Category: Theatre

The Good Person of Sichuan by Bertolt Brecht, Orange Tree Theatre, 3 February 1996

Janie had never seen this play before and The Orange Tree was on a bit of a roll with us, so we decided to give this a go.

Given the scale of the piece, I thought we’d try sitting upstairs rather than downstairs for once. It was just for once, because we didn’t find upstairs very comfortable – less leg room and peering down didn’t please us.

I had seen a cracking good production of “Good Person” with Bobbie at the National a few years earlier:

The Good Person of Sichuan by Bertolt Brecht, Olivier Theatre, 3 March 1990

In truth. the Orange Tree was probably biting off a bit more than it could chew attempting such a large-scale piece in the round, but Sam Walters obcviously wanted to have a go.

We enjoyed the production. I think Janie got more out of it than I did because she hadn’t seen the play before and didn’t have a big production with which to compare it.

No newspaper reviews to be found but I did find this interview/preview by Carol Woddis on TES. That piece is scraped to here just in case that link disappears.

Violin Time by Ken Campbell, Cottesloe Theatre, 16 January 1996

This evening – a rare visit to The Cottesloe on a Tuesday evening – was the first time I saw Ken Campbell perform.

I was really smitten with this piece – I found it very funny. I think I got more out of it than Janie did, but she was fascinated enough to want to see more of his work after that.

One of the things that attracted us to the piece, apart from the weirdness of the blurb, which promised us – I paraphrase from various book blurbs available:

“Cathar heretics, a mysterious female French book thief and a Vietnamese violinist who does pig impressions”.

It would be difficult to say no to that, especially as we had booked to go to Vietnam a couple of months later.

Janie and I saw an early preview of the show; it didn’t get reviewed until October but we saw a preview in January.

There is a somewhat tepid Independent review of the piece by Robert Hanks available on-line – here.

Michael Coveney in the Observer liked it, perhaps because he got a name drop:

Coveney on Violin TimeCoveney on Violin Time Sun, Oct 6, 1996 – 76 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Unusually, it doesn’t look as though The Guardian reviewed it.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, Lyttelton Theatre, 30 December 1995

I liked this more than Janie did. I thought it was a very good production and I have long had an affection for the play.

Janie sees this as an example of Tom Stoppard being “a bit too clever for his own good”, a view I can understand but with which I don’t agree. Let’s just say that Janie does not remember this fondly.

Amazing cast, with Adrian Scarborough & Simon Russell Beale in the eponymous roles. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Michael Billinton is with Janie on the play and with me on the production:

Billington on RosencrantzBillington on Rosencrantz Sat, Dec 16, 1995 – 27 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney strangely liked the play but not so much the production.

Sun, Dec 17, 1995 – 60 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Son Of Man by Dennis Potter, The Pit, 25 November 1995

We described this as:

Very, very good…

…in my log and I do remember this play/production well.

I hadn’t especially been looking forward to it. I do like generally Potter’s work but I wasn’t sure about his take on this subject. Janie having the hots for Joseph Fiennes pretty much sealed the deal for us to book it.

It was a superb production. Joseph Fiennes is a very good actor, the supporting cast was excellent and Bill Bryden directed well. The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

Michael Billington loved it:

Billington on Son Of ManBillington on Son Of Man Fri, Oct 20, 1995 – 33 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney was less sure, talking up Joseph Fiennes but not the play:

Coveney on Son Of GodCoveney on Son Of God Sun, Oct 22, 1995 – 68 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

A Short Visit To Turkey Part Three: A Fine Day Including A Fine, A Visit To Pergamon & A Night In Çanakkale, 13 November 1995

Daisy hadn’t much enjoyed doing the driving in those first couple of days; driving in and out of Izmir is not much fun and was traffic heavy almost all the time.

But when we set off from Izmir in the direction of Pergamon, we hit open road quite quickly…

…so Daisy took the opportunity to hit that road quickly – 90 to 100 kmph…

…until the speed cops flagged us down, about 5 minutes outside Izmir.

Although Janie was doing the driving, I thought best that I act as spokesperson for our team.

The police officer pointed at the speed sign, which read “70 km”. He tried to say “seventy kilometres an hour” in English.

Ah, I said, kilometres…not miles…

“Ingiliz”, said the officer to his mates, as if to confirm his theory. “Kilometres” he said to me, pointedly.

I thought we might get away with it, but he then promptly wrote out the above ticket and pointed to where I needed to go to settle the bill.

140,000.

That’s harsh. 140,000 just for speeding.

Then it dawned on me that there were 82,000 Turkish Lira to the £.

The fine was £1.70

I might have paid £1.70 for the beautiful certificate we were given as a souvenir.

So on to Pergamon, which was a stunning site.

Asclepon – the medical centre at Pergamon

Pergamon Town

The Acropolis

After the stunning sights of Pergamon, we drove on to Çanakkale, keen to get there before dark.

We just about made it, although once we got to the town, we struggled to find one of the recommended hotels open. But we did find one that looked just fine; the Grand Anzac.

I recall we also managed to find a good meal in that charming coastal town.

Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood, Criterion Theatre, 7 October 1995

This was a West End transfer from the Chichester Festival, which had been so well received that even we set aside our West-End show scepticism to see it in Theatreland.

We weren’t disappointed. This was a very good production of a very good play. It is basically about the denazification investigation of the German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler.

Michael Pennington & Daniel Massey played the lead roles, investigating officer major Arnold & Furtwängler respectively. Harold Pinter added yet more gravitas by directing it.

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

Michael Billlington really liked it when he saw it in Chichester that spring:

Billington taking SidesBillington taking Sides Tue, May 23, 1995 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney also liked it while comparing it with Absolute Hell:

Coveney on Taking SidesCoveney on Taking Sides Sun, May 28, 1995 – 75 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Zenobia by Nick Dear, Young Vic Theatre, 8 September 1995

We thought this play and production was superb. Janie & I still think of it as one of the very best evenings we have spent in the theatre together.

We were so taken with the idea of Queen Zenobia and her Palmyrene kingdom that we made sure we visited the place about 18 months later.

See all of our Syria photos, many from Palmyra, by clicking here.

Penny Downie played Queen Zenobia and Trevor Cooper played the foul-mouthed Emperor Aurelian (not to be confused with the stoic geezer Marcus Aurelius). Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Michael Coveney praises Penny Downie but not the play.

Coveney on ZenobiaCoveney on Zenobia Sun, Aug 13, 1995 – 74 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Billington was also unsure about the play. What is the matter with these critic types?

Billington on ZenobiaBillington on Zenobia Fri, Aug 11, 1995 – 29 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

La Grande Magia by Eduardo De Filippo, Lyttelton Theatre, 19 August 1995

Good. Had its moments.

That was the record in the log and that is faint praise. A superb cast including Alan Howard, Bernard Cribbins and Anne-Marie Duff . Richard Eyre directing. What’s not to like?

Here is the Theatricalia entry.

I think the play seemed a bit dated and cheesy to us.

Michael Billington loved it.

Billington on MagiaBillington on Magia Sat, Jul 15, 1995 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney also loved it. We must have been missing something.

Coveney on MagiaCoveney on Magia Sun, Jul 16, 1995 – 77 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Each Day Dies with Sleep by José Rivera, Orange Tree Theatre, 8 July 1995

We thought this was a very good production. José Rivera was not a well known writer back then, pre Motorcycle Diaries, but we chose this on the back of interesting sounding subject matter and the quality of stuff we were getting at The Orange Tree, which was on a bit of a roll at that time.

From the bowels of my memory, I recalled it as sort of magical realism…

…so I was delighted to see that Michael Billington used that term in the first sentence of his review. At one point Billington suggests that the production was as if Tennessee Williams had been done over by Pedro Almodovar. No wonder we really liked it.

Billington on RiveraBillington on Rivera Wed, Jul 5, 1995 – 83 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Fire Raisers by Max Frisch, Riverside Studios, 10 June 1995

We were having a veritable Max Frisch fest that spring, having seen Biography at The Questors just a few weeks earlier:

Biography by Max Frisch, Translated by Michael Bullock, Questor’s Theatre, 20 May 1995

In those days, The Riverside Studios were doing some quite large theatre productions. This was part of a season, I believe, hence the generic season programme cover above.

I rated this very good and I’m sure Frances de la Tour and Malcolm Tierney were excellent, but I’m not sure this is the best Fire Raisers production we have seen. We returned to the piece some years later to see Benedict Cumberbatch in this play (translated as The Arsonists) at the Royal Court, which I think was a more dynamic production.

The Arsonists by Max Frisch, Royal Court Theatre, 3 November 2007

Still, very good is very good. Michael Billington said these faint praise things about it:

Billington on Fire RaisersBillington on Fire Raisers Thu, Jun 1, 1995 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney was also unsure about it:

Coveney on Fire RaisersCoveney on Fire Raisers Sun, Jun 4, 1995 – 78 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com