Cressida

"John Shank is an actor, talent-scout and trainer of boy players in the seedily glamorous backstage world of London theatre in the 1630s. Women are still not seen on stage, their roles being taken by precocious boys." "Up to his eyes in debt, Shank's only hope of escaping destitution is an unpromising 14-year-old would-be, Stephen Hammerton. Can he train up Stephen to be the new star of the London stage?" "With its characters drawn from real life, Cressida has about it the authentic smell of greasepaint. Funny and savage by turns, it was premiered by the Almeida in the West End, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Michael Gambon as John Shank." --Book Jacket.