The Half: Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage

'The half' is theatre language for the 30 minutes before curtain up, in which actors prepare alone for their transition to the stage. ‘The half’ is a private time for an actor; it is the thirty minutes when everyone is cleared out and the actors are left alone to focus on the performance ahead. For the past 25 years photographer Simon Annand has been granted unprecedented access to actors' dressing rooms during the half; the result is a series of portraits that catch the moment in which the daily self is shed and the actor slides their way into a role.

Taking its name from the half-hour before curtain up, The Half goes backstage to show actors ranging from from a young Antony Hopkins, then a little-known actor in the 1980s, to Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame.

The Half: Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage is available on Amazon.