Harriet Walter is well known for her performances at the Royal Court (Cloud Nine, Hamlet with Jonathan Pryce), the RSC (Nicholas Nickelby, Macbeth with Antony Sher) and the National Theatre (Arcadia), as well on television, where she played Amy on Unfinished Business and Harriet Vane in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. In this book, she uses her experience to illustrate the processes involved in performance.