Tag: David Edgar

Pentecost by David Edgar, The Other Place, 4 November 1994

In amongst the heave of getting Z/Yen started that autumn, Janie and I did make the time for a solitary long weekend in Stratford-Upon-Avon, during which we saw three plays.

Not exactly a rest cure…

…said Janie, when I latterly (c25 years later, October 2019) showed her the evidence of that weekend.

The evidence shows that we stayed at The Shakespeare Hotel that time; I think for the second and possibly the last time. We found the room a bit pokey.

Anyway, we saw this David Edgar play on the Friday evening and thought it superb. I’ve always been a fan of Edgar’s plays and this is a good example of his work.

Wikipedia is not all that forthcoming about the play – click here – but I learn that we saw the premier and that it won an Evening Standard Award the following year on transfer to The Young Vic.

Theatricalia sets out the cast and crew here.

I’ve managed to find a contemporaneous review of this one on-line – Paul Taylor from the Independent – click here…

…scraped to here just in case the above link goes down.

Here’s a Michael Billington clipping:

Billingtpn On PentecostBillingtpn On Pentecost Fri, Oct 28, 1994 – 40 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Billington On Pentecost Part TwoBillington On Pentecost Part Two Fri, Oct 28, 1994 – 41 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s take:

Coveney On PentecostCoveney On Pentecost Sun, Oct 30, 1994 – 79 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Anyway, we loved this play/production, that’s for sure. The notion of art and culture fusing/transferring both from west to east and from east to west is more or less received wisdom now, but the debate in the play, especially while the southern slavic region of Europe was still in turmoil, felt very topical and of the moment in 1994.

Did we eat in Fatty Arbuckle’s that evening? Quite possibly, but unless more evidence turns up we’ll not know for sure.

Saigon Rose by David Edgar, Orange Tree Room, 20 March 1993

Saigon Rose announcementSaigon Rose announcement Mon, Mar 1, 1993 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The “programme” – or rather the single sheet of printed A4 you tended to get at the Orange Tree Room – went missing for this show, which is a shame.

It was one of three plays we went to see in that room above the Orange Tree Pub, which they kept going as a second venue for a while but stopped using I think later that year.

This was Janie’s and my first visit to The Orange Tree together…my first visit there full stop.

I was thrilled to encounter Ian Angus Wilkie in that cast. He had been in the cast of NewsRevue late spring the previous year and had been one of the first professional performers to perform one of my lyrics.

California Here I Go, NewsRevue Lyric, 23 April 1992

Chris Stanton still speaks of Ian Angus Wilkie as one of the best comedy actors with whom he has ever worked.

Despite the antiquity of this visit, I can find two reviews on-line:

Because there are no other resources, I have scraped the above pieces, for just  in case; Ian’s – click here...or Sarah’s – click here,

I cannot reconstruct the whole cast and creatives list, but we can ascertain that the cast included:

  • Michael Higgs;
  • Henrietta Garden;
  • Mairéad Carty;
  • Ian Angus Wilkie.

Rachel Kavanaugh directed.

I remember really liking this play and the production and really liking The Orange Tree Room. It reminded me a bit of The Gate, a small fringe venue of which I was already fond.

Did they really make more money turning that prime space into hotel rooms?…

…no need to answer that question.

The Shape Of The Table by David Edgar, Cottesloe Theatre, 10 November 1990

Lots of memories from this one.

It was my “get out of jail” weekend. Michael Durtnall (my chiropractor) had insisted that I “lock down” for a month to enable my back to start healing – otherwise he wouldn’t treat me. More on that elsewhere, but basically this weekend was the end of my confinement and boy did I make the most of it with Bridge on Friday, this theatre visit on Saturday and a wedding on the Sunday.

I am very keen on David Edgar so we (me & Bobbie) will have long before booked to see this just after press night. I was very pleased to have negotiated my way out of lockdown to see this.

All I wrote in my log is:

Very good. Neil Kinnock and his entourage were there the night we went.

At the time Neil Kinnock was leader of the opposition. I don’t know whether he and/or his entourage took notes during this paly, but it was a political drama to be sure.

It is set in an unspecified former communist country that resembles the former Czechoslovakia.

Excellent cast; Karl Johnson, Stratford Johns and Katrin Cartlidge standing out in my mind.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the production.

Michael Billington spoke highly of it in the Guardian:

Billington on The TableBillington on The Table Sat, Nov 10, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in the Observer was also impressed:

Coveney on tableCoveney on table Sun, Nov 11, 1990 – 62 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com