Category: Theatre

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Cottesloe Theatre, 15 January 2011

Janie really isn’t into Shakespeare, but Twelfth Night is a play close to my heart, having “done it” at Alleyn’s for the Dramatic Society in 1978.

Twelfth Night, Alleyn’s School, 12, 14, 15 & 16 December 1978

Ever since, I had been keen to see productions of Twelfth Night when they came around. Further, this production with Rebecca Hall as Viola and possibly a last chance to see a by then 80 year old Peter Hall directing…Janie said yes.

In truth, I don’t think this was the best Twelfth Night I have ever seen. It was of course very well acted, directed and produced, but it was a little old-fashioned in style for my taste; it felt like the sort of Shakespeare production I might have seen at the National 20-25 years earlier. I guess I should have expected.

It certainly didn’t do anything to improve Janie’s view on Shakespeare. I explained how much better it was done in the hands of Alleyn’s schoolkids in 1978 and Janie said she could understand exactly what I must mean.

She wasn’t humouring me, was she?

“After all,” said Janie, “you are practically a reincarnation of The Bard, are you not?”

Anyway, here is a link to a search term that finds reviews and other resources on this production. The reviews are a little mixed; mostly suggesting that it was a good, but not great production, which I think sums it up pretty well.

Fela! by Jim Lewis & Bill T Jones, Olivier Theatre, 11 December 2010

We don’t normally do musicals. But this one sounded interesting and different so we booked it.

Set in Nigeria in the late 1970s, it is basically a tribute to the life, music and politics of Fela Kuti.

It was at the National, so of course no on-line resource to help navigate all the whys and wherefores of the show. This search term – click here – should find the (mostly rave) reviews and other resources you might want.

I’m not sure we need a subsidised National Theatre to import this sort of hit show from Broadway and make a hit of it in London, but anyway I’m glad it was on there and I’m very glad we saw it. This was just the sort of boost we needed so soon after Phillie’s passing. A life-affirming show, but with real grit too.

Here’s the trailer vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO-hibM20mU

The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen, Almeida Theatre, 13 November 2010

We don’t book many classic revivals, but we tend to make an exception for Ibsen if it is a play one or both of us hasn’t seen before. Plus, if it is the Almeida, we tend to trust the place to deliver a classic well and with a modern enough feel.

As was the case with this superb production.

We were a little concerned that it might be a luvvie-fest for Gemma Arterton. But she proved well up to her task and the universally high-quality cast worked extremely well as an ensemble.

It was a well-pacey production; an-hour-and–three-quarters straight through, the extra pace worked well with this play. An object lesson for some of the ponderously long, drawn-out productions of early 20th century plays.

Here is a link to the Almeida resource for The Master Builder.

The reviews were pretty much universally good and most are linked through the above resource, but this search term – click here – should find reviews independently for you.

The Company Man by Torben Betts, Orange Tree Theatre, 9 October 2010

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.

Or You Could Kiss Me by Neil Bartlett, Cottesloe Theatre, 2 October 2010

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 search term should find resources and reviews aplenty for any deep divers who might want to search on from here.

This link takes you to a short film that shows some of the major puppet scenes, to give you an idea.

Wanderlust by Nick Payne, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 25 September 2010

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.

House Of Games by David Mamet, Jonathan Katz & Richard Bean, Almeida Theatre, 11 September 2010

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:

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, Royal Court Theatre, 4 September 2010

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.

Spur Of The Moment by Anya Reiss, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 3 August 2010

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.

etiquette by Ant Hampton & Silvia Mercurliali, Gate Theatre @ Gails Portobello, 19 July 2010

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.

Here is a search term that digs out more on this piece and on Rotozaza, the production company that does this autoteatro things.