Category: Theatre

Howard Katz by Patrick Marber, Cottesloe Theatre, 2 June 2001

Janie and I thought this one was

Very good.

We saw a preview – the first Saturday.

Excellent cast, led by Ron Cook. We loved Closer, so were keen to see more Patrick Marber, who directed this one himself (not always the best idea…) Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Nicholas de Jongh did not like it, awarding the production the dreaded blob:

Katz de Jongh Standard Katz de Jongh Standard 14 Jun 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent, on the other hand, really liked it:

Katz Taylor Independent Katz Taylor Independent 14 Jun 2001 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington steers closer to de Jongh, liking the performance more than the play:

Katz Billington Guardian Katz Billington Guardian 14 Jun 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Just as well we thought it was very good, then.

The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute, Almeida Theatre At King’s Cross, 25 May 2001

Superb.

That was my one word log entry for this one, which both of us o indeed remember as superb. We were deep into Neil LaBute back then and might still be if he was still writing plays like this one.

Add to that Almeida quality of production and four fine actors: Rachel Weisz, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller – it wasn’t going to go wrong. I don’t normally approve of playwrights directing their own work, but Neil LaBute was actually very good at doing the director’s job with his own material.

Here is a link to the Thetaricalia entry.

A rare visit to the Almeida on a Friday for us – it was a bank holiday weekend and we had little else on, so I think this will only have come down to getting good seats for a preview.

Here’s what the critics had to say best part of a week after we had seen it. Charles Spencer was very impressed in The Telegraph:

Shape Spencer Telegraph Shape Spencer Telegraph 1 Jun 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

#Susannah Clapp was less sure, but still heaped praise:

Shape Clapp Observer Shape Clapp Observer 3 Jun 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington was not so sure:

Shape Billington Guardian Shape Billington Guardian 31 May 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Indeed, this analytical piece form The Guardian suggest that tis piece divided the critics. The stuff we like best often does:

Shape Guardian analysis Shape Guardian analysis 9 Jun 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Translations by Brian Friel, Questors Theatre, 12 May 2001

Another Saturday evening at The Questors with Janie’s mum, The Duchess.

The commercial arrangements for the evening will have been scrupulously fair:

  • The Duchess will have done The Questors tickets – we found out many years later she got a certain number of guest freebies per year with her subscription which she scrupulously deployed on us;
  • Janie and I will have done the interval drinks and dinner afterwards. On this occasion we went to Monty’s in Ealing – a place where you could get a late night tandoori or ruby and the Duchess would be allowed as many “last smokes” as she fancied without us being thrown out.

As always, The Questors will have been a very acceptable quality of production – the top end of am dram; semi-professional really.

And as always, The Questors has an exceptional archive – far better than most professional theatres, enabling you, dear reader, to read all about it, including the whole programme, without additional help from me, by clicking this link.

Marriage Play & Finding The Sun by Edward Albee, Cottesloe Theatre, 5 May 2001

Janie and I have a very clear memory of the opening of Marriage Play, in which Bill Paterson’s character, Jack, repeatedly taunts his wife, played by Sheila Gish, with the phrase “I’m leaving you”. It’s a bit “Who’s Afraid…” meets “Dances of Death”, I suppose. But we both recall really enjoying Marriage Play, while we thought a lot less of the second half’s short play, Finding The Sun.

What did the critics think?

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not wild about the evening as a whole, much preferring Marriage Play:

Marriage Billington Guardian Marriage Billington Guardian 9 May 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer seems to have seen it similarly, while gushing even more about Sheila Gish and Bill Paterson.

Marriage Spencer Telegraph Marriage Spencer Telegraph 10 May 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh, on the other hand, was much taken by both plays, even preferring Finding The Sun:

Marriage de Jongh Standard Marriage de Jongh Standard 9 May 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Earlier that day, Janie and I had warmed up for our evening at the theatre by seeing Greta for massage (in my case) and pilates in Janie’s case.

Buried Alive by Philip Osment, Hampstead Theatre, 27 April 2001

Janie and I thought this one was:

Good.

A fine cast, including Jane Arnfield, Louise Bush, Paul Higgins, Michelle Joseph, Veronica Roberts, John Ramm, Simon Trinder, Al Nedjari, and Gary Lilburn, directed by Mike Alfreds.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not so impressed, praising the acting but not the play, awarding a rare, mere, two stars:

Buried Billington Guardian Buried Billington Guardian 23 Apr 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh described it as “disappointing” and awarded a dreaded Standard blob:

Buried de Jongh Standard Buried de Jongh Standard 23 Apr 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Unusually, Janie & I agreed with Charles Spencer more than Billington on this one:

Buried Spencer Telegraph Buried Spencer Telegraph 27 Apr 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I guess we could fall for “the oldest of reactionary canards” occasionally, especially when we went to the theatre after an early Friday evening supper at Harry Morgans.

The following day we went to Kim’s birthday party, which would for sure have lightened our mood after that dark play.

Tales From Hollywood by Christopher Hampton, Donmar Warehouse, 21 April 2001

We saw a preview of this production, which I gave a one word review in my log:

Excellent.

It was memorably good.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph clearly liked it a lot:

Hollywood Spencer Telegraph Hollywood Spencer Telegraph 3 May 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard also reviewed it positively:

Hollywood de Jongh Standard Hollywood de Jongh Standard 2 May 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington was with us (opinion-wise) on this one too:

Hollywood Billington Guardian Hollywood Billington Guardian 2 May 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Clean by Clare Duffy, & Static by Chris Thorpe, Riverside Studio 3, 12 April 2001

Two short plays at The Riverside.

In truth, 25 years later, I remember little about this evening and/or these plays.

Unusual for us to go to the theatre on a Thursday evening, so something must have inspired us to do that. Possibly the secure knowledge that after my Washington trip the week before, Passover at my parent’s place the preceding weekend, and dinner with Anthea and Mitchell arranged for the next day, this would be our only chance to see this production. I’ll write some more about the Washington trip and those other events elsewhere, when the time feels right.

Still, something else must have inspired us to choose this twinning of short plays by writers we hadn’t heard of, with cast and creatives we also hadn’t heard of.

Theatricalia can’t help me with this one.

To the rescue, Mark Cook with this preview in The Guardian.

Static Cook Guardian Static Cook Guardian 7 Apr 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Also to the rescue, Patrick Marmion in The Standard. This pretty good review, published the very evening we went:

Static Marmion Standard Static Marmion Standard 12 Apr 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Boston Marriage by David Mamet, Donmar Warehouse, 31 March 2001

Janie and I are partial to a bit of David Mamet. We were also very excited to be seeing Zoe Wanamaker & Anna Chancellor (plus a young, then unknown, Lyndsey Marshal), directed by Phyllida Lloyd, early in the run at the Donmar Warehouse.

My memory and my single word log review…

pretentious

…suggests that we were a bit disappointed by the play.

Let’s see what the professionals thought of it.

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph really liked it:

Boston Spencer Telegraph Boston Spencer Telegraph 19 Mar 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington was more critical, especially with regard to the plot -or rather, its near-absence – but still mustered four stars.

Boston Billington Guardian Boston Billington Guardian 17 Mar 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh, similarly, suggests that the performances trump the play to make a worthwhile production.

Boston de Jongh Standard Boston de Jongh Standard 19 Mar 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Janie and I defer to the wisdom of the professional critics. The performances were good, we grant. But don’t attempt this play as am-dram unless you have three superb actresses to carry the evening.

Lulu by Frank Wedekind, Almeida Theatre At Kings Cross, 24 March 2001

To the bus station we went that Saturday to see Lulu very early in the Almeida run. The theatre was being refurbished that season – hence the bus station.

This play might have benefitted from the more intimate atmosphere of the Almeida Theatre itself. The coldness of the bus station served to emphasise the absence of warmth in a sex worker’s craft.

With Anna Friel, Oliver Milburn and Alan Howard taking lead roles and Jonathan Kent directing, it was always going to be a well put together show. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Nicholas de Jongh was captivated by Anna Friel’s Lulu, but several of his critic colleagues were not. The following piece from the Standard shows the critical divide.

Lulu de Jongh Standard Lulu de Jongh Standard 20 Mar 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Janie and I were similarly conflicted over this one It wasn’t just about the bus station setting. Wedekind’s work is open to wide interpretation and this version seemed to be hedging its bets.

Our friend, Michael Billington, expressed similar sentiments well:

Lulu Billington Guardian Lulu Billington Guardian 20 Mar 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp was kinder to it than most:

Lulu & Boston Marriage, Clapp Observer Lulu & Boston Marriage, Clapp Observer 25 Mar 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Were we glad to have seen this production? Of course we were.

Out In The Open by Jonathan Harvey, Hampstead Theatre, 23 March 2001

I remember this play in particular for its juxtaposition, a week after our visit to Doug and Paul’s house, as a quintessentially gay play.

I remember quite liking the play and being impressed by the cast, while feeling that “we can get all that at home”…or at least, at Doug and Paul’s home.

Excellent cast: Mark Bonner, James McAvoy, Linda Bassett, Sean Gallagher, Michele Austin and Vilma Hollingbery, directed by Kathy Burke.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph rather liked this one:

Out Spencer Telegraph Out Spencer Telegraph 22 Mar 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh gave it the dreaded Standard blob:

Out de Jongh Standard Out de Jongh Standard 21 Mar 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While our friend, Michael Billington, hedged and gave it three stars. I think we sort of went with three stars too.

Out Billington Guardian Out Billington Guardian 21 Mar 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com