Not About Nightingales by Tennessee Williams, Cottesloe Theatre, 7 March 1998

Janie and I were quite excited about this one.

In the summer of 1996 (or was it spring 1997?), we had spent a Sunday on the Thames, on Michael & Elisabeth’s Thames sailing barge, The Lady Daphne, along with, amongst others, Trevor Nunn & Imogen Stubbs. Trevor was busy reading an early Tennessee Williams script, Not About Nightingales, which had never been performed in the UK. Despite not being among Williams best work, Trevor suggested to us the play had a lot going for it. He was thinking of putting it on at the Royal National Theatre once he became Artistic Director there. I think his appointment had been announced but Trevor had not yet taken up the role when we met him.

Anyway, we were very keen to see the finished product once the production was announced and booked to see it at the start of its run.

The only critic who really matters here on Ogblog…me…wrote:

Powerful stuff – not a great play but very well executed.

I especially remember Finbar Lynch and Corin Redgrave putting in standout performances.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph seemed to like it:

Nightingales Spencer TelegraphNightingales Spencer Telegraph 09 Mar 1998, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp in The Observer was not so convinced:

Nightingales Clapp ObserverNightingales Clapp Observer 08 Mar 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph was quite keen:

08 Mar 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard seemed particularly taken with it.

Nightingales de Jongh StandardNightingales de Jongh Standard 06 Mar 1998, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Don’t ask me how or why we had the stomach for this violent play but not for Shopping & F***ing the week before. Perhaps the violence seemed less gratuitous. Perhaps the way it was produced/directed.

Perhaps because we were demob happy – although we had cancelled our main spring holiday plans because of Phillie’s indisposition, we had decided to take a week off an go to Majorca for some much needed rest. We flew off early the next morning.

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 June 1994

We do like a bit of Pinter. I was especially keen to see this one. I’d never seen the play performed live; this 1994 production was the first London production since the West End production in the 1960s. But I had seen the wonderful 1980s TV version with Pinter himself as Goldberg.

I’d also previously seen excerpts from the play performed live; not least by my own school mates in the late 1970’s when Dan O’Neill was selected for the role of Goldberg ahead of me because he could do a much better Goldberg accent than me. I don’t bear grudges but I do retain a sense of unjust cultural appropriation to this day, not least because I still cannot do a Goldberg-style accent. I played Aston in The Caretaker instead, but I digress.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the version Janie and I saw in June 1994. My log says we thought it was very good. A young, then little-known Sam Mendes directed it. Bob Peck was Goldberg, Anton Lesser was Stanley. Dora Bryan and Trevor Peacock were Meg and Petey.

Here is a contemporaneous review from Irving Wardle in the Independent in 1994.

Below is the Michael Billington review:

Billington On The Birthday PartyBillington On The Birthday Party Sat, Mar 19, 1994 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On the Birthday PartyCoveney On the Birthday Party Sun, Mar 20, 1994 – 85 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

In truth, my memory for this play remains full of the wonderful BBC TV production from the 1980s…

…and Dan O’Neill’s Goldberg at school of course.

The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett, Lyttelton Theatre, 30 September 1992

I believe we did a date swap for this one. It is in my diary for Saturday 17 October, but I ended up going to see Death And The Maiden with Janie, John and Mandy that night.

I think Bobbie had a problem with that October weekend and we arranged to swap with a friend of hers to see this production midweek, on 30 September.

My production log says:

Went with Bobbie. Very good.

So what else is there to say? I remember it being a very big, busy play, with an enormous cast of courtiers attending to the protagonists. I remember laughing quite a lot. I suspect I would find it a bit cheesy if I saw it again now.

Nigel Hawthorne was very impressive and I suppose it is “quite a thing” that I saw him perform live.

The Wikipedia entry links to rave reviews on both sides of the channel. The subject matter very naturally had appeal for the USA so it is no surprise that it was also a hit there and also made into a film.

I was probably quite tired that evening, as the diary shows I spent a long day flying up to West Lothian the day before on business – that will have been Sky with Michael – a memorable working day.

I suspect that this was the last time I went to the theatre with Bobbie. We probably had a post theatre meal, perhaps at the RNT itself or perhaps somewhere like RSJs or the Archduke.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from the Observer:

Madness of George III, Michael CoveneyMadness of George III, Michael Coveney Sun, Nov 24, 1991 – 59 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s review from The Guardian:

Madness of George III, BillingtonMadness of George III, Billington Sat, Nov 30, 1991 – 25 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, Lyttelton Theatre, 15 September 1990

I’m very partial to Athol Fugard’s work, but thirty years on, I remember very little about this one. Even the log, which was only a few years after the event, says:

Little recollection, strangely.

I saw this with Bobbie Scully, who seemed keen to see Fugard with me back then. Janie also has a taste for his work.

Here is the Wikipedia entry for this play/production.

I think the problem for me/us was that it was a story that pre-dated Nelson Mandela’s release but we were seeing it very soon after that momentous event. In that sense it felt a bit like old news, although of course the injustices and arguments depicted were still (are still) relevant.

Michael Billington in the Guardian loved it:

Billington on My Children!Billington on My Children! Sat, Sep 8, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer was less sure, finding it, unusually for Fugard, overly sentimental.

Coveney on My Children!Coveney on My Children! Sun, Sep 9, 1990 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

My First Weekend At Clanricarde: Encountering Van Morrison, Single Spies by Alan Bennett, National Theatre, With Bobbie & Bridge At Pam & Michael’s Place, 3 & 4 December 1988

Saturday 3 December: Much sorting to do re flat – went to see Single Spies in eve – B came back to mine

My appointments diary informs me that my Zanussi washing machine was delivered to the flat that morning. I remember going for my first local shopping expedition after the machine arrived.

I am fairly sure that it was on that very first Saturday’s shopping spree that I found myself face-to-face with Van Morrison on the traffic island which divides the north from the south side of the Bayswater Road. We exchanged glances. I nodded, in as much of a “cool, nodding acquaintance” manner as I could muster.

Van-Morrison

I remember thinking that the Van encounter proved that I had really arrived in a hip, happening place – I was going to be rubbing shoulders with Van Morrison and people of that sort all the time from now on. Well, to some extent I suppose I have got to meet quite a lot of such media folk in the neighbourhood since, but that traffic island encounter with Van the Man was, sadly, a one-off. “No Van is an island”, I suppose.

Single Spies is actually two Alan Bennett plays: An Englishman Abroad and A Question Of Attribution. Both are about the Cambridge Spy Ring. The first of the two plays had been knocking around for a few years before this production – it is primarily about actress Coral Browne’s encounters with Guy Burgess. The second play was about Anthony Blunt’s role as art advisor to the Queen.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

According to the National Theatre’s historical notes, A Question of Attribution contained:

the first representation on the British stage of a living monarch, in a scene in which Sir Anthony Blunt has a discussion with ‘HMQ’.

Prunella Scales and Simon Callow played the leads in both plays. I think this was the first time I saw Prunella Scales on stage, although she had seen me ponce about in tights some 10 years earlier:

I thought the production (Single Spies, I mean, not Twelfth Night) was very good and said so in my notes. I’m pretty sure Bobbie liked the production too. I think we might have eaten at the National that evening – I can’t believe that I was geared up to cook yet at Clanricarde.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on Single SpiesBillington on Single Spies Sat, Dec 3, 1988 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:

Ratcliffe on SpiesRatcliffe on Spies Sun, Dec 4, 1988 – 44 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Sunday 4 December: Went to Pam & Michael’s in eve for dinner and bridge

I wonder who made the fourth for bridge that evening? It was before my irregular social group had emerged, so it wouldn’t have been Andrea on that occasion. I’ll guess it was a friend of Pam & Michael’s – perhaps one of the Setty/Gareh family or possibly it was Ralph Glasser. The diary is silent on such details – never mind.

I’ll have walked there and back, learning that Clanricarde Gardens to Pam & Michael’s place only takes around 15 minutes on foot. Cool.