I WILL BE CLEOPATRA: An Actress's Journey

British actress Dame Edith Evans radiated such emotional force onstage that John Gielgud once remarked: "Edith's energy is not too much trouble as long as someone throws a ball for her to retrieve for an hour before rehearsal." Evan's legendary energy must have infected Caldwell (who tells this story in her memoir), since the Australian performer's vigor and stamina to entertain audiences and elucidate her craft is boundless. This short record of her early life and career—from birth into a lower-middle-class family in Melbourne in 1933 to her triumphant performance as Shakespeare's Cleopatra at Stratford, Ontario, in 1967—is a succinct, witty and illuminating exploration of the mind, intuitions and methods of a great actor. Writing in a colloquial tone—the book is based on lectures she gave at the New York Public Library last year—Caldwell is plainspoken and humble about her prodigious talent and accomplishments, always emphasizing that her success and fame are due to hard work, good directors and equally diligent co-performers. A sort of anti–prima donna, she is unstintingly and genuinely praiseful of her fellow thespians (with a few exceptions) and more than willing to confess her own faults: "I did... break one of my rules during that season. I had an explosive affair with an actor in the company, causing a lot of havoc and pain, for which I apologize." A cross between an autobiography and a primer for anyone entering the theater or who enjoys attending it, this theatrical memoir is made singular by its author's common sense, modesty and sharp powers of observation and articulation. (Oct.)