What was not to like? Maureen Lipman as Peggy Ramsey, with sound support from Tom Espiner, Selina Griffiths, Richard Platt and Crispin Redman, all ably directed by Robin Lefevre.
Paul Taylor in The Independent was entertained but thought that Maureen Lipman as Peggy was a case of miscastology…so at least Maureen got an ology I suppose and for sure she spent a lot of time during the play on the phone.
But Mnemonic didn’t need our soft spot – it was excellent in its own right.
Superb
…I said in my log and meant it.
Strangely, writing 25 years later, this piece has recently been revived (or rather, reimagined) by Complicité in London at the National.
This original production was at the more utilitarian Riverside Studios, a venue we have always liked.
Excellent cast, including Simon McBurney himself, the wonderful Katrin Cartlidge (who died tragically young) and Richard Katz, who had previously worked wonders with my material in NewsRevue – for example the Woody Allen role in Mama Mia Farrow:
I think a lot of the usual suspects ignored it until it transferred to the National a couple of year’s later…and then was reimagined more than 20 years after that.
But we saw the original production…at The Riverside…have I mentioned that before?
“Surprise” Party For Elisabeth Mainelli, Lady Daphne, 2 December 1999
Janie has written directions to St Katherine’s Dock in excruciating detail in her diary for that event. I merely wrote “surprise! boat”.
I have a funny feeling that this surprise party was not the best kept secret in the City that year. I sensed that Elisabeth feigned surprise rather than was seriously surprised.
It would have taken quite a ruse to lure her to the boat in December on the evening of her birthday without some suspicion arising.
Still, I recall that it was a good party.
Caroline’s Engagement Party, The Ruts, 4 December 1999
We moved our Hedda Gabler theatre tickets from the Saturday to the Friday in order to attend this party.
I hope Caroline and Alan appreciate being given priority over Francesca Annis for our Saturday night entertainment.
*Spoiler Alert* The Caroline and Alan story had a happier ending than Hedda Gabler.
Joking apart, it was a great party as I remember it. Caroline’s mum went to town producing amazing grub for the party and there was a very happy buzz about the evening.
Z/Yen Seasonal Event – Park Inn, Wellington Terrace W2, Preceded By Drinks At Ian’s Newly Refurbished Flat, 17 December 1999
Sofa, so good – the living room in my flat
This was one of the more memorable Z/Yen seasonal events…but mostly for the wrong reasons.
Firstly, there was a mad rush to get my flat ready to accommodate the drinks party at mine ahead of the dinner at The Park Inn. Gavin’s snail-like progress was doing Janie’s and my head in – it would have been TOO embarrassing to have had to relocate the drinks because the flat wasn’t ready.
At one point- I think it was the preceding Friday as Janie and I both took that day off for this purpose – Janie even ended up on her hands and knees helping Gavin to varnish the floorboards – subjected to the indignity not only of doing the work for which we were paying but being bossed around by Gavin in the style that had put off his many attempts at engaging assistants:
GAVIN: NO! Don’t do it like that! Do it like this!
JANIE: Does it really make a difference, Gavin? I can’t see the difference and we need to get this finished.
GAVIN: NO! NOT LIKE THAT!
To add to the problematic nature of this event, several member of staff went down with an especially nasty lurgy in the days running up to the event. I think in the end only about seven or eight people attended, one of whom was Linda Cook who turned up despite feeling under the weather and ended up crashing out on my (brand new) bed and then going home rather than staying for dinner.
Fortunately, we knew May at The Park Inn so well that the constantly reducing of numbers and the eventual relatively small table was all handled with her usual professional and service-oriented demeanour, so all who ate, ate well.
No quizzes and no Secret Santa yet. Linda got into her stride from the early 2000s onwards in those regards.
Michael wrote the song that year…
Toil and Play
God rest ye Z/Yen par-tic-i-pants, There’s no point in dismay Remember Christmas parties All end in disarray Don’t save yourself from whiskey’s pow’r You might as well a’stray
O tidings of bromo and fizz Bromo and fizz O tidings of bromo and fizz
From year to year we reappear And wonder all the same How business so chaotic With such an awful name Can still inspire Nippon songs And ever-woeful games
O tidings of toil and play Toil and play O tidings of toil and play
But when to Ze-e-Yen they came Where their dear project lay And found us all hung-over But still prepared to pay We found our invoice quick and fast And saved ’em from May-Day
O tidings of toil and pay Toil and pay O tidings of toil and pay
Only Michael could choose the words “bromo and fizz” to replace comfort and joy. It seems that Bromo-Seltzer has a long and (in)glorious history in song lyrics. Who knew? (Well, Michael did, obviously). Perhaps you had to be there…or to have sent a sick note at the time…to get the gist of that song.
“Wachet Auf” means “Wake Up!”, which was possibly an early call for wokery back in the Baroque period…or possibly not. In any case, I wouldn’t recommend English speakers barking this German language expletive after a couple of G&Ts – it might be misunderstood.
We rated this gig “very good”. Some lesser known works by Bach’s lesser known contemporaries, sandwiched between a bit of Telemann and a bit of Bach:
Ouverture “Perpetuum Mobile”, Georg Philipp Telemann
Balletti Lamentabili a 4, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
O Heilige Zeit, Johann Kuhnau
Sinfonia No 2 in C Minor, Johann Ludwig Krebs
Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns die Strimme Cantata BWV 140, Johann Sebastian Bach
Here is O Heilige Zeit performed by Solomon’s Knot:
Here is the Krebs Sinfonia, performed by Capella jenensis:
Here is a recording of Wachet Auf by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman…
…whom we saw 25 years later performing Telemann sonatas and Tafelmusik at The Wig:
Another Friday, another theatre visit. This time we had even booked for the Saturday, but switched to the Friday to accommodate Caroline Freeman’s engagement party on the Saturday.
Janie and I rated this Hedda Gabler as “good”.
Janie and I had seen a mediocre (or, in Janie’s words, “OMG it was dreadful”) Hedda in Holland Park a few year’s earlier…
Even after this 1999 Hedda, I still didn’t feel that Janie had seen a good enough version, so we did it all again at The Almeida a few year’s later.
Anyway, this one was a West End preview with Francesca Annis as Hedda and other West End names such as Peter Bowles and Nyree Dawn Porter in tow. Frank McGuiness directed it.
This one started in Plymouth a week or so before we saw it in Richmond. Here is Leon Winston’s review from the Herald Express:
Mnemonic & Peggy Susannah Clapp 28 Nov 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Peggy Billington Guardian 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Peggy Taylor Independent 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
