Category: Theatre

The Balcony by Jean Genet, Questors Theatre, Followed By Dinner At Gascons Ealing, 28 January 2000

Possibly the least said about this one the better. Naturally Janie and I would have been with the Duchess. Naturally she will have treated us to her theatre tickets (comps), while Janie and I will have done the interval drinks and dinner.

My log reads:

tame – we left at half time.

This will have been a collective and unanimous decision. It was quite a long play – Janie had booked Gascons for 10:30 – possibly with a bit of persuasion for the late booking. In any case, we were probably all ready for our din-dins after 90 minutes or so of Genet.

The Questors, being the Questors, has all the details, including a downloadable scan of the programme, available for all to see – click here.

I don’t think the meal afterwards was redemptive of the evening. Neither Janie nor I can remember much about Gascons in Ealing. The Duchess was probably in a foul mood because she hadn’t had value for (lack of) money out of those three Questors comps.

“Waste not, want not…”

Spoonface Steinberg by Lee Hall, New Ambassadors Theatre, 22 January 2000

I didn’t make any notes in my log about this one. I don’t think we were overly impressed with it, but neither did we think it quite as awful as some of the critics. Still, I’d better let the critics do the job for me with this one, given that i wrote nothing.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this one. Kathryn Hunter was the big name for this one person show.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph absolutely hated it:

Spoonface Spencer TelegraphSpoonface Spencer Telegraph 07 Jan 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard spoke mostly very highly of it:

Spoonface de Jongh StandardSpoonface de Jongh Standard 12 Jan 2000, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp in The Observer didn’t like it much:

Spoonface Clapp ObserverSpoonface Clapp Observer 09 Jan 2000, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Septimus Gussett This Is Your Life by Magnolia Thunderpussy (aka Mike Ward), Actor’s Workshop Halifax, 7 January 2000

This “opus” was not Mike Ward’s finest hour as a comedy impresario.

For several years prior to this one…and indeed for many years after…the Actor’s Workshop would traditionally stage “New Year Revels”. Indeed, I met Mike early to mid 1990s, when his son, Adam, briefly wrote for NewsRevue and twigged that his dad’s annual show might benefit from material produced by NewsRevue writers. I contributed to the show for several years and visited it for the first time in 1997:

New Year Revels 1997, Actor’s Workshop, Halifax, 2 January 1997

I have no idea why Mike decided to try something different in 2000. Perhaps it was because several of the NewsRevue “class of ’92” had all-but stopped writing sketches and songs by 1999. Possibly it was Mike’s irritation that so many of the sketches and songs that were written by young Actor’s Workshop folk for him to perform mocked his rhotacism. Septimus Gusset was, if I recall correctly, one of Mike’s “answers to that”. (Performing On The Waterfront some years later was another, no doubt, whereas Mike’s wonderful Casablanca The Musical, which literally brought the house down the following year, embraced that rhotacism).

Casablanca The Musical by Magnolia Thunderpussy (aka Mike Ward), Actor’s Workshop, 18 September 2001

In truth, Janie and I were not wild about the Septimus Gussett show and I don’t think it did anything like as well as “New Year Revels” in the matter of bringing the Actor’s Workshop community together for a celebratory show.

Still, Janie and I had a most enjoyable short trip up to Halifax. We stayed at the Crown, again and I am pretty sure that Lottie Ward treated us to one of her magnificent beef fillet feasts at Mike & Lottie’s place after the show.

Peggy for You by Alan Plater, Hampstead Theatre, 27 December 1999

Our last show of the old millennium.

We rated the play/production “good”.

What was not to like? Maureen Lipman as Peggy Ramsey, with sound support from Tom Espiner, Selina Griffiths, Richard Platt and Crispin Redman, all ably directed by Robin Lefevre.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Yes, the show was a bit of a luvvy-fest but what else might you expect in the circumstances?

Susannah Clapp in The Observer preferred Mnemonic:

Mnemonic & Peggy Susannah ClappMnemonic & Peggy Susannah Clapp 28 Nov 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington really liked it:

Peggy Billington GuardianPeggy Billington Guardian 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent was entertained but thought that Maureen Lipman as Peggy was a case of miscastology…so at least Maureen got an ology I suppose and for sure she spent a lot of time during the play on the phone.

Peggy Taylor IndependentPeggy Taylor Independent 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Mnemonic by Simon McBurney, Théâtre De Complicité, Riverside Studios, 18 December 1999

Janie and I have tended to have a soft spot for anything Complicité, not least because our first proper date was Théâtre De Complicité’s Street Of Crocodiles:

Janie and I Go On Our First Proper Date, The Street Of Crocodiles, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 August 1992

But Mnemonic didn’t need our soft spot – it was excellent in its own right.

Superb

…I said in my log and meant it.

Strangely, writing 25 years later, this piece has recently been revived (or rather, reimagined) by Complicité in London at the National.

This original production was at the more utilitarian Riverside Studios, a venue we have always liked.

Excellent cast, including Simon McBurney himself, the wonderful Katrin Cartlidge (who died tragically young) and Richard Katz, who had previously worked wonders with my material in NewsRevue – for example the Woody Allen role in Mama Mia Farrow:

Mama Mia Farrow, NewsRevue Lyric, 18 August 1992

…but I digress.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Anyway, Mnemonic really was superb and we were lucky to have seen the original production of it.

Nick Curtis wrote it up at length in The Standard:

Mnemonic Curtis StandardMnemonic Curtis Standard 03 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The local rag loved it:

Mnemonic Tear HammersmithMnemonic Tear Hammersmith 24 Dec 1999, Fri Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Gazette (Hammersmith, London, England) Newspapers.com

I think a lot of the usual suspects ignored it until it transferred to the National a couple of year’s later…and then was reimagined more than 20 years after that.

But we saw the original production…at The Riverside…have I mentioned that before?

Battle Royal by Nick Stafford, Lyttelton Theatre, 11 December 1999

Our verdict on this one:

Had its moments.

That is not a rave review.

This production was awash with star names; Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Gemma Jones, Suzanne Burden, Brendan Coyle, Matthew Macfadyen…

…directed by Howard Davies.

Here is the Theatricalia link for this play/production.

The production and talent on show was all very high quality – I don’t think the play did it for us.

It didn’t seem to please all the critics either. Nick Curtis in the Standard gave it the dreaded blob:

Battle Curtis StandardBattle Curtis Standard 10 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor, in the Independent, also panned it.

Battle Taylor IndependentBattle Taylor Independent 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Charles Spencer in the Telegraph rather liked it:

Battle Spencer TelegraphBattle Spencer Telegraph 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But our charitable friend, Michael Billington, awarded it a rare mediocre two stars:

Battle Billington GuardianBattle Billington Guardian 11 Dec 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, A Version by Frank McGuiness, Theatre Royal Plymouth At The Richmond Theatre, 3 December 1999

Another Friday, another theatre visit. This time we had even booked for the Saturday, but switched to the Friday to accommodate Caroline Freeman’s engagement party on the Saturday.

Janie and I rated this Hedda Gabler as “good”.

Janie and I had seen a mediocre (or, in Janie’s words, “OMG it was dreadful”) Hedda in Holland Park a few year’s earlier…

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Holland Park, 17 July 1993

Even after this 1999 Hedda, I still didn’t feel that Janie had seen a good enough version, so we did it all again at The Almeida a few year’s later.

Anyway, this one was a West End preview with Francesca Annis as Hedda and other West End names such as Peter Bowles and Nyree Dawn Porter in tow. Frank McGuiness directed it.

This one started in Plymouth a week or so before we saw it in Richmond. Here is Leon Winston’s review from the Herald Express:

Hedda Winston HeraldHedda Winston Herald 23 Nov 1999, Tue Herald Express (Torquay, Devon, England) Newspapers.com

This production didn’t seem to make much sense to Charles Spencer in The Telegraph:

Hedda Spencer TelegraphHedda Spencer Telegraph 02 Dec 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Becky Gaunt in The Feltham Chronicle liked it but felt short-changed by Frank McGuiness’s scaled-back version.

Hedda Gaunt FelthamHedda Gaunt Feltham 02 Dec 1999, Thu The Feltham Chronicle (Hounslow, London, England) Newspapers.com

Anna Weiss by Mike Cullen, Whitehall Theatre, 26 November 1999

A rare visit to theatre in town on a Friday evening for us – I think the plan was for Janie’s sister Hilary and her husband Chris to visit that Saturday/Sunday but in the end that visit got postponed.

My log is silent on this play/production, so it obviously didn’t have a profound impact on us. Excellent cast though: Shirley Henderson, Catherine McCormack & Larry Lamb, directed by Michael Attenborough.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Nick Curtis in The Standard admired the attempt to tackle the very difficult issue of extreme child abuse, but felt that this play/production didn’t work:

Weiss Curtis StandardWeiss Curtis Standard 23 Nov 1999, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph expressed similar sentiments to those of Nick Curtis:

Weiss Spencer TelegraphWeiss Spencer Telegraph 27 Nov 1999, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Other regulars don’t seem to have reviewed this piece – perhaps they were stunned into similar silence to my own.

Three Days Of Rain by Richard Greenberg, Donmar Warehouse, 13 November 1999

After a hat trick of theatre visiting evenings during a short break period at the end of October…

Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally, Pleasance Theatre, 29 October 1999

…nada for a couple of weeks. We went to Kim & Mickey for dinner on Saturday 30 October, but then seemed to lie low socially and culturally for a fortnight. Janie’s diary suggests that she was working full pelt. Mine suggests that I was on a major report writing deadline or two, as I saw few clients and blocked out several half days and whole days for writing.

Then we went to the Donmar Warehouse to see this beauty of a play/production, which we both rated as:

Very good.

Great cast: Colin Firth, Elizabeth McGovern & David Morrissey. Directed by Robin Lefevre.

It had enjoyed a short run at the Donmar earlier in the year; we caught its autumn return. Janie booked it, so her diary reports that we sat in seats A24 & A25 and that she parted company with £48 in total. Thems was the days!

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard shared our liking for this play/production:

Rain de Jongh StandardRain de Jongh Standard 03 Mar 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Benedict in the Independent was less sure:

Rain Benedict IndependentRain Benedict Independent 03 Mar 1999, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph really liked it:

Rain Spencer TelegraphRain Spencer Telegraph 04 Mar 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Lynn Gardiner loved it in the Guardian:

Rain Gardiner GuardianRain Gardiner Guardian 06 Mar 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally, Pleasance Theatre, 29 October 1999

An unprecedented hat trick of evenings at the theatre concluded with this piece. Little did we know when we booked it that this to be a highly controversial play.

Here’s a newspaper clipping from the following day:

Corpus Christi FatwaCorpus Christi Fatwa 30 Oct 1999, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Perhaps we should have known, as apparently it had been hugely controversial when first produced in the USA a couple of years earlier.

In truth, we didn’t think all that much of the play and production.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard liked it:

corpus de Jongh Standardcorpus de Jongh Standard 29 Oct 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

No-one else seems to have reviewed it. The other papers seemed obsessed with news of the play’s controversy rather than the play itself, which is a a shame.

I recall that we rather liked the Pleasance Theatre but not its location.

We had been traipsing around that day, having been to the City for a do (neither of us can remember) and then a stop off to see some oriental art at the British Museum before The Pleasance. Would we have the energy for all that 25 years later? Would we have the energy for a hat-trick of evenings at the theatre?