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 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 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 16 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Susannah Clapp also gushed…
Caretaker Clapp Observer 19 Nov 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Paul Taylor agreed.
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.