Tag: Olivier Theatre

Fela! by Jim Lewis & Bill T Jones, Olivier Theatre, 11 December 2010

We don’t normally do musicals. But this one sounded interesting and different so we booked it.

Set in Nigeria in the late 1970s, it is basically a tribute to the life, music and politics of Fela Kuti.

It was at the National, so of course no on-line resource to help navigate all the whys and wherefores of the show. This search term – click here – should find the (mostly rave) reviews and other resources you might want.

I’m not sure we need a subsidised National Theatre to import this sort of hit show from Broadway and make a hit of it in London, but anyway I’m glad it was on there and I’m very glad we saw it. This was just the sort of boost we needed so soon after Phillie’s passing. A life-affirming show, but with real grit too.

Here’s the trailer vid:

England People Very Nice by Richard Bean, Olivier Theatre, 7 February 2009

Janie and I really liked this play/production, well summarised on the Official London Theatre site – click here. It is basically about migration to/through London from the late 16th century until today.

It’s a slightly show-bizzy play, with some of the humour being a little obvious, plus some singing and dancing thrown in. Which doesn’t sound like our sort of play. Yet, there was an interesting enough narrative line and some fabulous performances to keep us interested throughout.

We saw a preview, so were unaware, when we discussed the play/production afterwards, how much it would divide the critics.

Quite a mixture of opinions. Mark Espiner’s analysis of the reviews from the Guardian might help – click here.

A very memorable show for me, which is an element of praise indeed. Olivia Coleman and Michelle Terry were standout performances among many good ones.

I wonder how the piece would come across to me now, in our Brexity times (writing in April 2017) – would my sense of humour still be in tune with it, or should I say would the play’s sense of humour now be in tune with mine?

The Man Of Mode by George Etherege, Olivier Theatre, 19 April 2007

A rare visit to the theatre on a Thursday on my own. Janie hates Restoration comedy but I had (and at the time of writing, more than 10 years later, still have) an idea for a very thorough updating of one of those Restoration plays, so I very much wanted to see this modern production of a Restoration classic.

I thought it was very well done. Rory Kinnear was exceptional, as was most of the cast, including Alleyn’s alumna Nancy Carroll.

This was before Nick Hytner found his way off my Christmas card list by forgetting where his loyal audience comes from and becoming far too much of a jobsworth cum corporate lick-spittle when running the National. So hats off to him in this regard – Hytner can direct.

I rated this production very good indeed at the time, but it was not the sort of modernisation of a Restoration play which I have in mind…

…which is a good thing…

…if I ever get around to implementing my own cunning plan. But I digress.

Click here for a link to a search term that finds the reviews, which were mostly good but not great.

Below is the trailer, which is really quite snazzy without giving away much about the show. It has a fair smattering of Nancy Carroll, which might please my fellow Alleyn’s alums…or indeed anyone who watches the vid:

The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams, Olivier Theatre, 9 April 2007

A rare visit to the theatre on a Monday – this was Easter Monday.

Janie and I both love a bit of Tennessee Williams and we had only seen an amateur production of the Rose Tattoo before – at the Questors some 10 years earlier.

This was a top notch production at the National – no holds barred.

Zoe Wannamaker was exceptional.

Critics seemed to think the production and performances masked a less than brilliant play – I think I probably agree with that analysis – click here for a link to reviews.

Below is the trailer from the 1955 movie – very different style:

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, Olivier Theatre, 20 September 1997

Very good.

That was my vote…or should I say our vote?…on this excellent production of this oft-revived play.

I had seen it “back in the day” with Bobbie and Ashley Michaels…:

Went To See An Enemy Of The People by Henrik Ibsen (Arthur Miller Adaptation), With Bobbie & Ashley, Young Vic, 9 November 1988

The National production in 1997 was more “classic” Christopher Hampton adaptation with an exceptional cast including Sir Ian, Penny Downie, Stephen Moore, Lucy Whybrow and many others, directed by Trevor Nunn. The Theatricalia entry lists them all.

Nicholas de Jongh seemed quite taken with it…just “quite”:

Enemy de Jongh StandardEnemy de Jongh Standard 22 Sep 1997, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington found it a bit too “classic” for his taste:

Enemy Billington GuardianEnemy Billington Guardian 22 Sep 1997, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, like the others, made much of the fact that this was Trevor Nunn’s inaugural piece for the RNT. While not damning it, he does use the word “flash”:

Enemy Spencer TelegraphEnemy Spencer Telegraph 22 Sep 1997, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, Olivier Theatre, 7 June 1997

We were tending to book RNT things in preview or very early in runs, so this was an unusually late visit to see this one – perhaps we couldn’t get the seats we wanted until later or perhaps we missed it in the first block of dates.

Anyway, we thought this was “very good”.

One of our favourite troupes, Théâtre de Complicité, was responsible for this one. Juliet Stevenson played the lead along with Simon McBurney who also directed. The Theatricalia entry can be found here.

This was the first of those “in the round” productions that the RNT did at The Olivier while it was being refurbished.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was not too keen on it:

Caucasian de Jongh StandardCaucasian de Jongh Standard 22 Apr 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph imagined that his cordial loathing of this show would be a minority view:

Caucasian Spencer TelegraphCaucasian Spencer Telegraph 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Predictably, then, our friend Michael Billington loved it:

Caucasian Billington GuardianCaucasian Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But Robert Butlet in The Independent didn’t much like it either:

Caucasian Butler IndyCaucasian Butler Indy 27 Apr 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Oh well.

Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss, Olivier Theatre, 24 May 1997

Actually the play is titled:

The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade 

But for reasons of sheer laziness and delinquency amongst the arty classes, the title has been widely abbreviated to Marat/Sade.

Joking apart, we really liked this one. My log reads:

Very good. This was the Olivier “in the round” for renovations.

From memory, this was a reduced size of auditorium but with seating all around the stage, which worked very well for this play.production.

Jeremy Sams directed a fine cast including Anastasia Hille, Corin Redgrave, David Calder, Iain Mitchell and many others. The slightly bare Theatricalia entry can be found here.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard hated this production:

Marat Sade de Jongh StandardMarat Sade de Jongh Standard 15 May 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent was more impressed, although he found the production “over-light”:

Marat Sade Taylor IndyMarat Sade Taylor Indy 16 May 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington, like Paul Taylor, speaks well of the production in The Guardian, but not too well:

Marat Sade Billington GuardianMarat Sade Billington Guardian 15 May 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph hated this play/production:

Marat Sade Spencer TelegraphMarat Sade Spencer Telegraph 19 May 1997, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But we said “very good” which rather puts a stop to the debate on my Ogblog!

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

Murmuring Judges by David Hare, Olivier Theatre, 20 January 1992

Two visits to the Olivier Theatre with Bobbie in 48 hours. Just fancy. Must have been an availability thing and both of us wanting to see both plays.

In my log I wrote,

Good, but not as good as I had hoped it would be.

I seem to recall finding the play a bit wordy, a bit worthy and also some of the legal aspects a little unconvincing. I think the feedback from Bobbie’s legal entourage was similar on that last point when we ended up comparing notes.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for this play.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington Judges JudgesBillington Judges Judges Sat, Oct 12, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Coveney Judges JudgesCoveney Judges Judges Sun, Oct 13, 1991 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The White Devil by John Webster, Olivier Theatre, 6 July 1991

My log from the time simply says:

Josette Simon was indisposed the night we went, which was a real shame.

I can now exclusively reveal that the understudy we saw instead was Souad Faress. I subsequently did get to see Josette Simon; in The Maids, a few years later. Bobbie might not have been so lucky.

I’m not sure I was wild about the play either. Jacobean tragedies don’t always float my boat and I have a feeling that I sensed that this one wasn’t entirely my cup of tea. The White Devil is heavy on courtly intrigue and light on laughs.

Fine cast as always with a National production, with Eleanor Bron and Denis Quilley as the big draw names along with Josette Simon. Philip Prowse directed. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Michael Billington was not so keen on this one, claiming that it wasted the actors:

Billington on White DevilBillington on White Devil Thu, Jun 20, 1991 – 23 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Whereas Michael Coveney loved the production:

Coveney on White DevilCoveney on White Devil Sun, Jun 23, 1991 – 61 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com