Stage to page: do books about theatre ever live up to the real thing?
Writing convincingly about theatre is the trickiest of arts. Does Simon Callow's prizewinning autobiography make the grade?Simon Callow is currently playing a nasty Toby Belch in Twelfth Night at the National Theatre, his face an alarming shade of cardiac red. On stage, he's a squat, vicious boozer. On the page, however " and often in the Guardian's own pages " he's an exuberant eulogist for the theatre, brimming wit…