This was a very good production of this iconic play. I had been keen to see a decent production of it and was not disappointed by the National’s effort.
I don’t think we’d heard for Michael Sheen before this production; he was excellent as Jimmy Porter and Emma Fielding was also excellent as the long-suffering Alison.
To the Questors with the Duchess of Castlebar (Janie’s mum) to see a student production.
No danger that The Duchess had to fork out for our tickets (I think she only took us to shows of any variety there on guest freebies).
Anouilh comedies tends to be quaint and within the grasp of student drama groups, so I suspect that the production was pretty good, but my log is silent on the matter.
I escaped the duty to reciprocate the freebie tickets with a dinner, because Janie and I went on to Rupert Stubbs’s 40th birthday do on Sailing Barge Resourceful in Chiswick.
Resourceful, now relocated to the estuary as a tea house
Given that we had fed the multitudes the week before for The Duchess’s birthday…
This production began its life at The Young Vic in the autumn of 1998, wending its way to several regional theatres before returning to London in 1999, when we saw it at The Richmond Theatre.
Fascinating piece about the production in the Telegraph by Charles Spencer. Joe White assisted Max Stafford-Clark directing this piece after release from Wormwood Scrubbs:
Janie might have got more out of this production had she known all that and had she known then what she knows now about rehabilitation of former prisoners…or lack thereof.
Our verdict on this piece/production at the time:
I liked it more than Janie did
Possibly it helped that I know (and like) The Recruiting Officer better than Janie does/did.
The cast no doubt changed over the year or so it toured, but we saw David Fielder, Stuart McQuarrie, David Beames, Fraser James, Ian Redford, Mali Harries, Ashley Miller, Sally Rogers and Michele Austin. Not bad.
I have no doubt that we ate at Don Fernando’s afterwards…and why not? Well, 25 years later, we couldn’t because the place has now closed down.
…we both said. We’re both partial to a bit of Lorca in any case.
Wonderful play, excellent production.
This production had been doing and continued to do the rounds for some time, at regional theatres. A superb cast, including Sandra Duncan, Amanda Drew, Tanya Ronder & Carolyn Jones, directed by Polly Teale – here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.
Our friend, Michael Billington, was also impressed by the production, once it landed at the Young Vic.
Janie and I remember being really impressed by Olympia Dukakis’s performance in this one woman play, while finding the play itself “a bit much”.
To be fair, we were a bit numb that weekend – we had attended Jenny Jamilly’s funeral the day before and were possibly not in the mood for high drama. Let alone uber-Jewish high drama, nach.
We saw a preview late May although the play didn’t receive its press night until some four weeks later.
The critics seem to have sided with us viz the performance and the play. Here’s Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard:
Janie booked this one, so I can report that we sat in seats D6, D7 & D8…and that she paid £20 a pop for this excellent evening at the theatre. I suppose £20 really was £20 back then. Still sounds like value.
The third ticket was for “The Duchess” (Janie’s mum).
We’ll have eaten at Don Fernando’s after theatre, because in those days, if we went to Richmond for theatre, that’s what we did afterwards. {Insert your own joke about “the late-dining middle classes” here].
A rare visit to the theatre by me and Janie on a Monday evening. We had chosen to take a week off work; partly for culture and partly, in Janie’s case, I think to spend time with Phillie and her medical stuff. We had little opportunity to go away properly around that time, so it made sense to take a bit of time.
But this play/production was a waste of time for us.
It was doing very little for us, so we left at half time to enjoy a longer session over a super meal at Grano.
One of Vicky Featherstone’s earlier efforts at directing.
Like a spacecraft that has lost its bearings…I’m sue you get my drift.
Grano Restaurant in Chiswick was something special. New in 1998, award-winning “best Italian Restaurant in London” in 1999. We had a super meal there. Sadly, now gone.
We thought this play/production was wonderful and we both remember this particular evening at the Almeida extremely well.
I had been especially keen to book this production, as I had read the play in the late 1980s, found it very interesting and wondered whether I would ever get to see it performed.
Janie and I attended a preview, as oft we do. Wallace Shawn was there and we chatted with him for quite some while. He came across as being exactly the sort of slightly-awkward, self-effacing type that he depicted in the film My Dinner With Andre, which is a great favourite of ours. A couple of times I said to Wallace, “I’m sure you need to speak with some other people”, to allow him to move on without discomfort, but he made it quite clear that he was happy chatting with us and continued to do so.
We talked about his other plays, many of which I had read and several of which Janie and I had seen together. We also chatted about the Almeida production of Aunt Dan & Lemon. He told us how thrilled he was that Miranda Richardson was playing Aunt Dan, as he was a huge fan of hers. I remember reflecting afterwards, with Janie, that Wallace Shawn seemed more star struck about Miranda Richardson than we were star struck by chatting with him.
The production was truly excellent. I had wondered, when I read the play, how it could possibly be staged well. Director/designer Tom Cairns and the production team had a myriad of clever answers, not least the hugely effective but not overpowering use of video projections on a screen.
Glenne Headly was superb as Lemon, as was Miranda Richardson as Aunt Dan. An excellent supporting cast including Corey Johnson and Kerry Shale.
Our friend Michael Billington loved this play/production:
It’s a shame that the Guardian mis-labelled the photo as Natasha Richardson (daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, no relation to Miranda). I wonder whether Wallace Shawn laughed or cried at that mistake back then?
Charles Spencer in The Telegraph considered the piece to be pernicious and wrong-headed, which is an interesting counter-argument to those coming at the piece from a more liberal perspective:
Thinking about the play some 35 years after reading it and 25 years after seeing it, I am struck by the thought that the play would, today, seem implausible, because an academic with Aunt Dan’s views would be lucky to survive even one semester as an Oxford don. Mind you, Wallace Shawn probably wouldn’t last much longer in an elevated academic institution either. Having thought provoked in this manner is not for wimps.
One of the very best and most memorable evenings we have spent at the theatre.
I remember Janie spotting this one in a Tricycle brochure and suggesting that the subject matter – the Israeli/Palestinian dispute, looked interesting.
“Written and directed by Rebecca Wolman. Oh my goodness, Rebecca Wolman is an old friend of mine from BBYO,” I said…”when she was known as Marcia Wolman”.
That almost dampened Janie’s enthusiasm – not because she had anything against my old friends from BBYO, nor people who choose to change their forenames, but because Janie was on a “we ALWAYS run into people you know when we go to the theatre” kick at that time. That was far from the truth – just occasionally we would run into someone I know – but it was Janie’s perception and that’s what mattered.
Anyway, Janie’s enthusiasm for the subject matter won through, so we went…
…and yes, we did run into someone I knew at the theatre – Rebecca – somewhat predictably. It was really nice to see her after so many years.
We were also able to tell Rebecca, truthfully, that we really liked the play and production.
In fact Janie was, if anything, more enthusiastic about it than I was. Janie was particularly taken with the allegory about the garden. Janie has often referred to this play since, in positive terms, usually when criticising other less subtle plays about such delicate subjects.
But returning to The Garden Of Habustan – I think the piece deserved a wider audience (as indeed I feel about Returning To Haifa). Hows about someone out there having a go at reviving it?
Marmion Standard Anger 16 Jul 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Billington Guardian Anger 17 Jul 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Clapp Observer Anger 18 Jul 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
