Month: September 1996

The General from America by Richard Nelson, Swan Theatre, 21 September 1996

After seeing the amazing play/production The Herbal Bed the night before…

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

…we went to see this Richard Nelson play the next day. We liked this less, although we had enjoyed Richard Nelson’s plays before.

Good – but not quite to our taste

…was my log verdict.

Stellar cast – including several of the fine actors we had seen the day before, plus James Laurenson, Adam Godley, Corin Redgrave & John Woodvine. Howard Davies directed this one. Here is the Theatricalia entry.

My friend, Michael Billington, was not so sure about this one either:

General Billington GuardianGeneral Billington Guardian 27 Jul 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard was very keen on it:

General de Jongh StandardGeneral de Jongh Standard 25 Jul 1996, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also liked it:

General Paul Taylor IndependentGeneral Paul Taylor Independent 25 Jul 1996, Thu The Independent (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.