A Two Hander

A Two Hander (1996) – Sara Kestelman and Susan Penhaligon
The Do-Not Press | ISBN: 9781899344086
Condition: Good | Sold by Crappy Old Books

Two actresses. One book. A lifetime of theatrical experience, artistic ambition, professional uncertainty and the peculiar business of earning a living by pretending to be somebody else. Welcome to A Two Hander, a collaboration between Sara Kestelman and Susan Penhaligon, two accomplished British performers who know considerably more about the realities of acting than the average person whose theatrical experience consists of appearing as the third shepherd in a school nativity play.

The title itself is a delicious piece of theatrical vocabulary. A two-hander is a performance involving two principal actors, which sounds wonderfully economical until one remembers that two actors are quite capable of generating enough drama, disagreement and emotional complications to keep an entire theatre company occupied for months.

Kestelman and Penhaligon bring two distinctive personalities and careers to this literary partnership. Both established performers with extensive experience of stage and screen, they belong to that remarkable profession in which success can involve receiving enthusiastic applause one evening and wondering where the next job is coming from the following morning.

The acting world is, after all, a curious mixture of glamour and insecurity. Audiences see the finished performance, the elegant costumes, the dramatic entrances and the apparently effortless delivery of perfectly polished dialogue. Behind the scenes lie auditions, rehearsals, disappointments, difficult decisions and the eternal challenge of persuading somebody that you are exactly the person they need to play somebody who doesn’t actually exist.

The appeal of a theatrical partnership such as this lies in the contrasting perspectives of two women who have spent their professional lives navigating an industry where talent is essential, luck is extremely helpful and a thick skin is practically compulsory. The entertainment business has never been particularly famous for its consistency, especially when it comes to the opportunities available to women as their careers develop.

Published in 1996 by the wonderfully named The Do-Not Press, this is an intriguing piece of British theatrical publishing from an era before celebrity culture became an endless procession of reality television appearances, sponsored social-media posts and autobiographies written by people who have barely reached their twenty-fifth birthdays.

For readers interested in acting, women’s experiences in the performing arts and the personalities behind familiar stage and television performances, A Two Hander offers an appealing opportunity to encounter two established names together in an unusual literary format.

This 1996 edition, offered in Good condition by Crappy Old Books, will appeal to collectors of theatrical literature, admirers of Sara Kestelman and Susan Penhaligon, and anyone fascinated by the occasionally absurd machinery of British show business.

A distinctive collaboration from two women who have spent years mastering the art of being other people.

Which, when you think about it, is a remarkably strange way to make a living — although possibly no stranger than writing books about it.

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