Tag: Paula Wilcox

Canary by Jonathan Harvey, Hampstead Theatre, 21 May 2010

Well, by this time the Ed Hall era had started at Hampstead Theatre, but this one didn’t really work for us.

It felt to us like an “everything including the kitchen sink” gay saga. Angels in America without the sparkling wit, The Normal Heart without the heart-wrenching pathos. It spanned the decades from 1962 (a fine year IMHO) to the present day.

We really wanted to like it. We didn’t really dislike it. It just didn’t grip and/or move us.

Good troupe from the Liverpool Everyman – it was a shame really.

Here is a search term – click here – that finds you all the reviews and resources available back then.

There’s a YouTube trailer/interview with the playwright for this one:

We no doubt went to Harry Morgans for some comfort food before the show.

The Clowness by Gerlind Reinshagen, Gate Theatre, 8 August 1998

I wrote surprisingly vaguely about this in my log, as I am sure I wrote it up fairly soon after seeing the play:

unsure of length – recall shortish no interval

Impressionistically, I remember the evening fondly. Paula Wilcox was an actress I had only previously seen doing sitcom, but I remember realising that she really could act…and needed to for this piece.

Fortunately for posterity, despite its small scale, it was written up by proper journalists at the time. So I didn’t need to.

Robin Stringer previewed the piece in the Standard:

Stringer Standard ClownessStringer Standard Clowness 05 Aug 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Basset in The Telegraph hated the piece, while admiring Paula:

Bassett telegraph ClownessBassett telegraph Clowness 14 Aug 1998, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Possibly that Bassett review explains why the piece elicited so little from me.