Travel, Theatre, Music, Cricket, Tennis, Writing, Life
I don’t remember a great deal about this one.
Here is the Orange Tree stub on the play/production.
I think it might have been a bit much for us at that time, with Phillie so poorly by then, so perhaps we didn’t even stick it out to the second half.
This search term suggests that the few reviews it got were quite good ones.
Having missed out on War Horse (didn’t fancy it even after the rave reviews) we thought the subject matter of this one might interest us more and is very much up Neil Bartlett’s street.
This interview with Neil Bartlett explains his side of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUSz1vWF_5Q
To some extent it worked; the story across the decades was engaging. But the puppets didn’t really work for us. While we can recognise the incredible skill involved, it seemed, to us, to detract from the drama.
This link takes you to a short film that shows some of the major puppet scenes, to give you an idea.
I’m pretty sure this is the first Nick Payne play we saw. I remember little about it, other than the fact that the play was pretty full on about sex and that, despite its unsubtleties, we came away with the impression that we wanted to see more of this writer, which indeed we did.
Here is a link to the Royal Court resource on the play/production.
The usual praise for the Royal Court’s production qualities whether upstairs or downstairs. Super cast too.
Here is a search term that will find you the reviews and stuff if you want a deeper dive.
We are big fans of Mamet and also big fans of the Almeida, so Janie and I were really looking forward to this one.
We indeed got a fabulous production, wonderfully well acted, directed and produced. But we were less sure about the piece itself.
Of course with Mamet you get more twists and turns than a country lane. Of course you get even riper language than an expletive-filled debate at our place after Janie and I have both had a bad day. And of course, with Richard Bean in the driving seat for the play script itself, you get some lovely stage devices and coups de theatre.
But the piece itself, based on a 1980’s Mamet film script, seemed surprisingly slight and it was unusually easy to predict the twists. I suspect the film worked better, but I haven’t seen it.
Still, with Alleyn’s School alum Nancy Carroll heading up a pretty impressive cast, plus Django Bates providing the atmospheric jazz music, it was an entertaining evening to be sure. Janie enjoyed it thoroughly, but also claimed she let the plot wash over her.
Here is a link to the Almeida resource on the play/production.
Sceptics might not trust the above resource to link to all the reviews – quite rightly, as the reviews were mixed. Here’s a helpful search term for your own deep dive – click here.
If you’d like to see the trailer, click below – it’s pretty cool:
I was really taken with this play and production by the excellent Bruce Norris, about racial tension in a Chicago neighbourhood across the generations. It is witty and thought provoking in equal measure, tackling difficult topics with clarity and sensitivity.
Superb cast and this style of play marries well with Dominic Cooke’s style of direction.
Janie liked it too, but was a little less impressed than me.
Here is the Royal Court resource on this play/production.
It got rave reviews, west end transfer, revivals and all sorts – deservedly so. So you need to look through the reviews in the following link – click here – with care and choose the ones dated around September 2010 to see reviews of the actual production we saw – but you might want to look at reviews generally – in which case dip away with reckless abandon.
A rare visit to the theatre on a Tuesday evening.
We were invited, as friends of the Royal Court, to a pre theatre reception and a chance to see this play by a young writer coming through the young writers’ programme.
In truth, we don’t need much encouragement to support the young writers; we go to a lot of the young writers stuff upstairs anyway.
But it was nice to be asked.
We enjoyed the drinks. Got tapped up by the development people just a little and then enjoyed the play.
Not the most sophisticated play ever to come out of the programme, but the piece has some real punch and is most impressive when you consider that Anya Reiss was only 17 when she wrote the play.
Here is a link to the Royal Court resource on this play/production.
The critics were almost universal in their praise for Anya Reiss – here is a link to a search on relevant reviews and stuff.
This seemed like a really fun idea.
Autoteatro.
A short two-handed piece set in a cafe, pairs of people go to a cafe to perform the piece themselves, through the use of headphones and props provided.
The Gate Theatre picked up on this piece and arranged for “performances” at Gails in Portobello – click here for Gate resource on this.
Janie and I loved the idea of this. As we had arranged a Z/Yen cricket evening in a North Kensington Park on the Monday evening, it seemed a good idea to have a go that afternoon.
Here’s the “programme”:
We enjoyed the piece.
I am a huge fan of Ingmar Bergman films, not least Through A Glass Darkly – click here for IMdB link – so we were very excited about this stage adaptation at the Almeida.
BTW, I reviewed the movie on IMdB down the page here – way back in 2002 (when I saw value in reviewing such movies as so few people did!).
Anyway, we went to the opening Saturday night at the Almeida.
I’m not normally one for stage adaptations, but Bergman himself had granted stage adaptation rights for this film alone, so it is fair to assume that the great man himself could visualise a suitable staging.
Here is a link to the Almeida resource on this production.
This little video about the production is really interesting:
https://youtu.be/4HRrBnj7RKs
This stage adaptation worked really well at the Almeida. Superb cast, brilliantly staged and directed.
Here is a search term that will find reviews and stuff – click here.
We really enjoyed this production. I can’t honestly say that you get much from the text that goes beyond the movie script, but seeing this chamber piece close up, live, was an unforgettable experience and did add to this great work.
This production of an early Eugene O’Neil was twinned with a production of an early Tennessee Williams, Spring Storm, which we went to see a few weeks later, click here.
Janie and I are partial to a bit of Eugene O’Neill; almost as partial as we are to Tennessee Williams. While this early play is not one of O’Neill’s great plays, like the Williams, it shows all the signs of an emerging great playwright and was a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre.
A very strong cast and production from a regional source; the Royal & Derngate Northampton, did great service to both productions.
As on the prvious visit to the Cottesloe, we probably got some food from Shanghai Knightsbridge, “May’s”, afterwards. Either that or shawarmas.
This was a really powerful production of a fascinating but shocking play about a femme-fatale; but is she the abuser or the abused party? Janie and I were both affected by this piece and spent ages debating the play’s points afterwards.
Superb production in our little local gem The Gate. What luxury it is to be able to pop round the corner and see a cast and production of this quality.
Here is a link to The Gate’s resource on this play/production.
Here is a search term that finds you other resources and reviews.
Here is the YouTube trailer for the production:
I think we picked up some Turkish food from Manzara (late lamented by the time of writing in 2017) afterwards and stayed at the flat.