A book about archaeology and the classical world, The Fabric of the Ancient Theatre is partly a description of the unearthing of a Hellenistic theatre, a Roman entertainment centre and mediaeval workshops in Paphos. It is also an imaginative journey through the evolution of the theatre over the centuries, bringing to life the contemporary context around the ruins. The author's visits to the ancient theatres of the same period on Egypt, Turkey and Greece open up the complex and layered world of the Eastern Mediterranean, both ancient and modern. The writing is personal, intensely focused and profoundly eclectic. This is a book about the past and present, memory and loss, permanence and the ephemeral.