Antony Sher wins Theatre Book Prize

Antony Sher has been announced as this year's winner of the The Society for Theatre Research's Theatre Book Prize.

Sher's book, Year of the Mad King (published by Nick Hern Books), documents the actor's journey becoming King Lear in Gregory Doran's RSC production.

The shortlisted titles were Dramatic Exchanges edited by Daniel Rosenthal (Profile Books); Modern Playhouses by Alistair Fair (Oxford University Press); Peggy to her Playwrights edited by Colin Chambers (Oberon Books); Staging British South Asian Culture by Jerri Daboo (Routledge) and Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die by Amber Massie-Blomfield (Penned in the Margin).

Playwright David Wood presented the prize to Sher in a ceremony in central London. Judge and editor for WhatsOnStage Daisy Bowie-Sell said: "Sher's book is, at heart, the story of an actor. Year of the Mad King lays bare the art of the actor in such an accessible, enjoyable way and it also demonstrates the sheer, brutal hard work that goes into creating a role like this."

The rest of the judges were Jim Davis, Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick, and David Byrne, playwright and artistic director of award winning New Diorama Theatre. They were chaired by Howard Loxton representing the STR.

Since 1998, the Society for Theatre Research has awarded the Theatre Book Prize annually to the best new book on any aspect of British or British-related theatre history and practice.