Time to Act

TIME TO ACT is a book of backstage photographs celebrating theatre as live performance, and provides a unique opportunity to see leading actors in the intimacy of their dressing rooms. It records actors' preparations for their appearance in the thirty-five minutes before they go onstage. These moments, rarely witnessed by anyone outside the profession, offer a fascinating glimpse into the theatre world behind the scenes. Simon Annand has a unique sense of the whole process, the confluence between backstage and onstage. He has found a way of capturing the careful marshalling of energy backstage and its subsequent explosion into performance once in the lights. Any actor will tell you that Annand's photographs tell the truth about the life of the theatre. I'm very grateful for what he's done, because it's good to be able to point to his pictures and say 'You want to know what it's like to be an actor? That's what it's like.' SIMON CALLOW