cover image Year of the Pearl: The Life of a New York Repertory Company

Year of the Pearl: The Life of a New York Repertory Company

David Hapgood. Alfred A. Knopf, $23 (195pp) ISBN 978-0-679-41165-9

Hapgood, a freelance writer, spent August of 1991 to May of 1992 with a small off-Broadway theater company. Established in 1984, The Pearl is located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and presents productions of the classics. The author provides a wealth of interesting detail about theatrical fund-raising, acting techniques and the artistic problems involved in mounting serious drama. Hapgood's family was involved in theater (his mother translated Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares ), and he shows great sympathy for the travails of performers, directors and production support staffers whose devotion to their work causes them to live close to the poverty line. The interviews he conducted with Pearl founder and artistic director Shepard Sobel, actress Joanne Camp (Shepard's wife) and the other players reveal their dedication to their craft, as well as a glimpse into the rivalries that surface when egos conflict. This is an engaging work of theater history. Photos. (Nov.)