Month: September 1991

Henry IV Parts One & Two by William Shakespeare, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Part Of A Back-Aching Weekend In Stratford With Bobbie, 27 to 29 September 1991

Back in the day, when I didn’t look much like the bard, Bobbie and I were partial to a bit of Shakespeare.

This sounded like the real deal, with Robert Stephens as Falstaff and Michael Maloney as Hal. A little-known (at that time) actress Linda Bassett played Mistress Quickly and Adrian Noble directed the thing.

Besides, I had studied Henry IV Part One for my English ‘O’ Level, so obviously I knew what I was talking about.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for Henry IV Part One – which we saw on Friday 27 September.

My log for Henry IV Part One reads:

Back-aching but worth it

Whereas for Henry IV Part Two, which we saw on Saturday 28 September, it reads:

Seriously back-aching but still worth it

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for Henry IV Part Two.

Both plays were long – hence the back ache. I was still suffering the aftermath of my multiple lower back disc prolapses the previous year.

They were very good productions though.

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review of Henry IV Part One:

Coveney on Henry IV Part OneCoveney on Henry IV Part One Sun, Apr 21, 1991 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s take on Part One in the Guardian

Billington on Henry IV Part OneBillington on Henry IV Part One Thu, Apr 18, 1991 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Kate Kellaway’s Observer review of Part Two

Kate Kellaway on Henry Part TwoKate Kellaway on Henry Part Two Sun, Jun 2, 1991 – 72 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Billington in The Guardian ecstatic about the pair after seeing Part Two

Billington On Part TwoBillington On Part Two Sat, Jun 1, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We stayed in an unmemorable B&B on the edge of town. I vaguely recall a bossy (i.e. rule-laden) owner.

I think we ate good food. Fatty Arbuckle’s or Lambs, and then The Glory Hole, if I recall correctly. I’m pretty sure the latter on the Saturday night because Henry IV Part Two was so darned, back-achingly long, there was only one eatery in Stratford open that late in those days.

We suffered for our art, going to Stratford, back then.

Mikhail Gorbachov, Comedy Lyric, 20 September 1991

I’d started writing comedy lyrics in earnest by September 1991, pretty much just to entertain friends and rehabilitate myself after best part of a year away from much socialising when my back was so very bad.

I rather like this one still. I particular like the idea of an un-named Soviet leader who no-one remembers any more. Konstantin Chernenko he was called. Thank you, Mr Google.

MIKHAIL GORBACHOV (to the tune of "My Boy Lollipop")
CHORUSES
Mikhail Gorbachov,
Came after Yuri Andropov,
And in between their tenures,
A bloke no-one remembers.
Oh, oh,
Mikhail Gorbachov,
Severely pissed the Russians off,
The crowd in Moscow pelts him,
Preferring Boris Yeltsin.
MIDDLE BIT
I love Petersberg and Moscow so,
But I’m not rush’n to go,
I’ve never been keen on Siberian snow,
Or the Gulag Archapeligo.
BACK TO THE CHORUSES
Mikhail Gorbachov,
Has more than just a nasty cough,
He needs to spend some time ‘ere,
Convalescing in Crimea.
Oh, oh,
Mikhail Gorbachov’s,
Surrounded by Kalashnikovs,
But there is no disputin’,
This man survives like Rasputin.
Mikhail Gorbachov.

Below is Millie Small singing My Boy Lollipop with lyrics on the screen:

The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Barbican Theatre, 14 September 1991

Stellar cast for this RSC production of the great Chekhov play. Alfred Burke, Simon Russell Beale, Amanda Root, John Carlisle, Susan Fleetwood, Roger Allam…to name but a few. In the capable hands of Terry Hands.

The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

Bobbie and I both enjoyed this production a lot.

I hadn’t realised that this production was Terry Hands’s swansong for the RSC, but Nicholas de Jongh made much of that fact while praising the production in The Guardian:

De Jongh on SeagullDe Jongh on Seagull Sat, Jul 13, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com