This is the life story of Ireland's most famous theatrical manager whose career started as a child actress in the national theatre, the Abbey, in the time of Ernest Blythe and a young Hugh Hunt, and who finished up with a successful management company putting on breathtakingly risky productions and encouraging the careers of some of Ireland's finest actors.Bristling with tell-tale stories from a unique life of dedication to the theatre, this remarkable book traces Phyllis Ryan's own career and personal life revealing a complex and vulnerable woman counterpointing a perception by many of a hard and personally ambitious producer.This is another and very different strand to the story of Irish theatre. Struggling to pay bills, deal with the demanding egos of actors, be counsellor and friend to all, survive serious illness and all the time rear her two children and attend to her ageing mother, The Company I Kept tells the story of Gemini Productions from the person who knew the company best. Read Less