The Year of the Pearl

Here is an immensely rewarding book for theatre lovers everywhere, for anyone interested in how a theatre works, for audiences who want to know how it all comes together. The author takes us day by day through a year in the life of the Pearl, a small off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to the classics. We meet the actors, one by one, we see close-up how they turn their emotions inside out on stage, and we learn of the sacrifices they make for their profession - while the spectre of AIDS haunts the company. We come to know the less visible people at work, the stage manager, the costume designer, the light and sound designers. David Hapgood’s journey of discovery becomes the journey that every audience seeks. NOTE: Since this book was written, the Pearl has moved to a larger theatre at 80 St. Marks Place in the east Village.