That was my log note for this memorable evening of theatre.
Celebration was a brand new play. The Room a revival of Pinter’s first. Harold himself directing as well as writing – not always a brilliant idea but Harold could pull that trick off.
What a cast! Keith Allen, Andy de la Tour, Lindsay Duncan, Steven Pacey, Indira Varma, Lia Williams, Danny Dyer, Nina Raine, Henry Woolf, George Harris and others. Theatricalia holds chapter and verse on the cast lists etc.:
Where was Michael Billington, who was a regular Orange Tree reviewer back then, that’s what I want to know? And where did Janie and I eat? That second question is easier – for sure we’d have eaten at Don Fernando’s back then.
This was the first of two Krapps that Janie and I had in the early part of the century, as it were. The second was Harold Pinter’s Krapp at The Royal Court, which I shall Ogblog in the fullness of time.
I really liked this one, John Hurt’s, while marginally preferring the Pinter. Janie only got on with Harold’s Krapp.
This one included the mime show intro, whereas Harold’s didn’t. I expect it was the mime show and banana business that put Janie off a bit.
I had long rated John Hurt as an actor and felt he did justice to this difficult part…and that it did justice to him.
The critics got very excited at the idea of John Hurt bringing his acclaimed Gate Theatre Dublin performance of Krapp to London. Here’s Maureen Paton in The Telegraph a couple of weeks before the show landed in London:
Actually, we got wind of this production late and ended up booking seats for the very last night of the run, in order to score decent ones. Janie’s diary note reads “Row C – four rows back”.
Here is Patrick Marmion’s review from The Standard:
…and were very keen to see Conor McPherson’s next one.
Further, as members who had been loyal through the years of “exile” while The Royal Court was being redone, we were invited that Friday afternoon to a “guided tour” of the revamped building. Janie and I were both motivated to take a Friday afternoon off work and “go see” before the show.
It was on that tour that Janie and I spotted the little nook seat in a recess of the stairway just before you get to the upstairs bar…latterly the library. We took a shine to that nook and for many years took great pleasure in having a pre-show or interval drink in there.
As for Dublin Carol, we really liked it and it cemented our view that Conor McPherson was a writer to watch. It didn’t quite pack the punch of The Weir, but that play was always going to be a tough act to follow.
Brian Cox played the lead in Dublin Carol, with great charisma. Andrew Scott, & Bronagh Gallagher were also excellent in support. Ian Rickson directed.
I’m not sure what the critics made of it at the time…let’s find out.
I’d forgotten this bit, but because of delays to the finishing of The Royal Court, Dublin Carol previewed at The Old Vic for a while. Susannah Clapp reviewed it, with great enthusiasm, there…
But most of the subsequent reviews seemed to want to talk about the grand opening of the newly refurbished Royal Court than the play/production that graced it, doing McPherson, Cox et. al. no favours. Please note, the grand opening was two or three weeks before the hoi polloi tour that we enjoyed in March.
This production was credited as “Donmar Warehouse at the Albery” and everything about it was Donmar Warehouse, but playing away from home. This production had received glowing reviews and awards the year before at the Donmar. We missed out then but were not about to miss out on it now.
Excellent cast, Nigel Lindsay, Sarah Woodward, Stephen Dillane & Jennifer Ehle leading, with David Leveaux directing.
Our “Donmar Warehouse at The Albery” experience was a more relaxing evening and a very fine production. Janie doesn’t really warm to Stoppard, but she did warm to this one.
I won’t overdo the reviews, as they are from the original production 9 months earlier, but here’s just a couple of examples of the raving – the first from our friend Michael Billington in The Guardian…
I think Janie must have sourced these tickets, because her diary notes that we’ll be sitting in the fifth row. Great diary detail, 25 years on, that one.
For a brief while, that little theatre in Chelsea, near World’s End, was one of our favourite fringe places. Janie and I rated this piece as:
Very good.
Small scale and domestic – that tiny theatre didn’t lend itself to scale works, this one, like the other plays we saw there during that period, held our attention, entertained us and made us think.
Not much in the way of formal reviews to be found, but here goes. Rachel Halliburton in the Independent was sufficiently convinced to write it up briefly:
In truth we don’t remember much about this one. I made no notes in my log about it. I think we quite liked it, but it felt like fairly standard Hampstead Theatre fare.
The Hampstead was still in the portacabins back then, so small, chamber-style work was all the place comfortably could do. Still, we liked the place and went occasionally.
We saw it on a Friday evening, so no doubt, in those days, we went to Harry Morgans in St John’s Wood for some crazy=cracing-J-food on the way to the theatre.
I had been a fan of Athol Fugard for many years by then and was very keen to see his long-time associates, John Kani & Winston Ntshona, perform. A set up that can lead to disappointment, but in this instance my enthusiasm was fully justified.
This play/production was hugely hyped and got rave reviews when it opened a few week’s before we attended. I think we applied for our tickets before the show opened, opting to wait until good seats were available. Even then, we needed to opt for a Friday rather than a Saturday to get what we wanted. Such was the pull of the West End, not least Maggie Smith…or rather “Dame Maggie”…in those days.
Despite Janie’s reservations about Dame Maggie, we were drawn in and actually rather enjoyed this production. The play is a little contrived and mawkish, but the performances, especially Dame Maggie’s, were excellent, as was the intriguing van-themed set.
This production blew us away. It was shocking and also intensely gripping drama.
We trusted the Almeida in those days, so we booked a preview of this one, “on spec”, although we were unfamiliar with Neil LaBute’s work and also unfamiliar with the imported cast and director.
We were right to trust!
Bash is a collection of short plays, rather than “a play”. All were excellent in our view. The last one was the most shocking, but all were shocking in their own way. Brilliantly well acted by Mary McCormack, Zeljko Ivanek & Matthew Lillard. Joe Mantello directed. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.
I’m pretty sure the critics tended to be with us in admiring this one. Let’s see.
Yup, Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard waxed lyrical:
24 Mar 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Celebration de Jongh Standard 23 Mar 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Celebration Billington Guardian 23 Mar 2000, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
