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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
Very unusual for us and almost unheard of at The National. Fabulous cast: Toby Jones, Clare Higgins, Karl Johnson, Michael Culkin, Gary Lydon, Declan Conlon, Monica Dolan, Tony Rohr.
What went wrong? In truth, we don’t tend to recall the bad experiences unless they are bad for a memorable reason Let’s see if the reviews help me.
Twos tars from Michael Billington…”dated Dublin Ionesco”…that’s NOT good:
…so thoroughly expected to enjoy Kevin Elyot’s next play, Mouth To Mouth, which indeed we did. Not quite to the same extent as The Day I Stood Still – Mouth to Mouth was quite dark – but still we liked it a lot. Fine acting and thought provoking writing.
Here is the Theatricalia entry. Michael Maloney, Lindsay Duncan, Adam Godley, Peter Wight, Andrew McKay, Lucy Whybrow and Barnaby Kay, directed by Ian Rickson. What’s not to like?
Did the play still have what it takes, nearly 40 years on? Michael Billington certainly thought so. Janie wasn’t so sure – she’s never been convinced by Orton. I thought this one worked better than the revival of What the Butler Saw at the National, which I recall disappointed me, so I didn’t find it dated; but Tom Keatinge did.
But who cares – I’ve seen the play now and mum couldn’t stop me this time.
On the Friday evening, we saw Feelgood. We would have eaten at Harry Morgans before the show. I remember this play having a superb cast: Jeremy Swift, Henry Goodman, Amita Dhiri, Nigel Planer, Pearce Quigley, Sian Thomas, Nigel Cooke and Jonathan Cullen (according to my log), and being lots of fun. Max Stafford-Clark directed it. It transferred to the Garrick with a slightly different cast – Peter Capaldi taking Jeremy Swift’s place. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for that one.
Nicholas de Jongh really liked it in The Standard, especially heaping praise on Henry Goodman’s performance:
Billington concludes that article with a statement that seems oh so apposite as I write 25 years later:
…theatre is a place of information as well as entertainment and the more it cuts itself off from society – and relies on a mixture of anodyne musicals and Hollywood-star casting, the more it is doomed to glamorous irrelevance.
Apart from the quintessentially US nature of the production and the left field approach to tackling racism through performance, it’s hard to see much similarity between the evenings.
Rebecca Gilman’s play was memorable through its “warts ‘n’ all” approach to anti-racism and political correctness on campus. Also memorable was a superb performance by Emma Fielding in the lead role. The supporting cast were also “Royal Court good”, as was Dominic Cooke’s directing.
Our friends David and Rachel found it interesting and we had plenty to discuss over grub after the play.
Our other friend, Michael Billington, gave it a very good review in the Guardian:
Hollywood Spencer Telegraph 3 May 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Hollywood de Jongh Standard 2 May 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Hollywood Billington Guardian 2 May 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
