| “ | Those who delight in the workings of the theater -- the greasepaint, the crowds, and the stars -- will be engrossed by Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater, author Milly Barranger's backstage account of the life of pioneering director Margaret Webster (1905-72).
Barranger offers here the first book-length biography of Webster, a groundbreaking twentieth-century stage and opera director whose career challenged not only stage tradition but also mainstream attitudes toward professional women. Often credited with first having brought Shakespeare to Broadway, and renowned for her bold casting of an African American (Paul Robeson) in the role of Othello, Webster was a creative force in modern American and British theater.
Her story reveals the independent-minded artist undeterred by stage tradition and unmindful of rules about a woman's place in the professional theater. In addition to providing fascinating glimpses into Webster's personal and family life, Margaret Webster: A Life in the Theater also offers a who's-who list of the biggest names in New York and London theater of the time, as well as Hollywood: John Gielgud, Noël Coward, George Bernard Shaw, Uta Hagen, Sybil Thorndike, and John Barrymore, among others, all of whom crossed paths with Webster. Capping Webster's amazing story is her investigation and questioning by Senator Joseph McCarthy and HUAC, which left her unable to work for a year and from which she never fully recovered.
Milly S. Barranger is Alumni Distinguished Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was formerly Chairman of the Department of Dramatic Arts and Producing Director of the PlayMakers Repertory Company at The University of North Carolina.
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