Category: Theatre

Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies, Hampstead Theatre, 30 June 2001

Just in case a triple bill at The Royal Court Theatre the night before wasn’t enough theatre for us…

Mountain Language & Ashes To Ashes by Harold Pinter, & Alive From Palestine by Al Kasaba Theatre Group, Royal Court Theatre, 29 June 2001

…and just in case having several dinners with friends, including Brendan and Fi the week before wasn’t sufficient…

Several Midweek Evenings Out In Late June 2001

…we ran into Brendan and Fi when we went to see Dinner With Friends at the Hampstead.

This was still the old Portakabin Hampstead Theatre of course and I remember Brendan and Fi being a bit surprised by its shabbyness.

This play was quite amusing, I seem to recall, in a quintessentially Hampstead Theatre, middle-class comedy way.

Patrick Marmion in The Standard gave it a good review:

Dinner Standard Marmion Dinner Standard Marmion 29 Jun 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not quite so sure:

Dinner Guardian Billington Dinner Guardian Billington 5 Jul 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp in the Observer mostly hated it. Oh well.

Dinner Observer Clapp Dinner Observer Clapp 1 Jul 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Mountain Language & Ashes To Ashes by Harold Pinter, & Alive From Palestine by Al Kasaba Theatre Group, Royal Court Theatre, 29 June 2001

We adjudged the event:

Triple bill proved a bit much for us that night!!

Both of us had really busy weeks in the run up to this Friday night at the theatre, with Janie taking patients early and late that week. In my case, as well as many client meetings, a very late night for me the previous evening due to the traditional Children’s Society v Z/Yen cricket match in Regents Park:

The Children’s Society v Z/Yen Cricket Match, Regent’s Park, 28 June 2001

Harold Pinter would have understood.

I had seen Mountain Language before – a most memorable production in 1988 with Michael Gambon, Eileen Atkins, Tony Haygarth and Miranda Richardson, directed by Harold himself..

Mountain Language by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 October 1988

Returning to 2001, our friend Michael Billington reviewed Alive From Palestine, but not the triple bill, giving me the sense that the piece might have had a greater effect on us had it not been preceded by the two Pinter pieces.

Alive Guardian Billington Alive Guardian Billington 30 Jun 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Halliburton in the Standard raved about the brace of Pinter plays, while remaining silent on the Palestinian play:

Ashes Standard Halliburton Ashes Standard Halliburton 27 Jun 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

To be fair, she reviewed the Pinter double bill ahead of the short late night run of the third play started. And at least The Standard had the good manners to trail the Alive From Palestine one:

Alive Standard preview Alive Standard preview 21 Jun 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph absolutely hated the Pinter and was utterly silent about the Palestinian play:

Ashes Telegraph Spencer Ashes Telegraph Spencer 28 Jun 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Clubland by Roy Williams, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 23 June 2001

We are very partial to modern plays in Royal Court Theatre Upstairs and this play by Roy Williams did not disappoint.

I think this was our first sighting of a Roy Williams play – we started picking him after seeeing this.

Here’s Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard speaking quite highly of it:

Clubland de Jongh Standard Clubland de Jongh Standard 20 Jun 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Jonathan Myerson in the Independent was not so sure:

Clubland Myerson Independent Clubland Myerson Independent 20 Jun 2001 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, suggested that this play was not as good as Roy Williams earlier material and that he needed to branch out a bit. I think he was probably right, as we really went for some of William’s later plays even more than this one, but it was good enough to get us hooked:

Clubland Billington Guardian better Clubland Billington Guardian better 23 Jun 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Playboy Of The Western World by J M Synge, Cottesloe Theatre, 16 June 2001

Janie and I thought this play/production was…

…excellent.

The RNT put on terrific stuff in the Cottesloe at that time. Fiona Buffini directed an excellent cast, including Sorcha Cusack, Patrick O’Kane & Derbhle Crotty. The Theatricalia entry for this production can be found here.

Despite the fact that we thought it was excellent, our friend, Michael Billington, really didn’t like it, bemoaning the fact that the only Synge that ever gets revived is this one.

Playboy Billington Guardian Playboy Billington Guardian 22 Feb 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph loved it:

Playboy Spencer Telegraph Playboy Spencer Telegraph 21 Feb 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard rated it good, which is sort-of medium:

Playboy de Jongh Standard Playboy de Jongh Standard 21 Feb 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

In that case, the casting vote must go to me and Janie. It was excellent.

The Women of Troy by Euripides & This Cookie May Contain Nuts by Tracey Hitchen, Orange Tree Theatre, 9 June 2001

This was an unusual double-bill of short plays at the Orange Tree, both women-oriented, I think directed by some young women on an apprenticeship scheme.

We rather enjoyed it.

The Women Of Troy is hardly a bundle of laughs. But the second play was an interesting take on modern web-based technologies, quite prescient I should think from the turn of the century if we were to see it again today.

I can only find one local review, which rated the evening pretty highly:

Troy Cookies Troy Cookies 15 Jun 2001 Barnes, Mortlake and Sheen Times (London, London, England) Newspapers.com

We’ll have gone to Don Fernando’s after that three hour epic and had a pretty late night.

We went to David Highton’s 50th birthday party in West Ealing the next day. Gosh we were troopers back then.

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.