Month: February 1995

The Dance Of Death by August Strindberg, Almeida Theatre, 11 February 1995

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

Easter by August Strindberg, The Pit, 25 February 1995

My log says that we thought The Dance Of Death “superb” and why not? John Neville, Gemma Jones, Cheryl Fergison and Anthony O’Donnell makes for a seriosuly good cast.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

A contemporaneous review or two:

…and some clippings. First up: Michael Billington:

Billington On dance Of DeathBillington On dance Of Death Thu, Jan 19, 1995 – 31 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Next up – Kate Kellaway:

Kate Kellaway On Dance Of DeathKate Kellaway On Dance Of Death Sun, Jan 22, 1995 – 146 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

A Couple Of Weekends With Colleagues Past & Present, 28 January & 4 February 1995

Wild Boar by Valentin Panzirsch, CC BY-SA 3.0

I said “wild boar”.

Actually that was the second of the weekends, when Michael Mainelli & Elisabeth (then still Reuss) came over to Janie’s place in Sandall Close for a feast of wild boar. Almost certainly not the handsme fellow depicted.

The week before, we went to Paul James’s place in Enfield for a party, possibly a housewarming as he was living in Wallington the previous time we went to his place.

Under Pressure, NewsRevue Quickie, 1 February 1995

Presumably there was severe flood risk in Holland that winter. I don’t recall whether or not this quickie was used; I think it ought to have been.

UNDER PRESSURE
(To the Tune of “Under Pressure”)
Two or three wimmin (a man can be a wimman for these purposes) link hands on stage. Ideally they have tulips about their persons and/or mock Dutch accents.

MAIN BIT

Do-do-do do-do-do-do, do-do-do do-do-do-do;
Do-do-do do-do-do-do, do-do-do do-do-do-do.
Pressure,
Pushing down on me,
Pressing down on you,
It’s pissing down.

Under pressure,
In the Netherlands,
Where the weather’s planned,
That we might drown.

OUTRO

Under pressure,
Do-do-do do-do-do-do, do-do-do do-do-do-do;
Under pressure.

(During the above outro lines)
VOICE-OVER: That was a network of Dutch dikes – Under Pressure.

Here’s Queen and David Bowie singing Under Pressure with lyrics on the screen: