Astonish Me!: First Nights That Changed the World

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A SUNDAY TIMES BEST FILM AND THEATRE BOOK OF 2022

'Anyone in love with the arts will fall in love with this beautifully written and fascinating book' Kathy Burke

Astonish Me! is an adrenaline-charged rollercoaster through history's seismic first nights, exploring how individual artists can change and shape the story of culture - and allow us to see ourselves in new ways.

It tells of times when 'the air between people seems to alter' as art achieves profound change, across the globe and across history.

Dominic Dromgoole has created a radical and fresh canon. He begins in New York in 1963, as Lorraine Hansberry remakes American theatre and a nation's perception of race. And then, as the lights go up, we find ourselves in Renaissance Florence, watching Michelangelo's David being hauled into the Piazza della Signoria. The dust settles and we are transported to the birth of theatre in fifth-century Athens - and then to Paris to meet with Diaghilev and Stravinsky for the Rite of Spring. We witness kabuki's creation, as a radical women's performance, in Kyoto; the Sex Pistols shattering Thatcherite Britain at Manchester's Free Trade Hall; and watch as Hitchcock directs Psycho.

Reviews

'Astonish Me! is both a book of revelations and a witness to change: it has all the tension of a thriller and the see-sawing highs and lows of a romance novel. At its heart, however, is an enduring fascination with what makes art and why we need it' - Maggie O'Farrell

'Written with verve and wit ... Astonish Me! encourages us to reflect not only on the communality of art but to appreciate its invaluable social utility' - The Times

'Full of insight as well as terrific stories ... a book that celebrates the shock of the new, those moments in artistic history when the dial shifted and something radical emerged ... enjoyable' - Sunday Times

'Fascinating ... dazzling in its enthusiasm ... unexpected' - Times Literary Supplement

'The result is a richly eclectic set of essays ... Mr Dromgoole shows a capacity to bring a major cultural event to life ... offers an erudite, wide-ranging and heart-warming tribute to artistic innovation' - Michael Billington

Author Bio

Dominic Dromgoole is the author of Hamlet: Globe to Globe, Will and Me: How Shakespeare Took Over My Life and Full Room (on contemporary playwriting). Artistic director of the Globe Theatre for more than a decade, he now divides his time between directing - in Britain, the US and Europe, and with the Classic Spring company - and producing movies with Open Palm Films.