Tag: Desmond Barrit

The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard & Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, Richmond Theatre, 11 April 1998

Whose brilliant idea was it to pair The Real Inspector Hound with Black Comedy? Well, if I’m not totally mistaken The Bear Pit at Alleyn’s School did so back in the mid 1970s. It worked well then (I shall write up The Bear Pit production in the fullness of time) and it worked well nearly 25 years later, in the late 1990s, too.

Superb evening…

…was my take on it in my log. How could it not be – what a cast! Desmond Barrit, David Tennant, Nichola McAuliffe, Sara Crowe, Anna Chancellor…and Greg Doran directing.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

We saw a preview at Richmond the week before the show opened at The Comedy Theatre.

Nicholas de Jongh voted it “good” in The Standard:

Real Inspector Black Comedy de Jongh StandardReal Inspector Black Comedy de Jongh Standard 23 Apr 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian was very keen on it:

Real Inspector Black Comedy Guardian BillingtonReal Inspector Black Comedy Guardian Billington 23 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While The Independent previewed the event the morning after our visit wondering, over three pages, whose brilliant idea it was to pair these two short plays? (The Bear Pit at Alleyn’s School. Do you arts journos know nothing?)

Hound Black Indy Butler 1 of 3Hound Black Indy Butler 1 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Hound Black Indy Butler 2 of 3Hound Black Indy Butler 2 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Hound Black Indy Butler 3 of 3Hound Black Indy Butler 3 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 5 November 1994

If my memory serves me correctly, we saw Peer Gynt as a matinee on the Saturday and then Twelfth Night in the evening. It might have been the other way around.

Anyway, Janie and I voted this one very good, as indeed we voted Peer Gynt.

Coincidentally, I realise at the time of writing (October 2019, almost exactly 25 years later), Janie and I saw Emma Fielding star at Stratford again last week in A Museum In Baghdad.

A Museum In Baghdad by Hannah Khalil, Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, 14 October 2019

I also realise that this Twelfth Night experience was almost exactly 15 years after my own “legendary” Alleyn’s School production of Twelfth Night:

Twelfth Night, Alleyn’s School, 12, 14, 15 & 16 December 1978

Gosh.

Anyway, this 1994 production of Twelfth Night has all the cast and crew listed on Theatricalia – here.

Just one on-line review – Paul Taylor in The Independent, who hated it while admitting that his was probably a minority view.

Also this Michael Billington clipping to be had:

Billington On Twelfth NightBillington On Twelfth Night Fri, May 27, 1994 – 32 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Also Michael Coveney’s review is there to be clipped:

Coveney On Twelfth NightCoveney On Twelfth Night Sun, May 29, 1994 – 73 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We really liked it. Des Barrit an obvious highlight but Emma Fielding was excellent as always and Tony Britton made an excellent Belch…as it were.

I vaguely remember dining at the Shakespeare after theatre that night…or did we do the Shakespeare after Pentecost and Fatty’s after this? Who cares?

The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar, Olivier Theatre, 27 June 1992

I have carried a fondness for this play with me for as long as I can remember, despite it not really being my type of play.

Revisiting my first encounter with it for Ogblog, some 25 years later (August 2017) I can understand why. This was one heck of a good production.

The Theatricalia website has recorded all the cast and crew details, mercifully, so I don’t have to – click here – then gasp in awe and wonderment. What a cast, what a production team.

Photostage has some photos, which you can peruse if you wish – here.

All my notes say is that I went with Bobbie Scully and that we thought it was very good.

I remember thinking Ken Stott was superb – I don’t think I had seen him before. It might have been my first encounter with the excellent Alex Jennings. Des Barrit was also a standout performer, as usual. But in truth the whole cast was good and you can see many names on the list who went on to do bigger and bolder things.

There are no on-line reviews to be found – until now – my one right here – yay!

I’m not sure what Bobbie and I did about eating afterwards, but in those days we would sometimes eat at the RNT itself – we might well have done that – or sometimes we’d go to The Archduke or somewhere of that ilk nearby.

 

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Coveney on RecruitingCoveney on Recruiting Sun, Mar 15, 1992 – 60 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s review:

Billington on RecruitingBillington on Recruiting Sat, Mar 14, 1992 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com