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

Gertrude Bell, 1909, in what is now Iraq

Janie and I saw a preview of this superb production at the Swan, about a week before press night.

We became fascinated with Gertrude Bell when we saw the film Letters From Baghdad and a panel discussion about it a couple of years ago at the Curzon.

Hence our enthusiasm to decamp to Stratford and see A Museum In Baghdad more or less as soon as it opened. The RSC explains and describes the piece in its resources here.

Playwright Hannah Khalil explains her thinking behind the piece here:

The following trailer explains little but does give a flavour of the atmospheric music and sensescape of the piece:

Janie and I loved the play/production and came away from the show buzzing from the quality of ideas, drama, sounds and emotions we experienced at The Swan.

Janie tends to dislike plays that overlap time periods (this play is set in 1926 and 2006) and mess with the linear telling of stories, not least because she often finds that confusing. But this one works so well and certainly worked for her, such that the overlapping of the two time-settings just added a little to the chaos of the situations being depicted, without interfering with the narrative line.

The production runs at The Swan for a few months before transferring to the Kiln in London. We have not yet been to the latter since its refurb, so wonder how well the piece will work there. It certainly worked wonderfully for us in the three-sided Swan setting. It certainly should appeal to Kiln audiences.

All of the acting was top notch, as was the design, sound and movement. Hard to single out performances, but Emma Fielding, Rendah Heywood and Rasoul Saghir were exceptional.

We were grateful to be staying just across the road in The Arden, as the heavens were in open mode that evening. We debriefed over a snack supper there. I believe I spotted Mark Ravenhill with his entourage, amongst the small number of people who decamped to the hotel after the show.

We loved A Museum In Baghdad – what else is there to say?

Postscript following press night: reviews of this production can be found through this link.

The Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza, Duchess Theatre, 25 July 1998

Performed without an interval. Not special.

That was our verdict on this one.

Michael Gambon & Eileen Atkins couldn’t save this slight play for us.

Yasmina Reza was all the rage at that time, not least because of Art, so this play transferred for a while – indeed we missed it at The Pit, seeing it at The Duchess (but not WITH The Duchess).

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard really liked it:

de Jongh Standard Unexpectedde Jongh Standard Unexpected 16 Apr 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent was less sure:

Taylor Independent UnexpectedTaylor Independent Unexpected 17 Apr 1998, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Let’s leave the casting vote to our friend Michael Billington. “A bit too self-consciously exquisite for my carnivorous taste.” So there we have it.

Billington Guardian UnexpectedBillington Guardian Unexpected 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Everyman by Anon, RSC, The Other Place, 21 April 1997

Very good, surprisingly moving…

…was Janie’s and my verdict on this late-medieval morality play.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not so sure:

Billington Guardian EverymanBillington Guardian Everyman 16 Nov 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Unusually, Charles Spencer was more in tune with our thinking on this one:

Spencer Telegraph EverymanSpencer Telegraph Everyman 18 Nov 1996, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

It was sort-of a Complicite thing. Here is the Theatricalia entry on it.

Nicholas De Jongh in The Standard didn’t much like it either.

De Jongh Standard EverymanDe Jongh Standard Everyman 15 Nov 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But we did like it – so there!

Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen, RSC, Swan Theatre, 19 April 1997

Janie and I are both partial to a bit of Ibsen and partial to a bit of Stratford-Upon-Avon, so this RSC production of Little Eyolf caught our eye.

A stellar cast and crew, including Robert Glenister, Joanne Pearce and Damian Lewis, directed by Adrian Noble. The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

We rated this production very good, as did our friend Michael Billington in The Guardian:

Billington Guardian EyolfBillington Guardian Eyolf 21 Dec 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas De Jongh in The Standard was less sure:

De Jongh Standard EyolfDe Jongh Standard Eyolf 19 Dec 1996, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph spoke very highly of it:

Spencer Telegraph EyolfSpencer Telegraph Eyolf 20 Dec 1996, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan, The Other Place, 20 September 1996

I described this play/production as:

…magical…

…in my log.

Janie and I took a short break in Stratford, starting, I think, on the Wednesday afternoon. Details in my diary are scant and Janie’s 1996 has gone walkies (perhaps only temporarily).

I am pretty sure we stayed at The Shakespeare, as was our wont at that time. I mentioned in our 1994 visit:

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…

…but on reflection I think this 1996 visit was also the Shakespeare and quite possibly the last visit to that hotel.

As for the play/production, we absolutely loved it. The cast included several people who went on to great things, not least Joseph Fiennes, David Tennant, Stephen Boxer, Teresa Banham and director Michael Attenborough. Here is the Theatricalia entry for the play/production.

One memorable thing about the night we visited was the excitement around the presence of HRH The Prince Of Wales and Camilla (subsequently Duchess of Cornwall). The Other Place isn’t really that sort of place, so the royal attendance was more than a bit of a surprise.

The play/production was very well received, for good reasons.

Here is Michael Billington’s take:

Herbal Bed Billington GuardianHerbal Bed Billington Guardian 24 May 1996, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is a preview from The Evening Standard:

Herbal Bed Standard PreviewHerbal Bed Standard Preview 22 May 1996, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Herbal Bed Coveney ObserverHerbal Bed Coveney Observer 26 May 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

See, I told you. Magical.

New England by Richard Nelson, The Pit, 11 March 1995

We were spending a fair bit of time at The Pit in those days – our previous visit to the theatre was also to The Pit:

Haven’t been there for years – the RSC does so little modern stuff these days.

But back then they were packing The Pit with top notch names to act and direct, quite often in modern dramas.

New England was “superb” according to my log. Peter Gill directed it. Several really good names in it; David Burke, Angela Thorne, Mick Ford, Selina Cadell, Duncan Bell, Diana Hardcastle and Annie Corbier to be precise.

I also noted that:

Richard Nelson was in the audience that night for some reason, as it was well into the run.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

It transferred to New York later in 1995 with a different cast, getting this NYT notice. But I can’t find an on-line review for the version we saw.

It was superb – believe us…

…or believe this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On New EnglandBillington On New England Thu, Dec 1, 1994 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…or this Michael Coveney clipping:

Michael Coveney On Out Of A House & New EnglandMichael Coveney On Out Of A House & New England Sun, Dec 4, 1994 – 77 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Easter by August Strindberg, The Pit, 25 February 1995

We went on a bit of a Strindberg fest that February – this the second of two Strinds in one month. The first was The Dance of Death at The Almeida:

My log says that we thought Easter “excellent” wheras I rated The Dance Of Death “superb”. Not sure whether one of those big adjectives trumps the other. We clearly very much enjoyed both plays/productions.

Katie Mitchell directed Easter and the cast was excellent. A young Lucy Whybrow picked up an Ian Charleson Award for her role as Eleanora in this production. Adrian Rawlins played Elis, Susan Brown played the mother and Philip Locke played the sinister Lindkvist.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

A wonderful preview of this one and The Dance of Death by Paul Taylor survives in The Independent on-line – click here.

Taylor does mention this production in the review I posted for The Dance Of Death. Nothing else that I can find on-line from 1995.

It was excellent – take our words for it.

Or if you don’t like our word, try this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On EasterBillington On Easter Sat, Jan 28, 1995 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Or try Kate Kellaway:

Kate Kellaway On EasterKate Kellaway On Easter Sun, Jan 29, 1995 – 75 · The Observer (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.

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

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?

Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, Swan Theatre, 5 November 1994

If my memory serves me correctly, we saw this play 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.

Theatricalia shows a full list of credits for this production here.

Janie and I are fans of Ibsen for the moral dramas; this play is very different – a fantasy poem of sorts, although grounded in Ibsen’s family experience. Wikipedia explains the play well here.

Paul Taylor previewed this production in The Independent in 1994 just before it opened – click here.

Below is the Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Peer GyntBillington On Peer Gynt Fri, May 6, 1994 – 45 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Robert Hanks reviewed it for the Independent in 1995 when it transferred to the Young Vic – click here…

But who needs experts? Janie and I thought it was a very good production, so it was just that. Alex Jennings memorable in the lea but well supported by the whole cast.

Wildest Dreams by Alan Ayckbourn, The Pit, 26 February 1994

My log reads,

Don’t remember this one too well, which says something.

I have managed to find a synopsis, click here, but it doesn’t really help me much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production. Still only a vague memory.

I don’t think we liked it.

I don’t think we walked out at half time. I suspect the performances from that top notch cast kept us going. But I don’t think we liked the play.

I’ve managed to find an on-line review for this one, in the Variety archive – click here.

Here is the Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Wildest DreamsBillington On Wildest Dreams Thu, Dec 16, 1993 – 34 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s clipping:

Coveney On Wildest DreamsCoveney On Wildest Dreams Sun, Dec 19, 1993 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com