Extract: Nation, Memory, Myth by Steve Vizard
Posted on 11 Jun 2025
How does myth generate meaning for a nation and its citizens? How does a national myth transform into symbolic performances of cultural memory and kinship?
Michael Simkins
Michael Simkins trained at RADA and has since appeared in more than 100 plays and musicals, from the National Theatre and the RSC to the fringe and the West End, as well as in the musicals Chicago and Mamma Mia. He's made countless TV appearances, usually as policemen or unsuspecting husbands as well as turns on the silver screen in such films as Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy and The Iron Lady. His first book, his memoir of breaking into the acting profession, has become required reading for drama students everywhere. He is also the author of Fatty Batter, Detour de France and The Last Flannelled Fool. He lives with his actress wife, Julia Deakin, in London.
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