Author: Ian Louis Harris

The Elland Affair by Mike Ward, The Actor’s Workshop, 5 July 2000

I have described the book signing aspect of this event in excruciating detail in a separate piece – click here or below.

My First Ever Book Signing, Clean Business Cuisine (the book), Actors’ Workshop Halifax (the venue), Yet Something Was Missing, 5 July 2000

I have also set out the programme notes I wrote for The Elland Affair – click here.

But what of the show itself?

Well, it seems I gave it a rave review at the time and also assembled some other reviews electronically. I have no idea how or why this information ended up in a “miscellaneous” file on my computer – it looks like a scrape from an on-line something-or-other from back in the mists of time. Anyway, I have just (11 Match 2023) discovered/recovered it, dated 19 July 2000, so here is the contemporaneous reviews of many:

Nicola Sedgefield
Play: The Elland Affair

The Actor’s Workshop Youth Theatre’s latest production, Mike Ward’s ‘The Elland Affair’ is not for the squeamish or sexually repressed.

This orgy of rampant testosterone exposes the physical abilities, acting skills as well as most of the flesh of a group of Yorkshire lads (I presume) who would win hands down in any contest of entertainment against ‘The Chippendales’. With the Workshop lads, what you see is clearly what you get.

Gore as well as sex is plentiful as our fearless heroes plot and ultimately exact revenge on the dastardly Sir John Eland and his thugs. If these lads had been on hand to fight the later Wars of the Roses, Henry VII and all those Tudors would never have made it.

It was a long show, but I wouldn’t have missed it.

Review by: Ian Harris
Play: The Elland Affair

I enjoyed the play immensely. Before taking the world by storm with it, I think Mike Ward would do well to reduce the length by some 30 to 45 minutes. But even in its full length form, there’s enough really good stuff to maintain one’s attention throughout.

The Elland Affair is not for the squeamish or prudish, as other reviewers have no doubt pointed out. But then 1327 probably wasn’t a good time for squeams and prudes to be alive.

A tough but worthwhile assignment this, for a small youth theatre. The broad sword fighting scenes alone must have needed an enormous amount of rehearsal (and muscle building) but were pulled off with great aplomb.

Other youth theatres should take a look at this play and, if suitably ambitious, should do well with it.

Superb programme notes, I thought. (He would say that, wouldn’t he?)

Seriously, well done to author, director, cast and crew.

Review by: Mr G Phillips
Play: The Elland Affair

Yet again the actors workshop has pulled off another excellent performance – ‘The Elland Affair’, superbly written and superbly performed, and it does not cease to amaze me.

Although one or two mistakes were made, and it showed to a certain extent, it was understandable because of all the lines that needed to be learnt.

Kristian Wilkinson played an excellent part as Adam, also Thomas Vickery as Hugh, and they both worked well together showing that they had put a lot of time and effort into the production.

The one character that didn’t really stand out was Harry he could have been played a lot better, Christopher Cockroft did not prove to be much as there was no ‘umph’ behind his lines.

My wife thinks that the the one person that did stand out, even though he did not have a big part, was Aaron. He stood out with his witty humour on how he thought that he was a ‘sex god’ – very well played by Shane Gough. The thing that made him stand out is that he would always turn up at the right moment.’Hope to see him again’ she says.

Which also shows how well the play was written. Even though it was a bit long, there is not a single scene which I can think to leave out, one or two lines maybe, but none of the scenes.

Well done to Mr Ward and I can’t wait for your next one – I assume you are going to write one.

P.S don’t listen to Margaret Woods, you guys are doing a fantastic job and some of you could be the future of television.

Review by: Steve Cattell
Play: The Elland Affair

This was about my fourth outing to an Actor’s Workshop production, and by far the most enjoyable yet.

I had been fore-warned about the length of the play, but felt that the length was justified to contain the full story – a story which has been excellently written by Mike Ward.

Full marks to Kristian for learning so many lines !! What this must have done to his social life over the past two months is anyones guess !! and also a great performance by his right hand man who put in a blinding performance – a natural on the stage.

And of course, I have to mention the star of the show (although I am slightly biased !!!), Grace Siddall – who proved once more that a career in acting is definately looking promising…..

Keep writing Mike, it keeps us entertained…..

Review by: Mr F Smith
Play: The Elland Affair

I must say that my evening at the Actors Workshop was superb whilst seeing the ‘Elland affair’.

I thought that everyone took on the challenge of being 13th century teenagers very well and it was obvious that they had all completly focused on the task.

My only fault was that occasionally the play was disrupted by loud backstage noise.

I also thought that the role of Harry De’lacey slightly lacked confidence.

Review by: A. Ward
Play: The Elland Affair

A great world premiere.

A highly enjoyable swashbuckling tale of revenge, treachery, and humanity – one that will surely see future stagings throughout the country.

A trifle long – particularly the second Act – but this was a mere flesh wound to the body of work as a whole.

Some fine performances and some intriguingly insightful writing touches.

I suggest a sequel – ‘Confessions of a Miller’s Wife’…….

Review by: J.B.W.Summerskill
Play: The Elland Affair

I sat in awe last week as I watched the Mike Ward work ‘The Elland Affair’. I thought it was the best show the company performed that I have seen.

With its carefully woven themes of loyalty, love, friendship and hatred thumping into the audience with welcome regularity, I was kept on my toes laughing and gasping throughout. Many congratulations to all on an exciting and provocative story which could be adapted into a blockbusting production on stage or screen were it to fall into the “wrong” hands.

No doubt Janie and I also enjoyed lavish hospitality at the hands of Mike and Lottie Ward after the show that night…

…after I had returned the pen(s) to their rightful owner(s).

Following The Lord’s Test Match In The Car, Then Bach At The Wigmore Hall With The Duchess, 1 July 2000

This memory was triggered by this charming piece on the King Cricket website in late May 2020:

Watching (and missing) a dramatic day of England v West Indies in 2000 – a match report

Janie (Daisy) and I weren’t there for the tense ending of that match either. But we were nearby – there in spirit if not in body.

We had been eagerly following the match all day.

But that day was also the birthday of Daisy’s mother, The Duchess of Castlebar. I had bought tickets for the three of us to see a Bach concert at the Wigmore Hall for that evening.

Janie had quite recently acquired a taste for chamber concert halls and baroque music, perhaps a year or two earlier. The Duchess tended to prefer large scale concerts of the Proms variety; we mostly booked those for her. But the Proms don’t get going until a bit later in the summer and it was the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death that year. So Bach at The Wig it was to be.

Anyway, that afternoon the Lord’s Test Match was beautifully poised and/but for reasons I cannot recall – had there been a lot of overnight rain? – the day’s play had been delayed and was playing out until quite late.

The Duchess is an avid follower of the cricket as well as a music aficionado. We called her to let her know that we were on the way to collect her. We could all listen to the ending of the cricket match together on the car radio on our way to The Wig.

As we drove to the Duchess’s residence, England wickets fell and the match seemed to be drifting in The West Indies direction. Daisy and I anticipated a dark mood and we were not disappointed.

Thrown it away, they’ve thrown it away…

…said The Duchess. We set off for Marylebone (the southern end thereof).

The Duchess explained to us, as she had several times before, that Denis (Compton), Ted (Dexter), Colin (Cowdrey) Ken (Barrington), Geoffrey (Boycott) and players of that ilk – whom she had met together with her late husband in the good old days- would not have thrown it away like this.

We arrived at The Wigmore Hall. England hadn’t lost a wicket for a while. Was it possible that they could snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat?

Daisy parked up – it was a warm sunny evening so we sat in the car with the roof open and the car radio on, listening to the denouement of the cricket match.

The Duchess Of Castlebar

Try to imagine the scene, dear reader, as it must have looked to passing tourists who understand little or nothing about cricket. A distinguished-looking septuagenarian with her family sitting in a car leaping around in their seats, oohing and aahing every 45 seconds or so as the commentator spoke.

Then, those same seemingly dignified folk whooping with joy for a while, before sealing up the car and entering the Wigmore Hall. Tourists: meet the English.

Here’s a link to the scorecard and the Cricinfo bumf about the match.

Then the concert.

Basically it was an organ recital of JS Bach works by Jennifer Bate. When you click that preceding link you get some eye candy as well as the organist in question, as Jennifer Bate shares her name with a subsequent Miss England and sporting WAG.

Click the pic to read about the organist Jennifer Bate

It was a fine concert of mostly well-known Bach organ works. An example of one of the pieces (Bach after Vivaldi as it happens) can be seen and heard below.

To be precise, extracted from my log, we heard:

  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Chorale Partita BWV 767
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Prelude and Fugue in D Minor BWV 539
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Sonata No 4 in E Minor BWV 539
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Chorale Prelude BWV 740
  • Johann Sebastian Bach & Johann Ernst – Concerto No 4 in C BWV 595
  • Johann Sebastian Bach & Antonio Lucio Vivaldi – Concerto No 2 in A minor BWV 593
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Pastorale in F BWV 590
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Chorale Prelude BWV 645
  • Johann Sebastian Bach – Fugue in G BWV 577

A sad coda to this Ogblog piece was the discovery that Jennifer Bate died in March 2020, just a few weeks before I wrote this piece.

Here’s another video of her playing one of the pieces we heard that night; Concerto in C BWV 595 (Ernst arr. Bach).

Below is the sort-of programme handed out on the night – it wouldn’t be an organ recital without an organ appeal, now would it?

Five Kinds Of Silence by Shelagh Stephenson, Lyric Hammersmith, 24 June 2000

No comment on this one in my log. Not necessarily a bad thing but also not necessarily a good thing.

Fabulous cast – including Tim Pigott-Smith, Lizzy McInnerny, Gina McKee & Linda Bassett. Ian Brown directed. But in truth I remember little about this one – even after looking at some of the reviews.

Paul Taylor was impressed:

Five Kinds Taylor Independent

Article from 3 Jun 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Michael Billington was less impressed:

Five Kinds Billington Guardian

Article from 5 Jun 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Nicholas de Jongh was also somewhat underwhelmed by the play:

Five Kinds de Jongh Standard

Article from 5 Jun 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Janie and I went to a gastro pub restaurant, The Chiswick, afterwards.

Salve Regina, Robin Blaze & The Parley of Instruments, Wigmore Hall, 22 June 2000

We must have really fancied this one, as we don’t (and didn’t) much go to the Wigmore Hall for this type of concert midweek. Our work diaries were so full back then.

Janie was on a bit of a countertenor kick back then; that would have clinched it.

Anyway, what an interesting concert:

  • Johann Rosenmuller – Ascendit Christus in Altum
  • Giovanni Legrenzi – O Mirandum Mysterium
  • Giovanni Legrenzi – Sonata in G major ‘La Pezzoli’
  • Giovanni Antonio Rigatti – Nunc Dimittis
  • Giovanni Antonio Rigatti – Cum Invocarem
  • Claudio Monteverdi – Iam Moriar, Mi Fili (Pianto Della Madonna)
  • Alessandro Grandi – Ave Maris Stella
  • Alessandro Grandi – Amo Christum
  • Biagio Marini – Sonata Quarta in A minor
  • Francesco Maria Marini – Jesu Dulcis Memoria
  • Dario Castello – Exultate Deo
  • Giovanni Rovetta – Salve Regina

Here is one of the pieces they performed that night:

The following year, this troupe released the Salve Regina album, which contains many of the “hits” we heard that night – I have saved it to my YouTube Music account here.

My log records just one word to describe my feelings about this concert:

Lovely.

Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, Donmar Warehouse, 17 June 2000

Really good.

That’s what I wrote in my log. And I meant it.

I had previously seen Peter Hall’s excellent 1988 production of Orpheus Descending, with Vanessa Redgrave, Jean-Marc Barr and other fine acting folk:

Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, Theatre Royal Haymarket, With Jilly, Followed By Annalisa’s Party, 10 December 1988

Janie is especially partial to a bit of Tennessee Williams. Although I suspected that I would not be seeing a better production that the one I saw in 1988. the lure of Helen Mirren and Saskia Reeves was enough for me. Also involved, a young Stuart Townsend in the male lead, a yet-to-fall-foul-of-my-displeasure Nick Hytner directing, ably assisted by a young Josie Rourke.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was quite impressed:

Orpheus Billington Guardian

Article from 28 Jun 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor described Hytner’s production as “powerful, if over-emphatic”:

Orpheus Taylor Independent

Article from 28 Jun 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Kate Bassett wrote well of it in the Telegraph:

Orpheus Bassett Telegraph

Article from 29 Jun 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Nicholas de Jongh described Hytner’s production as “staid”, but still rated the experience “very good”:

Orpheus de Jongh Standard

Article from 28 Jun 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

I wrote “really good”, not “very good”. I wonder whether the LLMs detect a difference between those two ratings?

The Heavy Rollers Double-Up For The First Two Days Of The England v West Indies Edgbaston Test Match, 15 & 16 June 2000

The first ever picture of The Heavy Rollers, taken, quite brilliantly, by “that joker of a supervisor steward”, Paul Guppy. From left to right starting with, in the green shirt and shades: Nigel, Charles, Jeff, Me (with Hippity & Henry The Duck), David. I have often wondered about the person two seats to the right of David. Did he not want to be seen on camera? Was he having a Sneed-snooze? Had he existentially expired?…

…or perhaps the chap with his head down had just heard one of Paul’s terrible jokes

Following the resounding success of the 1999 Heavy Rollers visit to Edgbaston – my first one:

My First Taste Of The Great Cricket Tradition That Is The Heavy Rollers, England v New Zealand Test Day One, Edgbaston, 1 July 1999

…which itself was the sequel to the inaugural Heavy Rollers outing in 1998:

Guest Piece by Nigel Hinks: The Birth Of The Heavy Rollers Tradition, Edgbaston, June 1998, Including The Revelations And Acts That Led To The Birth

…at some point a decision was made to make it two days rather than one for 2000. That decision was as yet unmade in early December 1999, when Nigel wrote:

Whatever your reasoning-to see Charles take money off Jeff, Ian’s mascot/s, the cuisine, the cricket even….the time has come to believe in the future. Things can improve.

England v West Indies, same place, Thursday June 15th and possibly 16th too?

Let me know,soon.

Nigel

I cannot see my reply or even any e-mail replies on the e-mail trail, yet somehow we must have all communicated to Nigel our considered opinion on expanding the adventure to two days: YES PLEASE!

We were all working together a lot in late 1999, so my guess is that everyone had the opportunity to discuss the matter with Nigel and for all the arrangements to be communicated by means other than e-mail. An extraordinary thought 20+ years later.

In the absence of a swathe of photos and documentary evidence, memory evidence is thin. The traditions described in the above two pieces (1998 and 1999) would have been pursued without doubt. We will have stayed at Wadderton, certainly on the Wednesday and Thursday night. David will have done the honours with the picnic on both days. Jeff will have done Edgebaston [sic] betting sheets. I would have trained home on the Friday evening.

One strong memory I have of this episode was a moment of fame for one of my mascots, Henry the Duck.

Same location, same two teams, four years later

I’m pretty sure it was on the TV highlights we saw at Wadderton on the evening after the first day’s play. I’m guessing it was when Graeme Hick was out for a duck, the camera panned to Henry for a few moments and Michael Holding said, words to the effect of:

that just about sums it up.

Traditions take a while to settle, of course. Even The Heavy Rollers. So there was some fragmentation and controversy that summer.

No-one has ever managed to establish why Nick “The Boy Malloy” Bartlett wasn’t there. Nick is convinced he wasn’t invited. Nigel insists that he would only have needed the nod from Chas and Nick would have been an automatic pick. There are rumours that some indecision might have been involved. The truth will never be established.

Later in the summer, the fragmentation meant that Chas and I, together with Michael Mainelli and Bob “Big Mac” Reitemeier spent the day together at the Oval on Day One of The Fifth Test.

England v West Indies, 5th Test, Oval, 31 August 2000 but not 4 September 2000

That event might inadvertently have kicked off the short spate of ill-conceived attempts by senior Children’s Society folk to join The Heavy Rollers and the resulting accusations of elitism.

On Day Five of the fifth test, Jeff Tye called me in the morning and suggested that we “walk up” and see the day’s play together, as it promised to be potentially historic – indeed it turned out unquestionably so. As I explain in the above piece, to my regret since, I let work get in the way. Jeff was smarter and/but went to the Oval on his own that day.

But returning to Edgbaston in June 2000, here is a link to the scorecard for the match...then feast your eyes again on that early incarnation of The Heavy Rollers…

The Country by Martin Crimp, Royal Court Theatre, 10 June 2000

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 CountryBillington 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 CountrySpencer 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.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Young Vic Theatre, 3 June 2000

This was a great production. I recall gently persuading Janie to see Macbeth again – she’s no fan of Shakespeare and felt that she had “done” Macbeth when seeing the 1994 Jacobi version.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Barbican Theatre, 19 February 1994

It was the pull of Tony Sher and Harriet Walter that won Janie round, firstly to attending and in the end to admitting what a fabulous production this production at The Young Vic was. It was fast, it was furious, it was very memorable. Greg Doran knows a thing or two about doing Shakespeare.

The Theatricalia entry reminds me that the 2000 version was an RSC touring production that started at the Swan in late 1999 and ended up at The Young Vic in mid 2000.

Here’s Charles Spencer’s review from the Swan:

Macbeth Spencer Telegraph

Article from 18 Nov 1999 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

While Spencer gushed, Susannah Clapp really raved about it in the Observer:

Macbeth Clapp Observer

Article from 21 Nov 1999 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor also spoke very highly of it in The Independent:

Macbeth Taylor Independent

Article from 17 Nov 1999 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Here’s Nicholas de Jongh’s take on the production, once it landed at The Young Vic:

Macbeth de Jongh Standard

Article from 28 Apr 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Is the ultimate accolade five stars from our friend, Michael Billington?

Macbeth Billington Guardian

Article from 17 Nov 1999 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Of course not – the ultimate accolade is Janie admitting that this was an exciting, jaw-dropping production of a play she didn’t much like.

The Local Stigmatic by Heathcote Williams & The Dwarfs by Harold Pinter, Lyric Studio, 27 May 2000

My take on these two short plays is clearly documented in my log:

The Local Stigmatic: Dreadful.

The Dwarfs: Much better than the Stigmatic!!

That’s all he wrote, folks.

We liked the Lyric Studio back then and quite often went there for interesting new works or (as in this case) rarely seen revivals. Mandrake Theatre Company seems to have been in the business for that sort of thing, although I don’t think we saw their work too often.

Despite being in the low-key studio, this double bill was reviewed by The Standard. Nick Curtis did not agree with my comparative take on the two plays, giving both the dreaded Standard “X”:

Stigmatic Curtis StandardStigmatic Curtis Standard 26 May 2000, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We were not having a great run in May 2000, but, fear not, we saw some excellent stuff in June.

Richard II by William Shakespeare, Almeida at Gainsborough, 20 May 2000

We were still at the stage that I thought Janie might just be converted on to Shakespeare, so I booked a couple of Bard productions that spring: Ralph Fiennes playing the title role in this one and Tony Sher playing the title role in the Scottish one.

The idea didn’t really work on Janie – especially Richard II, which she found long and dull, despite a great cast and very solid production.

If I remember correctly, Gainsborough was a pop up theatre on the site of a disused film studio in Hoxton. This was one of the Almeida’s homes for a while, during which time the theatre was being poshed-up a bit.

Ralph Fiennes was a nodding acquaintance of mine back then – one of several actors who frequented Lambton Place in those days. This I disclose in the interests of openness and transparency, not that nodding acquaintanceship might affect my judgment.

I thought this production was very good, but I have always had my doubts about Richard II as a play. It is one that I “studied” at school, as a precursor to Henry IV Part one being my ‘O’ Level text. If Michael Lempriere couldn’t make it interesting for me, even Ralph, Jonathan Kent directing and an excellent supporting cast were going to struggle.

Paul Taylor in The Independent liked it but was a little underwhelmed:

Richard Taylor IndependentRichard Taylor Independent 13 Apr 2000, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was more impressed by the set than anything else:

Richard de Jongh StandardRichard de Jongh Standard 13 Apr 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Even Charles Spencer in The Telegraph described it as “far from electrifying” and “dull”:

Richard Spencer TelegraphRichard Spencer Telegraph 14 Apr 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Not our greatest weekend of theatre, 19/20 May 2000. But you cannot win them all.