Will She Do? cover art

Will She Do?

Act One of a Life on Stage

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Will She Do?

By: Eileen Atkins
Narrated by: Eileen Atkins
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About this listen

Short-listed, Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize, 2022

Short-listed, Theatre Book Prize, 2022

Will She Do? is the story of a girl from a council estate in Tottenham, born in 1934 to an electric-meter reader and a seamstress, who was determined to be an actress. Candid and witty, this memoir takes her from her awkward performances in working-men's clubs at six years of age as dancing 'Baby Eileen', through the war years in London, to her breakthrough at 32 on Broadway with The Killing of Sister George, for which she received the first of four Tony Award nominations. She co-created Upstairs, Downstairs and wrote the screenplay for Mrs Dalloway (for which she won an Evening Standard Award) and at age 86, this is her first autobiographical work.

Characterised by an eye for the absurd, a terrific knack for storytelling and an insistence on honesty, Will She Do? is a wonderful raconteur's tale about family, class, youthful ambition and big dreams and what really goes on behind the scenes. Made a Dame in 1991, Eileen Atkins has been on American and British stage and screen since 1957 and has won an Emmy, a BAFTA and is a three-time Olivier Award winner; her theatre performances include The Height of the Storm, Ellen Terry, All that Fall and she has appeared in television and films ranging from Doc Martin to Cranford to The Crown.

©2021 Eileen Atkins (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK
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Critic Reviews

"Yes, she will: this vivid, honest memoir by a great actress and a natural writer goes down a treat." (Tom Stoppard)

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An unvarnished view of a life in the theatre

Nobody interested in British theatre of the last 60 years should miss Eileen Atkins’ funny, touching, and highly informative memoir.

Atkins talks here about class, ambition, fellowship, and about a time where coming up in the world of acting could not have been more different than now. She’s occasionally hard on others, but even harder on herself. Read beautifully by the author.

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