POSITION OF PEGGY HARPER

Set in the shabby world of England's theatricals, populated by hack writers, drunken actors, pushy stage mothers and unscrupulous directors, is a drama of greed, ambition and love. Christopher Tatham is trying to 'make it' in acting, surviving on third-rate bit parts and the charity of his uncle and continues to hope for the elusive leading-man role. A chance encounter with the enchanting Peggy Harper seems to herald a change of fortune, but Tatham is soon forced to give up his flagging career for a dispiriting position as a clerk in the City as he wanders nostalgically through the West End. In a London daubed with greasepaint and filled with hungry actors, will Peggy and Tatham manage to carve out a life for themselves and attain the success and stability they crave? An Edwardian classic thankfully reprinted, this is a surprisingly modern dilemma for the young couple. George Orwell writes in his foreword of 'trudging up and down the Strand on worn-out boot soles, the agents' offices where women in dyed frocks sit waiting their turn, the forlorn collection of press cuttings, the manager who bolts in the middle of the tour with all the takings.' 164pp, paperback.