…we ventured to the Almeida for Yazmina Reza’s much anticipated follow up to Art…except it turned out to be an earlier play, not a subsequent one.
I wrote nothing in the log about this one, and sense that we weren’t overly impressed, but nor were we especially disappointed. I remember little about it other than it being a very high-end Almeida cast and production.
Paul Higgins, Amanda Root, Clare Holman, Claire Bloom, Matthew Marsh & David Calder were the cast. Howard Davies directed it. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.
Let’s see what the pundits had to say.
Susannah Clapp was not impressed, other than with Claire Bloom:
We saw a preview of this play/production. My log note:
very good indeed.
What else could there possibly be to say?
Steven Mackintosh, Tom Wilkinson and Julia Ormond were the superb cast. I think David Hare directed it himself…the formal reviews will probably cover that point. Let’s tale a look at those.
I have documentary evidence to prove that I went to the Oval on the first day of the fifth test. Not much was arranged by e-mail in those days, but I wrote an e-mail to TMS. I was reminded of same, today (13 January 2017) as a result of some discussions about left and right-handedness on King Cricket – click here – which triggered a memory that I possess a great essay on the subject in The Boundary Book: Second Innings.
I found the book. Marking that very essay in my copy of The Boundary Book: Second Innings was a printout of the following e-mail, to TMS:
In the hope & expectation that Nagamootoo will be selected for the Oval, try this limerick for size.
There is a young man Nagamootoo,
Who the girls find it hard to stay true to;
He’s a little too shy,
Like the song by that guy,
Named Limahl from the group Kajagoogoo.
Do look out for us today, near the front of the Peter May North Stand. A monkey, a green rabbit, four chaps (including two American rookies trying test cricket for the first time) and a yellow duck named Henry. Henry bears more than a passing resemblance to Henry Blofeld.
Ian
Earlier that same summer at the first test with the Heavy Rollers, plus Hippity the Green Bunny, Henry the Duck but no monkey. The monkey joined our household later.
We met Bananarama Monkey-Face in Pickering in early July 2000. This photo from 2014, after he’d established his own small-time writing career.
FALSE MEMORY PARAGRAPH
I have a feeling that the first day of the fifth test must be the occasion that Jeremy, Michael and I went together, with the additional American Rookie being a client or prospective client of Michael’s who turned out to have the attention span of a flea. He watched for about 5 or 10 minutes, got bored, wandered off and made us feel thoroughly irritated, as we knew loads of people who would have loved that hot ticket. As Michael said afterwards, “I’m not making that mistake again”.
CORRECTED MEMORY PARAGRAPH
Following an e-mail trawl for other summer 2000 matters, I realise that the above memory is false, or rather a memory from a later year/test match day. On 31 August 2000 the attendees were:
me
Michael “Timothy Tiberelli” Mainelli
Charles “Charley The Gent Malloy” Bartlett
Bob “Big Mac” Reitemeier (this pseudonym previously unused, but in the grand tradition of On The Waterfront characters as pseudonyms).
Both Michael and Bob were suitably interested in the cricket and indeed both have attended first class cricket and/or played several times since their initiation that day. Perhaps Charles also has some memories of that day. Big Mac e-mailed to say:
I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the day. I must admit that I did follow the events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with some interest following my induction on Thursday. Great stuff. The hook has been planted…
What about Monday?
But far more importantly, Aggers clearly liked my limerick a lot, because I heard him read it out at one point and learned that he broadcast it more than once during the day on that first day of the match.
I got very excited on the Friday, as Clean Business Cuisine (still available at all good bookshops, both on-line and real world) had just come out and we were promoting it heavily, so I got our book PR lass, Tanya, to bike a copy of the book to the TMS team at the Oval with a note of thanks re the limerick. I am now sure that such effort and expense is utterly futile. We live and learn.
That evening (the Friday) Janie and I saw Anthea and Mitchell. My diary says so. On the Saturday evening we saw Maz – my diary says so. I think it was her goodbye party ahead of going off to Malawi. A trawl of Janie’s diaries (and other people’s memories) at some stage in the future might well retrieve more stuff about those two evenings.
Monday 4 September 2000
Somehow, England, a shocking test match side at the time, had got itself ahead in a series against the (once) mighty West Indies (heck, they still had Walsh and Ambrose in those days, ageing though they might have been).
Going into the final test, England were 2-1 up. And now England were poised, in a great position to win the historic match and series on Day 5.
Several of us recovered our memories for that piece and commented. Here’s my comment about 4 September 2000:
I remember taking an early call from Big “Papa Zambezi” Jeff on the final day of the series, wondering whether I wanted to join him on a walk-up expedition south of the river (Thames, not Zambezi) to the Oval. He reckoned we’d still get good seats walking up Day 5 and it turned out he was right. But I had unmovable client commitments that day (long since forgotten by me and probably the clients), so he walked up and got splendid seats for an historic day without me. I made amends by buying Day 5 seats for the Oval in 2005 as a precautionary measure; Big “Papa Zambezi” Jeff was one of the beneficiaries of that forethought.
Well I have now looked up my diary and can see exactly what I did that day. I was sort-of on a deadline with an important report. Plus lots of calls. But I did have some slack that week.
Could I have burned some midnight oil and caught up? Of course I could.
Should I have gone with Jeff that day? Of course I should.
This concert will have been a birthday/bank holiday present to myself (and Janie). No chance that Pauline would be joining us for this one! My diary pointedly says “J&I” while Janie’s, equally pointedly, reads, “Ged & Me”.
We had already celebrated birthdays with John & Mandy at their place (Cambridge Road in those days) on the Saturday evening.
Back to the Monday Prom – just two big Germanic pieces:
Richard Wagner – Tristan and Isolde (Prelude and Liebestod)
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 7 in E major
Top orchestra, top conductor, top notch concert.
In fact, we were due to hear Claudio Abbado conduct this concert, but he had to withdraw due to ill health. I was hoping to do for Janie what Jilly had done for me a few years earlier, viz “you’ve got to see Abbado at least once”…but it was not to be.
Neither Janie nor I remember much about this play/production. Nor did I write any comments about it in my log – just the details of the visit.
The play is about a Samaritan helping a desperate young woman and the Samaritan becoming emotionally entangled with her. Janie would doubtless look on the whole thing very differently 25 years on, having been a Samaritan since the pandemic – i.e. for over five years at the time of writing.
The leads were played by Julian Wadham and Claudie Blakely, both of whom we rate highly. I do recall that I had been to see Julian Wadham perform more than once “back in the day” with Bobbie and her work colleagues from the law reports, as Julian’s sister, Sarah, worked with them. I also recall that this theatre visit came up in conversation at Bobbie’s place a few day’s before we went to see this play, when Janie and I visited her for dinner the previous Saturday.
I came across an entry in my diary for 24 August 2000 which had me completely…
…forgive the pun…
stumped.
17:00 Children’s Society, Regent’s Park
I couldn’t remember a thing about this event. It certainly wasn’t a Z/Yen thing.
Following some archaeology on the old e-mails, I ascertained that this was some sort of a match between The Children’s Society and Cable and Wireless; but still nothing came back to my memory.
It was clear from the e-mail trail that both Nigel and Chas had been involved with this match, so I wrote to both of them to see if they had any recollection of this event.
I needn’t have worried – yes they did.
Their replies were so comprehensive…
…and amusing…
…that with a little bit of sub-editing they made a very jolly two-hander for the King Cricket website, which published the piece in January 2018 – click here or below to read the piece.
To my mind, this is one of the wonderful things about Ogblog – an opportunity to re-engage such memories. Sometimes an event that was not so memorable for me might have been, for some reason, especially memorable for someone else.
Nigel – still shouting from the rooftops about the August 2000 match, perhaps?
Gluttons for punishment that year – Janie and I took The Duchess to the Proms yet again.
This concert would have very much been my choice – perhaps endorsed by her ladyship. I am especially partial to Bach two violin concertos and a bit of Mozart 29. The English Chamber Orchestra were one of my favoured bands too. Maxim Vengerov too – what was not to like?
I gave this production a one word review in my log:
Marvellous.
I remember that Janie and I had awaited this one eagerly. I remember that Ben Daniels was especially good in it, as were James Hazeldine, Paul Ritter, Julie Walters and Catherine McCormack. Howard Davies directing – and indeed the Cottesloe, now Dorfman as a location – were consistently good back then.
Charles Spencer in the Telegraph had to set aside his antipathy towards Arthur Miller because he thought this production so good:
Pauline, The Duchess of Castlebar, was partial to a youth orchestra concert at the Proms. We always used to book at least one of those for her per season.
This one also had a fair smattering of her favourite type of English composers (Elgar, Walton) plus some family favourites. The royal theme to the first half of the concert was because that very day was The Queen Mother’s 100th birthday.
Unknown – National Anthem (arr. William Walton)
William Walton – Coronation March ‘Crown Imperial’
George Frideric Handel – Music for the Royal Fireworks
Edward Elgar – Overture ‘Cockaigne (In London Town)’
Article from 7 Aug 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)
After the concert, we went to a new restaurant in Ealing named Parade, which Janie and I had wanted to try. I don’t think Pauline was as keen on this idea – I have a scribbled note in my diary “Pauline will try”. I think she preferred familiar food and guaranteed fawning waiters by that stage of her life.
Burial Clapp Observer 17 Sept 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Burial Zinc Gross Sunday Telegraph 17 Sept 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Burial de Jongh Standard 13 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Burial Billington Guardian 13 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
