I love theatrical anecdotes.
The first comes from a distant memory of a story told by Edward Petherbridge I think. It was during his time at the National Theatre with Lord Olivier. The great man was onstage in a classical piece. Suddenly Larry gave out the most heart rending cry of a man whose soul is being ripped from his body. The audience were stunned into absolute silence and collectively held their breath. Backstage the wings were crowded as the company not on stage came to see what was afoot. This wasn't a rehearsed piece and hadn't happened in performance before. Olivier left the stage and into the wings and muttered as he passed Edward, "That got the buggers!" I love the creation of a theatrical masterpiece onstage and the actor's almost ruthless analysis of the effect offstage.
Sometimes the analysis can happen onstage as well.
I am indebted to David P for the following anecdote about Sir Ralph Richardson. The great theatrical knight found himself toiling through a tedious thriller of a play. He had great swathes of speeches to make and gamely stuck at the task of delivering them. Finally during one performance he broke off and, obviously out of character and back in his own persona, strode to the front of the stage. In ringing tones, he demanded of the audience, "Is there a doctor in the house?" When a nervous medical practitioner hesitantly raised his hand in the auditorium, Sir Ralph turned his attention on him and his voice softened. "Rum old play, isn't it?" Then the old man of the theatre returned to his original position in the set and continued where he had left off.
