Simple Gifts: A Life in the Theatre

The autobiography of a boy from provincial Australia so determined to be an actor he endured ridicule, loneliness and starvation to achieve it. It begins with his joining England’s last melodrama company and ends with a standing ovation at the Sydney Opera House. On the way he also takes a spiritual journey to see God in all things, and records with engaging candour the ups and downs of Australian theatre and film in which artists like Joan Sutherland, Leo McKern, Googie Withers, Warren Mitchell, Dennis Olsen, John Hargreaves, George Miller, Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe are remembered with affection ;;; George Ogilvie was one of Australia's best-loved directors, working in his long career across theatre, opera, ballet and film. His new memoir Simple A Life in the Theatre tells the story of a boy growing up in provincial Australia who wanted to be an actor so badly he endured hunger, pain and desperation to achieve it.