Wilfred Granville s Theatre Dictionary is an essential guide to the terms in British and American Drama, Opera, and Ballet, and this volume is of incomparable value for the student and practical theatre worker on either side of the Atlantic. It offers a fascinating compilation of technical jargon and colloquial slang pertaining to the business of the theatre, from the legitimate stage to vaudeville and road shows. For several years Wilfred Granville was actively engaged in the theatre as actor, stage director, and producer and speaks from firsthand knowledge of his subject. A specialist in glossaries, Wilfred Granville has treated theatre speech in a readable, unacademic way though there is no inadequacy in his treatment of etymologies of words and phrases recorded. Wilfred Granville was a British lexicographer known for his jargon and slang dictionaries and his military histories. He researched and wrote dictionaries on sea and naval slang and theatre terms as well as naval military histories."