Janie and I were very taken with this creepy three-hander at the Royal Court. I remember us agreeing that it was Pinteresque at the time – without the influence of reviews I hasten to add.
I think this was our first sighting of a Martin Crimp play and for sure we were intrigued enough to seek out his work several times subsequently.
Owen Teale, Juliet Stevenson and Indira Varma, directed by Katie Mitchell. All people who had impressed us before and/or since.
My friend Michael Billington in the Guardian shared our fascination with this piece and also saw the Pinter parallels:
Billington on Crimp’s The Country 17 May 2000, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Charles Spencer in the Telegraph, on the other hand, adjudged the play “pastiche Pinter”, while applauding the acting and the production:
Spencer on Crimp’s The Country 18 May 2000, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Clearly the photographers thought that Juliet Stevenson jiggling car keys in Owen Teale’s face was the memorable image of the production.