Award-winning theatre director Michael Blakemore arrived in the UK from Australia in 1950. Following 15 years as an actor he moved into directing, scoring his first major hit with A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Many successes have followed: productions of classics, new plays from the likes of Hare and Mamet, and a successful partnership with Michael Frayn. His new book Stage Blood describes Blakemore's five years at the National Theatre in the 1970s: more successes alongside years of turbulence, as Olivier's time as Artistic Director came to an end to be replaced by the controversial Peter Hall. An era of big personalities and questions asked around the need for subsidised theatre - questions which remain relevant today.
