Each year the STR publishes at least one book on an aspect of British theatre. Members receive these publications as part of their annual subscription and get a discount on the retail price for STR books in print. Non-members may also buy STR Publications.

List of all STR Publications

Annual Publication 2022-2023

Iain Mackintosh's examination of a century of Theatre Spaces 1920-2020 has now been mailed to members. Further copies are available from the STR Bookshop and will be available at the Annual Address on 24 May.

Special Book Offer for New Members

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Further Offer for New Members to include The Theatric Tourist

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Theatre Spaces 1920-2020 Finding the Fun in Functionalism

In this lavishly illustrated hands-on account of the creation of new theatre spaces spanning a century, Iain Mackintosh offers a compelling history that is part memoir, part impassioned call to rethink the design of our theatre spaces and the future of live theatre. As the originator of theatre designs as diverse as the Cottesloe in 1977, Glyndebourne in 1994, the Orange Tree Theatre in 1991, the Martha Cohen Theatre in 1985 and the Tina Packer Playhouse in 2001, he discovered why the same show worked in some theatres but not in others.

It is this unique blend of experience that informs this account of many of the best-known theatre spaces in Britain, besides many international examples including the Guthrie Theater Minneapolis and the Oslo Opera House. Running throughout is a consideration of factors which have shaped design thinking during this time and which demand attention today. After the long theatre closures driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, Mackintosh argues that now is the time to discover the routes travelled over the last century.

“Iain Mackintosh describes his book as a memoir, but it is also a comprehensive handbook for theatre makers and audiences the world over. A one stop shop for anyone interested in how the delicate and vital relationship between audience and performance has evolved over centuries. Upon his shoulders I have stood for 30 years. Essential reading.” Stephen Daldry, Stage, film and television director and producer.

“It’s an amazingly detailed account of great value to anyone performing on stage today and a necessity for future architects.” Dame Eileen Atkins, Actor and screenwriter.

“Like the man himself, Iain Mackintosh’s memoir is erudite, trenchant, occasionally infuriating but always entertaining, enthusiastic and informative. Anyone who wants to understand more deeply the complexities and subtleties of theatre architecture should read this book.” Steve Tompkins, Architect, Haworth Tompkins.

Iain Mackintosh co-founded the Prospect Theatre Company in 1961, taking 75 productions to over a hundred theatres around the world. He then became a designer of theatre spaces in many countries with Theatre Projects Consultants and has been invited as a guest speaker to conferences across five continents.

Published by Bloomsbury-Methuen in partnership with the Society for Theatre Research, the book features a foreword by Sir Richard Eyre, Director of the National Theatre, 1987–1997.

Paperback (2023), 256 pp,131 illus. & plans, ISBN 9781350005 6244

The Bookshop is open to all

Anyone may buy STR publications from the Bookshop at the retail price, with a generous discount for STR members (NB Members need to log in to buy discounted books via the website. Email membersinterests@str.org.uk to get your login details)

Submission Guidelines

The STR is interested in expanding its long and distinguished list of publications in the history and technique of the British Theatre. Holders of STR research awards are especially – but by no means exclusively – encouraged to submit proposals for future STR publications.

A proposal would normally include:
[i] a summary statement of the proposed book and its anticipated market (if any beyond the theatrically savvy members of the STR, who receive publications as part of their membership package);

[ii] an estimate of overall length;

[iii] a chapter-by-chapter break-down, listing chapter titles and preferably also indicating contents and guestimating length of each chapter;

[iv] a note of any illustrations likely to be used;

[v] and at least one or two sample chapters.

All proposals, and enquiries about making them, should be addressed to
the General Editor, Trevor Griffiths publications@str.org.uk

List of STR Publications

Many recent publications are still available to buy.

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  1. List of STR Publications from 1948 to the present

    1948-49 – A Loewenberg, The Theatre of the British Isles excluding London

    1949-50 – C Rice, The London Theatre in the 1830s, ed A C Sprague and B Shuttleworth

    1950-51 – Studies in English Theatre History, ed M St Clare Byrne

    1950-51 – J Grant, Penny Theatres from `Sketches in London’ (1838) (pamphlet)

    1951-52 – Robert Speaight, William Poel and the Elizabethan Revival (with Heinemann)

    1951-2 – William Poel’s Prompt-book of `Fratricide Punished’, ed J Isaacs (pamphlet)

    1952-53 – W C Smith, Italian Opera in London 1789-1820

    1952-53 – E Croft-Murray, John Devoto: a baroque scene painter (pamphlet)

    *1953-54 – A C Sprague, The Stage Business in Shakespeare’s Plays: a Postscript (pamphlet)

    1954-55 – Memoirs of Charles Dibdin the Younger, ed George Speaight

    1954-55 – Sybil Rosenfeld, Foreign Theatrical Companies in Great Britain in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries (pamphlet)

    1955-56 – Transactions of the International Conference on Theatre History (pamphlet)

    *1956-57 – Oxberry’s 1822 Edition of `King Richard III’: with descriptive notes made by James Hackett recording Edmund Kean’s Performance, facsimile ed A S Downer

    1957-58 – J F Kerslake, Catalogue of Theatrical Portraits in London Public Collections

    1957-58 – W A Armstrong, Elizabethan Private Theatres: facts and problems (pamphlet)

    1958-59 – J L Hodgkinson and R Pogson, The Early Manchester Theatre (with Anthony Blond)

    1959-60 – Ivor Guest, The Empire Ballet

    1960-61
    1961-62 – J F Arnott and J W Robinson, English Theatrical Literature 1559-1900
    1962-63

    1960-61 – Theatrical Portraits, introd George Speaight (folder)

    1961-62 – V C Clinton-Baddeley, Some Pantomime Pedigrees (pamphlet)

    1963-64 – A Jefferson, The Operas of Richard Strauss (with Putnam)

    1964-65 – A C Sprague, Shakespeare’s Histories, Plays for the Stage

    1964-65 – A C Sprague, The Doubling of Parts in Shakespeare’s Plays pamphlet)

    1965-66 – The London Theatre 1811-1866: Selections from the Diaries of Henry Crabb Robinson, ed E Brown

    1966-67 – St Vincent Troubridge, The Benefit System in the British Theatre

    1967-68 – I K Fletcher and A Rood, Edward Gordon Craig: a Bibliography

    1968-69 – The Committee Books of the Theatre Royal, Norwich 1768-1825,
    ed D H Eshleman

    1969-70 – Theatrical Street Ballads, ed J W Robinson

    *1969-70 – Ifan Kyrle Fletcher, a Memorial Tribute (pamphlet)

    1970-71 – A Bridges-Adams Letter Book, ed Robert Speaight

    1971-72 – Daniel Nalbach, The King’s Theatre 1704-1867

    1972-73 – A Drury Lane Journal, ed A L Nelson and G B Cross

    *1972-73 – C B Hogan, Index to `The Wandering Patentee’

    1973-74 – Norman MacDermott, Everymania: The History of the Everyman Theatre, Hampstead, 1920-1926

    1974 – K M D Barker, The Theatre Royal, Bristol (Subscription Publication)

    1974-75 – C Murray, Robert William Elliston, Manager

    *1975-76 – Olive Youngs, Index to `Theatre Notebook’ Vols 1-25 (1945-71)

    1976-77 – Sybil Rosenfeld, Temples of Thespis

    1977-78 – R Klepac, Mr Mathews at Home

    1977-78 – Paul Sawyer, The New Theatre at Lincoln’s Inn Fields (pamphlet)

    1978 – Terence Rees, Theatre Lighting in the Age of Gas (Subscription Publication)

    1978-79 – Mollie Sands, Robson of the Olympic

    *1979 – K M D Barker, Bristol at Play (Subscription Re-Publication, originally published by Moonraker Press)

    1979-80 – Anthony Vaughan, Born to Please: Hannah Pritchard, Actress, 1711-1768

    1980-81 – A Hare, George Frederick Cooke: the Actor and the Man

    *1981 – The Life and Travels of Richard Barnard (Subscription Publication)

    1981 – H A A Whiteley, Memoirs of Circus,Variety, etc as I Knew It (Subscription Publication)

    1981-82 – E W White, A Register of First Performances of English Operas

    1981-82 – Victorian Theatrical Trades, ed Michael Booth (pamphlet)

    1982-83 – Allan Wade, Memories of the London Theatre 1900-1914, ed A Andrews

    1983-84 – Richard Foulkes, The Shakespeare Tercentenary of 1864

    *1984 – Sybil Rosenfeld, The Georgian Theatre of Richmond, Yorkshire (with the Ebor Press of York) (Subscription Publication)

    1984-85 – Jim Davis, John Liston, Comedian

    1985-86 – Wendy & J C Trewin, The Arts Theatre, London, 1927-1981

    1986-87 – George Rowell, William Terriss and Richard Prince: Two Characters in an Adelphi Melodrama

    1987-88 – Mollie Sands, The Eighteenth-Century Pleasure Gardens of Marylebone

    1988-89 – John Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, ed Judith Milhous & Robert D. Hume

    1988-89 – Josephine Harrop, Victorian Portable Theatres

    1989-90 – Sam Wild (ed ‘Trim’), Old Wild’s: A Nursery of Strolling Players

    1989-90 – Wendy Trewin, The Royal General Theatrical Fund

    1990-91 – Olive Youngs, Index to Theatre Notebook Vols 26-40 (1972-1986)

    1991-92 – Paul Ranger, `Terror and Pity…’: Gothic Drama in the London Patent Theatres, 1750-1820

    1991-92 – Harry William Pedicord, `By Their Majesties’ Command’: The House of Hanover at the London Theatres 1714-1800

    1992 – Robert Eddison, Majestic Service: An Autobiographical Memoir (pamphlet)

    1992-93 – F Wilton, The Britannia Diaries 1863-1875: Selections, ed Jim Davis

    1992-93 – Richard Foulkes, The Calverts: Actors of Some Importance

    1993-94 – Claire Cochrane, Shakespeare and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre 1913-1929

    1993-94 – Anthony Denning, Theatre in the Cotswolds, ed Paul Ranger

    1994-95 – Scenes from Provincial Stages, ed Richard Foulkes

    1994-95 – Robert Atkins, An Unfinished Autobiography, ed George Rowell

    1995-96 – A C Sprague, The Stage Business in Shakespeare’s Plays: a Postscript (pamphlet), introd Lois Potter

    1996-97 – British Theatrical Patents 1801-1900, ed Terence Rees and David Wilmore

    1997-98 – Christopher Fry, Early Days (pamphlet)

    1997-98 – W G Knight, A Major London `Minor’:the Surrey Theatre 1805-1865

    1997-98 – Charles Rice, Tavern Singing in Early Victorian London:Diaries for 1840 and 1850, ed Laurence Senelick

    1998-99 – Philip Butterworth, Theatre of Fire: Special Effects in Early English and Scottish Theatre

    1998-99 – Francesca Franchi, Directory of Performing Arts Resources, 3rd ed

    1999-2000 – Theodor Fontane, Shakespeare in the London Theatre, 1855-1858, ed & trans Russell Jackson

    1999-2000 – George Speaight, The Juvenile Drama:A Union Catalogue (pamphlet)

    2000-01 – W S Gilbert, Theatrical Criticism, ed Jane Stedman

    2000-01 – Carol Jones Carlyle, Helen Faucit: Fire and Ice on the Victorian Stage

    2001-02 – Sybil Rosenfeld, The York Theatre

    2001-02 – Paul Ranger, Under Two Managers: the Everyday Life of the Thornton-Barnett Theatre Company, 1785-1853

    2002-03 – Derek Forbes, Illustrated Playbills

    2002-03 – Performance and Spectacle in Hall’s `Chronicle’, ed Janet Dillon

    2003-04 – Görel Garlick, To serve the purpose of the drama: the theatre designs and plays of Samuel Beazley, 1786-1851

    2003-04 – Charles Edward Horn, Memoirs of his Father and Himself, ed Michael Kassler (with Ashgate)

    2004-05 – Jinnie Schiele, Off-Centre Stages: Fringe Theatre at the Open Space and the Roundhouse (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2005-06 – Elizabeth Schafer, Lilian Baylis: a biography (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2006-07 – Anselm Heinrich, Entertainment, Propaganda, Education: Regional theatre in Germany and Britain 1918-1945 (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2007 – Olive Youngs, Anna Kahn, and Hazel Bell, An Index to` Theatre Notebook’ Vols 41-60 (1972-2006)

    2007-08 – The Journals of Sydney Race 1892-1900: A Provincial View of Popular Entertainment, ed Ann Featherstone

    2008-09 – James Winston, `The Theatric Tourist’ 1805, facsimile ed Iain Mackintosh, introd Marcus Risdell (with The British Library)

    2008-09 – Don Chapman, The Oxford Playhouse: High and Low Drama in a University City (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2009-10 – Frances Gray, Meggie Albanesi: A Life in the Theatre

    2009-10 – Winifred Dolan, A Chronicle of Small Beer: The memoirs of a Victorian actress, ed Andy Moreton, foreword Kate Newey

    2010-11 – British Theatrical Patents 1901-1950, ed Terence Rees & David Wilmore (with Theatreshire Books)

    2010-11 – Jill A Sullivan, The Politics of the Pantomime: Regional Identity in the Theatre 1860-1900 (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2011-12 – Margaret Leask, Lena Ashwell: Actress, Patriot, Pioneer (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2012-13 – Terry Stoller, Tales of the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn, foreword Michael Billington (with Methuen [Bloomsbury])

    2013-14 – Jacob Hooke, `Pinacotheca Bettertonæana’: The Library of a Restoration Actor, ed David Roberts

    2013-14 – Richard L Lorenzen, The History of the Prince of Wales’s Theatre 1771-1903 (with University of Hertfordshire Press)

    2014-15 – David Mayer and Bryony Dixon, Bandits! or, The Collapsing Bridge: an early film and a late-Victorian stage, introd Neville Hunnings

    2015-16 – Don-John Dugas, Shakespeare for Everyman: Ben Greet in Early Twentieth-Century America, foreword Simon Callow

    2016-17 – Matthew Morrison, The Soho Theatre 1968-1981

    2017-18 – John McCormick, The Holdens: Monarchs of the Marionette Theatre

    2018-19 – Jean Baker, Sarah Baker and her Kentish theatres, 1737-1816: challenging the status quo

    2019-20 – Steve Nicholson, The Censorship of British Drama 1900-1968, 4 volumes

    2020-21 – ed. Simon Shepherd, The Unknown Granville Barker : Letters to Helen & Other Texts 1915-1918

    2021-22 – Kate Crehan, But Will It Get A Laugh? The Life of Doris Hare in Three Acts.