genius, a former lover, a bitter rival - or the man who deceived them all? A five-strong cast in a wickedly funny play full of revelations, rediscoveries and revenges.

A unique guide to every aspect of putting on your own solo show: choosing the subject, raising the finance, booking the venue - and performing it! More and more actors – faced with ever longer periods of unemployment – are turning to the solo show as a way of keeping active, keeping visible, and keeping the wolf from the door! This book is essential reading for anyone contemplating such a move, and comprehensively covers every aspect of putting on your own one-person show. Being a veteran of the solo-show circuit, as a writer, performer and director, Gareth Armstrong is the ideal guide. He takes you step by step through each stage of the process: • Choosing the right material – or devising your own • Raising the finance • Finding the venues • Hiring a bookings manager and other personnel • Arranging publicity • Winning an audience There is a special section on that mecca for solo shows, the Edinburgh Fringe, and an extensive appendix covering funding bodies, venues, festivals and more. Throughout the book, Armstrong illustrates his points with case studies of actual solo shows by performers such as Miriam Margolyes, Linda Marlowe and Guy Masterson. 'So You Want To Do A Solo Show? is a thorough, meticulous, hands-on, "how-to-do" manual, covering everything from the germination of an idea right through to the costing of the flyers. It is, I think, the most valuable read for any performer who has ever thought "If only I could have some control over the way my career is going"' Maureen Lipman, from her Foreword

Continuing the tumultuous story of TheCousins War, Philippa tells the tale of a young mother's determined ambition for her son - soon to Henry VII

Having established a moderately successful, but inevitably intermittent, acting career, including - uniquely - playing three separate characters in The Archers, Gareth Armstrong felt the need of a reliable side-line to cover the gaps. A one-man show seemed the answer - and Shylock a good subject. But no-one was more surprised than he by the way first his research and then the character took over his life. He has now travelled the world over with Shylock, from San Francisco to Sri Lanka, from Romania to New Zealand, his myriad encounters enriching both him and the show, adding ever more threads to his one-man story of the Jew. Frequently hilarious, often provocative, this account of a Gentile actor's exploration and discovery of the most famous of fictional Jews is fascinating, revealing - and always entertaining.