There Is Nothing Like a Thane!: The Lighter Side of Macbeth

There is Nothing Like a Thane is a follow-up to Clive Francis's highly successful There is Nothing Like a Dane! The Lighter Side of Hamlet. Thane is a hilarious compilation of unintentional funny moments from a variety of productions of Macbeth - interwoven with Francis's witty caricatures. It also delves into the many superstitions, which have dogged the play since 1603, making it possibly the unluckiest play ever written

We hear of how some actors fared better than others when playing the role of the Thane. If Ralph Richardson's was the worst, Peter O'Toole's was certainly the funniest. Olivier was deemed the greatest, John Gielgud the must successful, and Charles Laughton the silliest. We also hear from Orson Welles, David Garrick, Charles Dickens and William McGonagall - who refused to die for fear of upsetting his audience. Not to be outdone we shall hear from a number of Lady Macbeths as well, including Sybil Thorndike, who'd pray every night in the wings so as to ward away evil spirits.

This is a book for all those who love the theater, especially the Bard.

Clive Francis is well-known as an actor as well as a caricaturist. He has made over a hundred television appearances, while his London stage career began in 1966 with There's a Girl in My Soup. He performed in a large number of shows in London's West End, including Graham Greene's The Return of AJ Raffles, Somerset Maugham's The Circle, Simon Gray's The Rear Column, Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School of Scandal, Noel Coward's Look after Lulu, Michael Frayn's Benefactors, Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw and Alan Bennett's Single Spies. He joined Alan Ayckbourn's company at London's National Theatre in 1986 and was Scrooge for two years running in the Royal Shakespeare Company's A Christmas Carol.

Clive Francis has been caricaturing professionally since 1983 and has had seven solo exhibitions including three at the National Theatre. He has designed a number of posters and book covers, including two for Alec Guinness and two for John Gielgud.