Samuel Pepys, Britain's most famous diarist, wrote several entries about visiting the theatre, where he saw Britain's most famous royal mistress — Nell Gwyn ("pretty, witty Nell" as he called her) — act onstage at Drury Lane.
Now, his example is to be followed, but from the other side of the proscenium arch, by Martine McCutcheon, who has signed a book deal with HarperCollins publishers to provide a diary record of her acting career.
It has, of course, been some time since she starred as Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady (for which she won an Olivier award) but perhaps her publishers know something the general public don't about her next career move.
—By Paul Webb Theatrenow