Month: November 2000

Far Away by Caryl Churchill, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 25 November 2000

In my log, we rated this one:

excellent.

Janie’s diary reminds me that we had dinner the night before with Jamil and Suad Amyuni at Home House, which was also a very memorable evening in its own way.

Janie’s diary also notes, beside Far Away

1/2 hour.

It was short, but not quite that short. I know we saw a preview, but I trust my memory and the reviews that, even the preview, ran to more than 45 minutes, but probably less than an hour.

I had first seen Linda Bassett in A Place With the Pigs:

A Place With The Pigs by Athol Fugard, Cottesloe Theatre, 20 February 1988

There is a lovely interview piece with Linda Bassett about this production, which I found whilst rummaging for reviews:

Bassett Feature Standard Bassett Feature Standard 4 Dec 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Fabulous cast – not only Linda Bassett but also Kevin McKidd and Katherine Tozer, directed by Stephen Daldry. I only realise now what a hot ticket this must have been and how privileged we are/were, as Royal Court members, to grab hot tickets like this before they all got grabbed.

Predictably, Charles Spencer didn’t think much of it – he didn’t tend to get Caryl Churchill:

Far Away Spencer Telegraph Far Away Spencer Telegraph 5 Dec 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Irving Wardle in the Sunday telegraph wrote highly of it:

Far Away Wardle Sunday Telegraph Far Away Wardle Sunday Telegraph 3 Dec 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard got it:

Far Away de Jongh Standard Far Away de Jongh Standard 1 Dec 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rhoda Koenig was not so sure:

Far Away Koenig Indy Far Away Koenig Indy 1 Dec 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Even giving the casting vote to our friend Michael Billington doesn’t really help, as Billy-o gives the production four stars but his review is somewhat equivocal.

Far Away Billington Guardian Far Away Billington Guardian 1 Dec 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Strangely, the productions that tend to float our boats the most tend to split the reviewer jury. I guess Janie and I like controversial stuff. And as the now late (25 years on) Jamil Amyuni once famously put it in a different context:

why the bloody hell shouldn’t we?

Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi, Wigmore Hall, 18 November 2000

A lovely concert of fairly standard baroque fare, beautifully performed by Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante.

We heard:

  • Antonio Lucio Vivaldi – Concerto in G Minor for Strings RV 157
  • Wilhelm Friedemann Bach – Sinfonia in F major F67 Die Disonanzen
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Violin Concerto in G minor (after BWV 1056)
  • Antonio Lucio Vivaldi – Violin Concerto in B flat major op 8 No 10 La Caccia
  • Antonio Lucio Vivaldi – Concerto in D minor Op 3 No 11 for two violins, cello & strings
  • Antonio Lucio Vivaldi – Concerto in G minor for 2 violins and cello Op 3 No 2

There’s not much video of Europa Galante from that early period of their existence – but this one of them performing the delicious Vivaldi RV558 gives a good idea of what they looked and sounded like back then.

The inclusion of some WF Bach was a bit unusual. Biondi hasn’t recorded it and I’m not allowed to embed the linked vid, but you can click through to a video of some other Italian geezers performing it – here.

The Vivaldi RV157 also seems to be a bit rare – Biondi has not recorded it. It’ a very sweet piece. Here is the Iris Ensemble performing it.

If you are in search of the sound of Europa Galante with Fabio Biondi playing lots of Vivaldi of the Op 3 and Op 8 variety, then this playlist of mine on YouTube Music will be for you.

Alternatively, if the orchestral works of WF Bach float your boat, then this playlist is for you. I am pretty sure I bought the first album on that playlist on the back of hearing that sinfonia at The Wig that night.

Remembrance Of Things Past by Marcel Proust, adapted by Harold Pinter & Di Trevis, Cottesloe Theatre, 17 November 2000

We were such groupies in those days – we leapt in early and went to see the opening night (i.e. the first preview) of this one, on a Friday.

So keen were we to make sure that we were psychologically and spiritually ready for the experience, we both took that Friday off work. OK, maybe we had some other things to do that day, such as try to jostle Gavin along into finishing the long overdue work in Clanricarde Gardens.

Anyway, this piece is about Proust’s Remembrance, not my rambling memories. The conceit of this production was a film script that Harold Pinter had written in the 1970s, adapting Proust’s epic into screenplay. That movie had never been made. Di Trevis liked the screenplay and helped further adapt it into a three-hour play, which she then directed.

Fabulous cast – including Duncan Bell, Sebastian Harcombe, Julie Legrand, Diana Hardcastle, David Rintoul and a young Indira Varma.

There was a buzz in the theatre world about this one ahead of time and I think it buzzed on for some time. It certainly transferred to the Olivier, but I think that had always been planned in to the deal.

We loved the Cottesloe (now Dorfman) and were very keen to see this one early.

I remember being very impressed by it. Janie thought it a bit long…

…try reading Proust, love…

…and/but I suspect that our preview ran longer than the scheduled three hours as some material was probably cut between previews and press night.

Some of the press gushed. Here’s Nicholas de Jongh:

Remembrance de Jongh Standard Remembrance de Jongh Standard 24 Nov 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor was not so sure – liking much but disliking the freeze frames:

Remembrance Taylor Indy Remembrance Taylor Indy 24 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dominic Cavendish positively found the whole thing mediocre – which is faint praise indeed:

Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph 27 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington was balanced, mostly positive about it.

Remembrance Billington Guardian Remembrance Billington Guardian 25 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I must admit, I’ve made do with having seen this production and reading some passages in translation. The full one-and-a-quarter-million pages of the novel will have to wait – almost certainly for another life.

Thanks Harold, thanks Di.

Kinky Friedman Live In Brighton With David Seidel & Rachel Barnard, 12 November 2000

Kinky live in Texas 2006

I had been a bit of a Kinky Friedman fan for a while before I met David Seidel. Michael Mainelli had recommended/lent two or three of Kinky’s novels to me, which I had very much enjoyed. Elvis, Jesus & Coca-Cola is a title I especially remember.

Also, fascinated by the idea that a group could even be moderately successful with the name Kinky Friedman & the Texas Jewboys, I had bought a couple of his albums on CD and found myself listening to them surprisingly often. Sold American in particular pleased me – here’s a link to the album on YouTube Music. I also have a copy of Lasso From El Passo – here’s the YouTube Music link to that one.

Anyway…

…Kinky came up in conversation with David Seidel one day, as well it might have done, given our shared interest in humorous music. David said that Kinky was due to play Brighton in November and that he and Rachel planned to go, as they lived out that way – Hove, actually.

Would Janie and I like to…

…naturally, that Sunday meet up was set.

I remember that afternoon/evening fondly. We started off at David & Rachel’s house – I think it might have been the first time that Janie and I met Rachel, then went under their local guidance to the show.

I’m pretty sure we all thought the show was good fun.

I remember talking about Janie’s and my visit to the Royal Court the previous evening and agreeing that we would arrange a reciprocal visit to London for the Royal Court in the new year, which we did.

But the centrepiece of the evening was Kinky Friedman, accompanied by but one of the former Texas Jewboys, Little Jewford, who was the last of that sub-tribe.

The following previous piece by Clark Collis in The Telegraph (of all sources) provides more background than most readers will want about Kinky and that tour…with plenty even for the most diligent readers.

Kinky Collis Telegraph Kinky Collis Telegraph 4 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Maddy Costa in The Guardian gave the show a rave review…sort of:

Kinky Costa Guardian 1 of 2 Kinky Costa Guardian 1 of 2 18 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kinky Costa Guardian 2 of 2

Article from 18 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Kinky’s performances at that time looked a bit like this. Trigger warning – Kinky Friedman parodied bigots and misogynists by using their style of language, some of which is very offensive:

And if you would like to learn more about Kinky through a documentary, here’s a 50+ minute documentary made about a year after that concert.

Drag-On by Emmanuel De Nasciemento & Local by Arzhang Pezhman, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 11 November 2000

This evening in the theatre was part of that year’s Royal Court “Exposure Young Writers 2000” programme. Janie and I were especially impressed by the second play we saw.

Dominic Cavendish agreed with our assessment, while being pretty impressed with all of it, including the pairing of plays we didn’t see.

Exposure Cavendish Telegraph Exposure Cavendish Telegraph 25 Oct 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Thackray in The Guardian was less sure about all of it:

Exposure Thackray Guardian Exposure Thackray Guardian 21 Oct 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Halliburton in the Standard pretty much agreed with us, liking both but especially liking Local.

Exposure Halliburton Standard Exposure Halliburton Standard 20 Oct 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We have subsequently seen a lot of plays on these subjects, but at that time the subject matter and style seemed, to us, very fresh and encouraging for British theatre.

The Caretaker by Harold Pinter, Comedy Theatre, 10 November 2000

We booked this preview, leaping in ahead of the reviews, for a Friday evening, at the start of a big weekend of “show-going” for us. We were all booked up for Saturdays and I would have been very keen indeed to see this.

Rupert Graves as Mick, Douglas Hodge as Aston, Michael Gambon as Davies, directed by Patrick Marber, in a 40th anniversary production. Wow. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I had seen the play before – on a school trip in 1977 at The Greenwich Theatre, with Max Wall playing Davies, Anthony Higgins playing Mick and Peter Guinness as Aston. I’ll write that up in the fulness of time. Meanwhile, here’s the Theatricalia entry for that production.

Undocumented (although it will be Ogblogged at some point) is my own performance as Aston for AO-level drama at School in 1979.

But returning to 2000, let’s have a look at how Janie and I got on at The Comedy Theatre – now renamed the Pinter Theatre, as it happens.

Nicholas de Jongh wrote very highly of it, wondering only about Gambon not quite ringing true:

Caretaker de Jongh Standard Caretaker de Jongh Standard 16 Nov 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dominic Cavendish also seems to have cognitive dissonance in the matter of the Gambon performance:

Caretaker Cavendish Telegraph Caretaker Cavendish Telegraph 17 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington gave this one a rare five stars. Say no more:

Caretaker Billington Guardian Caretaker Billington Guardian 16 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp also gushed…

Caretaker Clapp Observer Caretaker Clapp Observer 19 Nov 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor agreed.

Caretaker Taylor Indy Caretaker Taylor Indy 16 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

You get the idea. I did the right thing booking a preview on a Friday. You wouldn’t have been able to get a ticket for love nor money once the reviews came out.

Janie’s diary tells me that we were in Row C. Mine tells me that I parted company with £60, which I suppose was sort-of real money back then.

Oh, but worth it. I will return to the topic of Gambon’s drifty accents when i write up my own Pinter acting experience from 1979. Watch that space.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 November 2000

It was a bit of a Shakespeare week for us, that week. From Ivan Shakespeare at the Canal Cafe on the Sunday…

A Night For Ivan, (A Random Act Of Kindness & Tribute To The Works Of Ivan Shakespeare), Canal Café Theatre, 29 October 2000

…to one of the Bard’s most famous plays at The National on the Saturday.

Janie isn’t naturally drawn to Shakespeare, but she had never seen Hamlet before and Simon Russell Beale in the eponymous role was a big draw.

I had seen Hamlet before…and at the National before. I had a rare sighting of Daniel Day Lewis in the role before he famously withdrew early in the run to be replaced by Ian Charleson.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Olivier Theatre, 18 March 1989

Anyway, The National obviously felt the urge to have another go at Hamlet less than 12 years later, with Simon Russell Beale, Peter McEnery, Sara Kestleman and Denis Quilley to name but a few.

Janie remembers being impressed by the acting, but still not really relating to or engaging with Shakespeare. I remember feeling that I had probably previously seen the best production of Hamlet I was ever going to see, despite thinking that this was pretty darned good; especially Simon Russell Beale’s performance.

Very good indeed.

That’s what I wrote in my log.

But you don’t want to listen to us. Here are some reviews. First up – Nicholas de Jongh, who also liked Simon Russell Beale more than he liked the production

Hamlet de Jongh Standard Hamlet de Jongh Standard 6 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Similarly, our friend Michael Billington applauds SRB’s performance and John Caird’s directing of it, but feels that the production strips out the big picture political aspects of the play:

Hamlet Billington Guardian Hamlet Billington Guardian 6 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, similarly, applauds the performances but finds the production too stripped back for his taste:

Hamlet Spencer Telegraph Hamlet Spencer Telegraph 7 Sept 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Janie noted in her diary that the play ran for 3 hours and fifteen minutes, so I’ll guess that she was grateful for John Caird’s cuts of the political elements – goodness knows how long the play would have taken in John Caird’s hands if we’d also had the Fortinbras sub-plot to deal with.

Still, to summarise the critics – they warmed to the production almost exclusively because of Simon Russell Beale’s quality. I’m surprised that no-one gave their review the headline, “Saved By the Beale”. They missed a trick there.