Category: Theatre

The Journalists by Arnold Wesker, The Questors Theatre, 7 December 1996

My log for this one reads:

Programme (and hence all details) missing.

Production OK but cluttered – much like the play.

But all is not lost – it turns out that The Questors Theatre has one of the best theatrical archives of their own productions on the planet (who knew?), so everything you ever wanted to know about this production (or indeed any Questors production) and more besides, is preserved. Click here for The Journalists.

Just in case anything ever goes awry there, I have uploaded the scan of the programme to here.

I was reminded of this play and production many years later when Janie and I saw Ink at the Almeida.

Ink by James Graham, Almeida Theatre, 17 June 2017

Ink was not cluttered, although I did get spluttered…

…but that’s another story.

We no doubt took Pauline on to Noughts & Crosses, or possibly Lisa’s, or possibly Wine & Moussaka afterwards.

Pauline will have done the Questors tickets, which was very generous of her (she didn’t have to pay anything for two guest tickets), Janie will have done the interval drinks and I will have sported the dinner. Fair dinkum.

Family Circles by Alan Ayckbourn, Orange Tree Theatre, 30 November 1996

Blooming heck – Janie and I took Pauline with us on this occasion, to see an Ayckbourn play about a family with three daughters…

…and yet our logged verdict on the event was:

Very good.

It must REALLY have been very good.

The play was subtitled “The Story So Far aka Me Times Me Times Me” and is one of those lesser-known Ayckbourn plays. Possibly it is lesser-known precisely because it is less predictable, glib, farce-oriented comedy than many of his works.

My friend, Michael Billington, clearly liked the play and this production:

Family Circles BillingtonFamily Circles Billington 10 Dec 1996, Tue The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

After reading that Billington review, I am for some reason (“Dance Of Death played for laughs”, perhaps, or “three sisters in comparison with whom Lear’s daughters look like balanced and beneficent progeny” reminded of one of my favourite Peter Cook quotes:

I go to the theatre to be entertained. I don’t want to see plays about rape, sodomy and drug addiction – I can get all that at home.

Nick Curtis in the evening Standard was less sure about the piece:

Family Circles Nick Curtis StandardFamily Circles Nick Curtis Standard 12 Dec 1996, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We would no doubt have dined at Don Fernando’s after the show. Families, eh?

What The Heart Feels by Stephen Bill, Orange Tree Theatre, 11 October 1996

The programme for this one went missing, so we have to reconstruct cast and creatives as best we can from on-line archives reviews and stuff.

Stephen Bill wrote it. The Doolee description reads:

“…a group of friends attempt to build an arts centre in the Midlands.”

The production was previewed in The Evening Standard:

What The Heart Feels, Standard PreviewWhat The Heart Feels, Standard Preview 11 Oct 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kim Bunce wrote it up thus in The Independent:

What The Heart Feels Kim Bunce ObserverWhat The Heart Feels Kim Bunce Observer 10 Nov 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Michael Billington, an Orange Tree fan, wrote the following:

What The Heart Feels Billington GuardianWhat The Heart Feels Billington Guardian 19 Oct 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I think we quite liked this play/production. In truth I only vaguely remember it from the descriptions.

The General from America by Richard Nelson, Swan Theatre, 21 September 1996

After seeing the amazing play/production The Herbal Bed the night before…

The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan, The Other Place, 20 September 1996

…we went to see this Richard Nelson play the next day. We liked this less, although we had enjoyed Richard Nelson’s plays before.

Good – but not quite to our taste

…was my log verdict.

Stellar cast – including several of the fine actors we had seen the day before, plus James Laurenson, Adam Godley, Corin Redgrave & John Woodvine. Howard Davies directed this one. Here is the Theatricalia entry.

My friend, Michael Billington, was not so sure about this one either:

General Billington GuardianGeneral Billington Guardian 27 Jul 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard was very keen on it:

General de Jongh StandardGeneral de Jongh Standard 25 Jul 1996, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also liked it:

General Paul Taylor IndependentGeneral Paul Taylor Independent 25 Jul 1996, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan, The Other Place, 20 September 1996

I described this play/production as:

…magical…

…in my log.

Janie and I took a short break in Stratford, starting, I think, on the Wednesday afternoon. Details in my diary are scant and Janie’s 1996 has gone walkies (perhaps only temporarily).

I am pretty sure we stayed at The Shakespeare, as was our wont at that time. I mentioned in our 1994 visit:

we stayed at The Shakespeare Hotel that time; I think for the second and possibly the last time. We found the room a bit pokey…

…but on reflection I think this 1996 visit was also the Shakespeare and quite possibly the last visit to that hotel.

As for the play/production, we absolutely loved it. The cast included several people who went on to great things, not least Joseph Fiennes, David Tennant, Stephen Boxer, Teresa Banham and director Michael Attenborough. Here is the Theatricalia entry for the play/production.

One memorable thing about the night we visited was the excitement around the presence of HRH The Prince Of Wales and Camilla (subsequently Duchess of Cornwall). The Other Place isn’t really that sort of place, so the royal attendance was more than a bit of a surprise.

The play/production was very well received, for good reasons.

Here is Michael Billington’s take:

Herbal Bed Billington GuardianHerbal Bed Billington Guardian 24 May 1996, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is a preview from The Evening Standard:

Herbal Bed Standard PreviewHerbal Bed Standard Preview 22 May 1996, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Herbal Bed Coveney ObserverHerbal Bed Coveney Observer 26 May 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

See, I told you. Magical.

Blinded By The Sun by Stephen Poliakoff, Cottesloe Theatre, 31 August 1996

I wrote in my log:

Yes, we saw it before it opened. Yes, it was very good.

Press night was early the following week.

I was always partial to a bit of Poliakoff, so this will have felt like a bit of a birthday treat, opening at that time of year.

In fact, we had been due to go to the Proms on my actual birthday that year, but “Proms 7:30” is scribbled out in my diary for the preceding Wednesday. Not sure what went wrong there – probably we simply failed to get tickets (Claudio Abbado & The Berlin Phil doing Brahms – very popular).

But I digress.

Stellar cast for this one – as was the way back then with Poliakoff at the National or the RSC: Douglas Hodge and Frances de la Tour the biggest names; Graham Crowden & Hermione Norris also standout performers. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

This is Lyn Gardner’s review from The Guardian:

Blinded Lyn Gardner GuardianBlinded Lyn Gardner Guardian 04 Sep 1996, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Blinded Coveney ObserverBlinded Coveney Observer 08 Sep 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also liked it a lot:

Blinded Paul Taylor IndyBlinded Paul Taylor Indy 05 Sep 1996, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Bodies by James Saunders, Orange Tree Theatre, 24 August 1996

Not especially memorable, this one…

…I noted in my log.

Janie and I were very keen on The Orange Tree at that time and on the whole the plays and the productions were excellent. James Saunders is not the easiest playwright, though.

Here is a link to the Bodies page on the James Saunders website.

We saw a revival of the piece, which had been an early effort at the Orange Tree back in the 1970s. Sam Walters had directed the original version; Dominic Hill directed our revival – no doubt mentored by Sam at that time. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for the version we saw.

Here is the review from the Independent.

Bodies Adrian Turpin IndependentBodies Adrian Turpin Independent 25 Sep 1996, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Nick Curtis’s review from The standard:

Bodies Nick Curtis StandardBodies Nick Curtis Standard 03 Sep 1996, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

John Gabriel Borkman, Henrik Ibsen, Lyttelton Theatre, 20 July 1996

This was a great production of great play.  Paul Scofield as the big man, Vanessa Redgrave as the long-suffering wife, Eileen Atkins, Michael Bryant, a great supporting cast, Richard Eyre directing, what was not to like?

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

Janie doesn’t tend to like “classics” but tends to makes an exception for Ibsen. This production was no exception to her exception.

As is often the case, the Lyttleton did the play no favours, too big and set back for intimacy yet not quite big enough or shaped right to be the big stage. But when the only criticism one can muster is that, the fact is that this was a great night at the theatre and I am so glad we saw this production.

Paul Taylor in the Independent loved it – click here.

Here’s another little review archive link – click here.

Michael Billington in the Guardian waxed lyrical about it:

Billington on BorkmanBillington on Borkman Sat, Jul 13, 1996 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

But in truth, you had to be there.  One of the more memorable evenings at the theatre.

The Designated Mourner, Wallace Shawn, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 June 1996

What an amazing piece of theatre this was.  The late great Mike Nichols, better known as a director of course, acted brilliantly, with Miranda Richardson and David de Keyser, all wonderful.

David Hare, better known as a playwright but also a talented director, did a grand job with the piece.

Wallace Shawn, perhaps better known as an actor than as a playwright, although also a very talented playwright, wrote it.  Not his best known; indeed possibly not his best piece, but, an excellent play.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Despite all that role rotation, it came off superbly well for us.

Janie and I recognised the unmistakable back of Wallace Shawn’s head just in front of us that night.  A few years later, we chatted with Wallace Shawn at the Almeida when he turned up to see Miranda Richardson in Aunt Dan and Lemon; he waxed lyrical about how wonderful he thinks she is, seemed genuinely self-effacing about his writing and genuinely delighted that we had been inspired to seek out his plays by seeing this piece and of course My Dinner With Andre, one of my favourite films ever.

Wikipedia explains the plot – click here.

Bit early in the life of the web for on-line reviews, but I found this rather informative thing – click here.

Michael Billington was very taken with the play and production in the Guardian:

Billington on MournerBillington on Mourner Thu, Apr 25, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney seemed less sure but still speaks well of it:

Coveney on MournerCoveney on Mourner Sun, Apr 28, 1996 – 65 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We were really taken with it; discussing the issues for the rest of the weekend and beyond.

Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 May 1996

I’ve long been partial to a bit of Potter, as has Daisy.

I had seen the original TV film of this one and to some extent had my doubts about it, as I have never much enjoyed the conceit of adult actors playing the role of children.

Still, the chance to see a National production of a Potter won the day. Many members of this fine cast went on to bigger and bolder things. Steve Coogan, Nigel Lindsay, Debra Gillett, Geraldine Somerville. Patrick Marber directed it.

The Theatricalia entry for this play/production can be found here.

Michael Coveney in The Observer hated it:

Coveney on HillsCoveney on Hills Sun, May 5, 1996 – 65 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Whereas Michael Billington wrote highly of it, finding it more translatable from screen to stage than most Potter and describing it as “Potter at his best”:

Billington on HillsBillington on Hills Sat, May 4, 1996 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We were both ambivalent about it. It was clearly a fine production. It pleased me more than the TV version. But that “adults playing children” thing still didn’t really work for me.

Below is an excerpt from the original 1979 TV film:

Blue Remembered Hills _ Scene 1+2 from rob blake on Vimeo.