Theatre – Page 56 – Ian Louis Harris

Ivanov by Anton Chekhov, Almeida Theatre, 1 March 1997

We loved this play and production.

In those days, Ralph Fiennes was one of my buddies as Lambton Place…

…OK, what I really mean is that I’d quite often see him there and we were nodding acquaintances.

Anyway, Fiennes was doing great theatre work in those days, not least at the Almeida, which was having a heyday under the joint leadership of Iain McDiarmid (also one of my nodding acquaintances in the Notting Hill neighbourhood back then, as it happens) and Jonathan Kent.

I wrote in my log:

Very good production. Ian McDiarmid near stole the show the night we went understudying as Kosykh.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry, which informs us that John cater was supposed to play Kosykh.

Anyway…

Charles Spencer loved it in The Telegraph:

Ivanov Spencer Telegraph 20 Feb 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh was less sure in The Standard:

Ivanov, de Jongh, Standard 20 Feb 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul taylor spoke highly of it in The Independent:

Ivanov, Taylor, Independent 21 Feb 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While my friend, Michael Billington, loved it:

Ivanov, Billington, Guardian 20 Feb 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…as did we (have I mentioned that yet?) – then we left the country for a few weeks.

Cardiff East by Peter Gill, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 February 1997

My log is quite clear about our opinion of this piece:

It was dreadful. We walked out at half time.

But wait – look at the stellar cast. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for it. Kenneth Cranham, Karl Johnson, Elizabeth Estensen, Windsor Davis…

…and Di Botcher. Di Botcher who directed Newsrevue in 1994 and seemed so keen on my stuff. Where’s the mutual support?

Well, in truth I do think that Di Botcher can act. Her role in this miserablist piece, as far as I could tell, was mostly to stand around looking miserable. Di stood around looking miserable with aplomb.

Here’s what our friend Michael Billington had to say…and you know for sure that when he uses the phrases “important” and “not an easy evening” that misery must be part of it:

Billington On Cardiff East Thu, Feb 13, 1997 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in the Observer speaks more highly of it…

Michael Coveney on Cardiff East Sun, Feb 16, 1997 – 73 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…perhaps we should have stuck it out to the second half after all. But we were about to fly off to Lebanon & Syria just over a week later, so time was at a premium…and they really know how to play for sympathy over there.

We didn’t learn our lesson about Peter Gill’s miserablist Welsh plays, because just over 10 years later we went to see a revival of Small Change at the Donmar and got precious little out of that one either:

Small Change by Peter Gill, Donmar Warehouse, 12 April 2008

Some folk never learn, mark you.

The Rehearsal by Jean Anouilh, Questors Theatre, 8 February 1997

My log suggests that I lost the programme and therefore all record of this event, but thanks to those wonderful people at The Questors Theatre who seem to archive absolutely everything, I have been able to retrieve the programme and all the details of the cast and creatives – click here for the Questors archive link.

Click here for the Questors programme, just in case it is no longer available through the above link.

I have always had a soft spot for Anouilh, ever since I saw his Antigone at Alleyn’s in my first year of secondary school.

I must admit, though, that lighter, lesser Anouilh has not dated as well as his more serious work. The Rehearsal falls into the “lighter work” category. It seems extraordinary today that this play fell foul of the British theatre censors until the 1960s.

Still, my vague recollection of this production was that it was quite eye-catching and held our attention.

The diary is silent on where we ate afterwards.

The deal with Pauline on Questors nights was that she did the theatre tickets, Janie did the interval drinks and I did the dinners. No sign of me putting a credit card down for a fancy meal that night, so I’m guessing that we had a modest dinner at Wine & Moussaka, which I recall us doing occasionally after the Questors.

The Cripple Of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 February 1997

We were neither of us too sure about this play/production.

Granted, it was extremely well received. Granted, we recognised Martin McDonagh’s talent and said we’d like to see more of his work, which subsequently we have done.

But this particular play/production felt like a pastiche of a pre war Irish play to us and left us a bit cold.

Here is a link to the production’s Theatricalia entry.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph shared some of our concerns:

Inishmaan Charles Spencer Telegraph 09 Jan 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh similarly:

Inishmaan Nicholas de Jongh Standard 08 Jan 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Michael Billington praised the work highly while also signalling that he felt McDonagh could achieve yet greater things:

Inishmaan Billington Guardian 09 Jan 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Art by Yasmina Reza, Wyndham’s Theatre, 11 January 1997

Oh by gosh we enjoyed this one. I wrote in my log:

Great fun. Subsequently, the cast changed every five minutes, but we saw the “original” UK cast.

And what a cast that was: Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott.

Unusually, it was Janie who booked this one. How do i know – because the details are all over her diary, not mine…and boy did Janie write down details. So I can report that the play was 1 hour 40 minutes without an interval and that we sat in K22 & K23.

While the play/production was a huge hit and ran for yonks, it was not universally praised by the critics.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard quite liked it:

Art Nicholas de Jongh Standard 16 Oct 1996, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend Michael Billington was not too sure about the take on art while accepting that it was an enjoyable night at the theatre:

Art Billington Guardian 16 Oct 1996, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While David Benedict in the Independent wrote:

Art David benedict independent 26 Oct 1996, Sat The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Elsinore by Robert Lepage, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 January 1997

Elsinore image borrowed from Ex Machina website – click here.

Fewer than 24 hours after my hive-ridden return from the frozen north of England, Janie and I went to see this Robert Lepage/Ex Machina production from The Great White North (Canada).

In truth I remember little about it. I think I was squirming in my seat only in part because of the hives.

At the time, this sort of multimedia theatrical experience was novel, but it did seem, to us, that the technological wonder of it was rather superseding the drama and/or tension that we normally experience at the theatre.

Carole Woddis, in The Independent, made some rather similar points.

Here’s Charles Spencer’s take from the Telegraph:

Elsinore Charles Spencer Telegraph 22 Nov 1996, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nick Curtis in the Standard truly rubbished the production.

06 Jan 1997, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Perhaps this piece worked better in colder climes.

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

This was my first visit to The Actor’s Workshop in Halifax.

It was an unusual start to the new year, that year, in several ways. Janie’s and my diaries both suggest that we had planned to attend a party at Anthea’s for New Year’s Eve, but we are pretty sure that party didn’t happen in the end.

After new year’s day, Janie had a diary full of work for the rest of the week, while I got in the motor to do a round trip taking in Halifax for the New Year revels show and then, the next day, a visit to a soft drinks factory in Nelson, Lancashire, across the Pennines.

Naturally I chose a freezing cold, snow and ice early January for that trip.

The journey to Halifax I recall being problem free (motorway more or less all the way) and of course I received warm hospitality from Mike and Lottie Ward when I got there.

I had met Mike in London two or three years earlier and had submitted material to the New Year Revels show for a couple of previous years, but this was my first (of several) visits to The Actor’s Workshop.

I was clearly impressed by the show. My log reads:

Much better than I expected. Did justice to most material and more than did justice to mine.

There were lots of in-jokes in the show and programme about The Ridings School, Halifax, which, in 1996, had:

…received nationwide attention when staff said 60 of its pupils were “unteachable” and school operations were temporarily suspended while the headmaster and other leading staff were replaced.

I don’t think the entire cast and crew were really alums of The Ridings School…but perhaps they were.

I stayed at The Imperial Crown Hotel in Halifax on that occasion. I think we ate a fine meal pre show at the Ward’s House. That must have been the first occasion I met Lottie and I have a funny feeling that Adam (whom I met at NewsRevue and through whom I had met Mike) was there on that occasion – perhaps also Olivia.

Janie (who was not with me, remember) wrote more details and contact numbers into her diary for that trip than I did into mine – including the local Halifax police and the AA – I suspect she scribbled down the latter two after seeing the weather forecast!

The drive across the Pennines from Halifax to Nelson early the next morning (3rd January) was truly nerve-wracking but I got there and did whatever I had scheduled to do at that factory for most of the day before setting off in the still treacherous driving conditions back to London.

In those days I was still driving “Red Noddy” the Honda Civic, which, although air conditioned, was still a late 1980s vehicle not ideally suited to freezing conditions. I struggled to stay warm throughout the journey and started to itch terribly before arriving at Janie’s place…

…covered in Hives.

I itched through Robert Lepage’s Elsinore the next (Saturday) evening, but that, as we say, is another story.

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, The Playhouse, 27 December 1996

We don’t often go to the theatre “at Twixtmas”, not least because you don’t get a lot of serious drama over that period. But in 1996 someone decided to transfer this superb Theatre Royal Bath production to London over the festive season.

I’m pretty sure it was on this occasion that Janie and I ran into Jacqui Somerville, who was in the audience but I think connected with someone or something to do with the production.

In my log, Janie and I declared this event to be an

…excellent production…

I do remember this production well and especially fondly. Anthony Page directed, Janet McTeer (who won multiple awards for this performance), Owen Teale and John Carlisle were in it. There is a Theatricalia entry for it.

Postscript

Jacqui Somerville was indeed there that evening – she reports and reminds me:

…a light blew that evening above the stage and Janet McTeer was a consummate professional. Giggled for ages then clicked back into character.
It was a superb production. I think I blagged the last seat in the house!

Nicholas de Jongh rated this production/London transfer very good and wrote highly of it:

de Jongh Doll’s House Standard 25 Oct 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Tom Lubbock in The Observer was also impressed, not least with Frank McGuinness’s version:

Tom Lubbock Doll’s House Observer 27 Oct 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Finally an interesting piece from the Independent Tabloid on Anthony Page’s Production:

Independent on Doll’s House & Page 30 Oct 1996, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

In short, this particular evening was a great way to round off the theatre-going year.

Swanwhite by August Strindberg, Gate Theatre, 20 December 1996

Janie and I rated this “very good” according to my log. We are both partial to a bit of Strindberg, even when he is in magical, fantastical mood.

In any case, The Gate had a great tradition back then of doing justice to Scandinavian theatre, not least Strindberg. This was not the first nor the last time I came out of The Gate thrilled by my little local’s handling of the mad master’s work.

Lynn Gardner in the Guardian liked the idea of the play and the setting, but was not so keen on the dramatic production: