This literary, funny and moving account of a life in the Australian theatre and five years in the English theatre includes the excitement of Australian theatre and drama in the 1970s and John Bell's association with playwrights such as Peter Kenna and Ron Blair, and his establishment of Nimrod Street Theatre with Ken Horler. It includes the triumphs and failures of the 1980s, including the 'glorious ...and significant' 'failure' of History of Australia : The Musical, and Bell's work during the last decade of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century in establishing and building the Bell Shakespeare Company.