Category: Theatre

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Young Vic Theatre, 3 June 2000

This was a great production. I recall gently persuading Janie to see Macbeth again – she’s no fan of Shakespeare and felt that she had “done” Macbeth when seeing the 1994 Jacobi version.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Barbican Theatre, 19 February 1994

It was the pull of Tony Sher and Harriet Walter that won Janie round, firstly to attending and in the end to admitting what a fabulous production this production at The Young Vic was. It was fast, it was furious, it was very memorable. Greg Doran knows a thing or two about doing Shakespeare.

The Theatricalia entry reminds me that the 2000 version was an RSC touring production that started at the Swan in late 1999 and ended up at The Young Vic in mid 2000.

Here’s Charles Spencer’s review from the Swan:

Macbeth Spencer Telegraph

Article from 18 Nov 1999 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

While Spencer gushed, Susannah Clapp really raved about it in the Observer:

Macbeth Clapp Observer

Article from 21 Nov 1999 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor also spoke very highly of it in The Independent:

Macbeth Taylor Independent

Article from 17 Nov 1999 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Here’s Nicholas de Jongh’s take on the production, once it landed at The Young Vic:

Macbeth de Jongh Standard

Article from 28 Apr 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Is the ultimate accolade five stars from our friend, Michael Billington?

Macbeth Billington Guardian

Article from 17 Nov 1999 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Of course not – the ultimate accolade is Janie admitting that this was an exciting, jaw-dropping production of a play she didn’t much like.

The Local Stigmatic by Heathcote Williams & The Dwarfs by Harold Pinter, Lyric Studio, 27 May 2000

My take on these two short plays is clearly documented in my log:

The Local Stigmatic: Dreadful.

The Dwarfs: Much better than the Stigmatic!!

That’s all he wrote, folks.

We liked the Lyric Studio back then and quite often went there for interesting new works or (as in this case) rarely seen revivals. Mandrake Theatre Company seems to have been in the business for that sort of thing, although I don’t think we saw their work too often.

Despite being in the low-key studio, this double bill was reviewed by The Standard. Nick Curtis did not agree with my comparative take on the two plays, giving both the dreaded Standard “X”:

Stigmatic Curtis StandardStigmatic Curtis Standard 26 May 2000, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We were not having a great run in May 2000, but, fear not, we saw some excellent stuff in June.

Richard II by William Shakespeare, Almeida at Gainsborough, 20 May 2000

We were still at the stage that I thought Janie might just be converted on to Shakespeare, so I booked a couple of Bard productions that spring: Ralph Fiennes playing the title role in this one and Tony Sher playing the title role in the Scottish one.

The idea didn’t really work on Janie – especially Richard II, which she found long and dull, despite a great cast and very solid production.

If I remember correctly, Gainsborough was a pop up theatre on the site of a disused film studio in Hoxton. This was one of the Almeida’s homes for a while, during which time the theatre was being poshed-up a bit.

Ralph Fiennes was a nodding acquaintance of mine back then – one of several actors who frequented Lambton Place in those days. This I disclose in the interests of openness and transparency, not that nodding acquaintanceship might affect my judgment.

I thought this production was very good, but I have always had my doubts about Richard II as a play. It is one that I “studied” at school, as a precursor to Henry IV Part one being my ‘O’ Level text. If Michael Lempriere couldn’t make it interesting for me, even Ralph, Jonathan Kent directing and an excellent supporting cast were going to struggle.

Paul Taylor in The Independent liked it but was a little underwhelmed:

Richard Taylor IndependentRichard Taylor Independent 13 Apr 2000, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was more impressed by the set than anything else:

Richard de Jongh StandardRichard de Jongh Standard 13 Apr 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Even Charles Spencer in The Telegraph described it as “far from electrifying” and “dull”:

Richard Spencer TelegraphRichard Spencer Telegraph 14 Apr 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Not our greatest weekend of theatre, 19/20 May 2000. But you cannot win them all.

Burning Issues by Ron Hutchinson, Hampstead Theatre, 19 May 2000

I recall this play/production doing less for me than I had hoped. I was expecting something quite visceral from the author of Rat In The Skull, which I had read with wide-mouthed interest back in the day.

We were keen Hampstead goers, even back then when the venue was still a portacabin down the road from the current high-class venue.

We dined at Harry Morgan’s ahead of the show, getting a fix of Jewish deli grub in St John’s Wood on our way to Swiss Cottage, as was our occasional wont back then.

The cast comprised John Gordon Sinclair, Miranda Pleasence, Andrew Woodall, Rob Spendlove, William Chubb and Kenneth Colley. The actor Denis Lawson directed the production.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard panned it.

Burning de Jongh StandardBurning de Jongh Standard 26 Apr 2000, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent also panned it:

Burning Taylor IndependentBurning Taylor Independent 26 Apr 2000, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas my friend Michael Billington…in truth, also panned it:

Burning Billington GuardianBurning Billington Guardian 27 Apr 2000, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I didn’t think about this play when I saw Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, but reflecting on it now, I can see how Rosenblatt managed to make similar subject matter come alive…

Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, Royal Court Theatre, 21 September 2024

…whereas Burning Issues by Ron Hutchinson, a playwright who had proved that he could write good plays on tough topics, somehow couldn’t make this subject matter fizz.

A rare Hampstead dud for us.

Dealer’s Choice by Patrick Marber, Orange Tree Theatre, Synergy Productions (Synergy Theatre Project) 14 May 2000

An unusual Sunday evening performance, this by a theatre company of prison inmates, performing through Synergy Productions, now known as Synergy Theatre Project. I sense from the website archive that Dealers Choice at The Orange Tree might have been their first ever production. 25 years later, Synergy is still going strong.

Esther Baker directed the cast, who came from HMP Latchmere House.

I remember we thought the performances and production was very good. Similar quality to the “semi-professional” productions we might see at The Questors Theatre with The Duchess, e.g.

The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen, The Questors Theatre, 15 October 1999

Dealer’s Choice was an early Marber play that we missed when it was first produced. We are both so glad to have seen this production of it at The Orange Tree, as part of a small audience, witnessing the early stages of Synergy Theatre Project’s fine work.

Passion Play by Peter Nichols, Donmar Warehouse, 13 May 2000

I was partial to a bit of Peter Nichols.

This cast and crew looked too good to miss as well. Gillian Barge, Cherie Lunghi, James Laurenson, Nicky Henson, Nicola Walker & Cheryl Campbell, directed by Michael Grandage. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for it.

In those days, the Donmar was one of our favourites – it didn’t feel quite so corporate/touristic back then. We were able to get decent seats for a Saturday night through a sensible type of membership scheme.

I remember this as a fine production but I also remember us finding it a little underwhelming.

John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph liked it, while finding it a lesser play than Pinter’s Betrayal or Stoppard’s The Real Thing:

Passion Gross TelegraphPassion Gross Telegraph 23 Apr 2000, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I sense that the Donmar showings in April/May were actually all deemed to be a preview run ahead of a lengthy West End run with this cast throughout the summer – an experiment that clearly worked and which was part of the Donmar’s journey towards a more commercial/corporate style. Hence few reviews but several preview pieces in the press.

Nick Curtis’s Standard interview with Nichols is interesting:

Nichols Curtis StandardNichols Curtis Standard 17 Apr 2000, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Prophet in Exile by Nadim Sawalha, Chelsea Theatre, 8 May 2000

A rare Monday evening visit to the theatre for us. I had booked the day out as a long weekend. Perhaps Janie had intended to do the same, but her diary shows that she treated some patients, engineering it that she ended up in the Kensington & Chelsea area.

We really liked the stuff that little Chelsea Theatre was putting on back then – it had a short flowering of producing the sort of unusual fringe theatre stuff that we like.

This play was basically a biographical piece about Kahlil Gibran, not least the birth of his great work, The Prophet.

This production was very much a family affair for the Sawalha family, with author Nadim appearing in the production, along with brother Nabil and a couple of other Sawalhas; Lara & Omar, in some cases doubling up, playing several smaller parts. Gerald Key played Gibran, Briony Glassco played Mary Haskell and Colin Redgrave directed the production.

This production was previewed in The Standard

Prophet StandardProphet Standard 27 Apr 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We rather liked the piece and performances. But then Janie had/has a bit of a thing about The Prophet. But 25 years later, I don’t think I’d get a positive answer if I suggested a Monday night at the theatre, even if the subject matter was close to Janie’s heart!

The Novice by Jean-Paul Sartre, Almeida Theatre, 6 May 2000

Very good indeed,

I wrote, and no doubt it was. A fine cast, led by Jamie Glover, Natasha Little & Kenneth Cranham, directed by Richard Eyre, doing Sartre. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Nicholas de Jongh wrote highly of it:

Novice de Jongh StandardNovice de Jongh Standard 11 May 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in the Telegraph also liked it:

Novice Bassett TelegraphNovice Bassett Telegraph 12 May 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But on this occasion, our friend, Michael Billington, disagreed with us, comparing The Novice unfavourably with a play at the Royal Court, Mr Kolpert, which we did not see, despite going to the theatre an infeasible number of times that May.

Novice Billington GuardianNovice Billington Guardian 13 May 2000, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Blue / Orange by Joe Penhall, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 May 2000

This was one of our “oh wow!” visits to the theatre.

Superb,

was all I write in the log, but I knew I wouldn’t need to write much down because the evening was so memorable.

It was a bank holiday Monday and Mum’s birthday. “How did you get away with that?”, I hear you readers cry.

My diary notes that we went to Mum & Dad for bank holiday lunch before going on to the RNT for Blue / Orange. Simple enough.

This is a great play, which was masterfully performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor (our first sighting of him), Andrew Lincoln and Bill Nighy. Roger Michell directed. Theatricalia tells all here.

Paul Taylor was impressed. “Gripping”, he says:

Blue / Orange Taylor IndyBlue / Orange Taylor Indy 14 Apr 2000, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard also rated it highly.

Blue / Orange de Jongh StandardBlue / Orange de Jongh Standard 14 Apr 2000, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph hated the play:

Blue / Orange Spencer TelegraphBlue / Orange Spencer Telegraph 17 Apr 2000, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend, Michael Billington, had a downer on the National at that time – it took me a dozen or so more years to acquire a similar view. Still, Michael B approved of this one:

Blue / Orange Billington GuardianBlue / Orange Billington Guardian 19 Apr 2000, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Macbeth False Memory by Deborah Levy, ATC at the Lyric Studio, 29 April 2000

In truth I remember little about this play/production at the Lyric Studio, other than the fact that it was one of those plays with lots of video projection.

Mostly such plays leave us cold, which I think this one did, although sometimes, when done well, the mixture of live performance and video effects can be stunning, such as Bluets, which we saw last year (as I write in 2025):

Bluets by Maggie Nelson adapted by Margaret Perry, Royal Court Theatre, 18 May 2024

But I digress.

David Leddy in Total Theatre Magazine didn’t like it.

It didn’t go down well in the Standard either.

But the piece does address…

“the transitional millennial crisis of identity and integrity, fuelled by postmodern uncertainties and deconstructions.”

…according to this academic piece, downloadable from ResearchGate if you, like me, have a free account there.

According to Janie’s diary, the piece was a merciful 80 minutes long and we went on to dine at a place called The Springbok Cafe on Devonshire Road in Chiswick- very appropriate given that Deborah Levy is of South African origin! Strangely, I remember the meal more than the play.

Here is a wonderful review of that eatery from The Independent. Trigger warning – fans of Southern African wildlife should not click here.

Heads up – no postmodern uncertainties and deconstructions here.