«Superb … if you have a theatre aficionado in your family, this beautifully illustrated, thoroughly opinionated volume ought to be on your list. With six decades of experience to call on, Mackintosh has no end of lessons to pass on.»

The Times

«The virtue of his book is that it is the work of a knowledgeable enthusiast, and proves that, while the play’s the thing, the frame in which it is seen is crucial to our enjoyment.»

The Guardian

«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. His argument and understanding is as vital today as it always has been. Essential reading.»

Stephen Daldry O.B.E.

«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, Director, HaworthTompkins

«Iain’s memoir is a potpourri of historical thesis, personal recollection and entertaining gossip. It gives a glimpse of the theatre world and the agonies and ecstasies of achieving buildings suited to purpose.»

Anne Minors, Founding Director, SOUND SPACE VISION, Theatre Planning and Acoustics

«This book clears a luminous space of insight at the point where the pragmatics of architecture meet the poetics of the theatrical moment. Iain Mackintosh gleans highly consequential lessons about the challenge of engineering intimacy in the modern theatre auditorium from his long and rich practice. He also grounds them so deftly in their particular, British, history that they begin to acquire a universal appeal. With its stylish writing and generous, well-chosen illustrations this book vivifies and clarifies a theme that has been as elusive as it is important.»

Himanshu Burte, Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay, India

«A revelatory and much needed guide to the structure of theatres both in Britain and abroad. Iain Mackintosh reveals how certain architectural choices can be traced to having an effect on a performance: for example it’s easier to play comedy in a narrow proscenium, very hard to raise a laugh on the wide stages of the Olivier or the Lyttelton, and how crucial it is to the success of a play that it is performed in its correct home. It’s an amazingly detailed research of great value to anyone performing on stage today and a necessity for future architects.»

Dame Eileen Atkins

«A vivid hybrid manifesto/memoir … It is simply an essential book: authoritative, original, comprehensive, compulsively readable, beautifully designed. You can dip in and out; even if you just visit one of these venues casually, you will find this engrossing.»

Plays International & Europe