Category: Theatre

Broken Glass by Arthur Miller, Lyttelton Theatre, 13 August 1994

The play is well described on Wikipedia here. We saw the UK premier at the RNT.

What a cast; Henry Goodman, Margot Leicester, Ken Stott…David Thacker directed it. Theatricalia has this record for the play/production we saw – click here.

Janie and I rated it “very good indeed” at the time. I do recall it being a very interesting play and the RNT production was top notch, as RNT productions were wont to be at that time.

Here is a link to a review of the original New York production of this play, a few months before the RNT production.

Here’s Michael Billington’s review:

Billington On Broken GlassBillington On Broken Glass Sat, Aug 6, 1994 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney hated it:

Coveney On Broken GlassCoveney On Broken Glass Sun, Aug 7, 1994 – 68 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Lots of Olivier Awards for the RNT production, including BBC Best Play Award.

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 June 1994

We do like a bit of Pinter. I was especially keen to see this one. I’d never seen the play performed live; this 1994 production was the first London production since the West End production in the 1960s. But I had seen the wonderful 1980s TV version with Pinter himself as Goldberg.

I’d also previously seen excerpts from the play performed live; not least by my own school mates in the late 1970’s when Dan O’Neill was selected for the role of Goldberg ahead of me because he could do a much better Goldberg accent than me. I don’t bear grudges but I do retain a sense of unjust cultural appropriation to this day, not least because I still cannot do a Goldberg-style accent. I played Aston in The Caretaker instead, but I digress.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the version Janie and I saw in June 1994. My log says we thought it was very good. A young, then little-known Sam Mendes directed it. Bob Peck was Goldberg, Anton Lesser was Stanley. Dora Bryan and Trevor Peacock were Meg and Petey.

Here is a contemporaneous review from Irving Wardle in the Independent in 1994.

Below is the Michael Billington review:

Billington On The Birthday PartyBillington On The Birthday Party Sat, Mar 19, 1994 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On the Birthday PartyCoveney On the Birthday Party Sun, Mar 20, 1994 – 85 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

In truth, my memory for this play remains full of the wonderful BBC TV production from the 1980s…

…and Dan O’Neill’s Goldberg at school of course.

Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 June 1994

In theory this National theatre production should have been amazing. Alan Howard, Frances de la Tour, Sheila Gish, a young as yet little known Jude Law…

…but my log reads, “not bad. Not the greatest either”. That means we didn’t like it all that much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I think it was a little farce-like for our taste.

I cannot find any contemporaneous reviews for this one, so my vague memory will have to do…

..except that I do now have at least this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Les ParentsBillington On Les Parents Sat, May 7, 1994 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this Michael Coveney clipping…

Coveney On Les ParentsCoveney On Les Parents Sun, May 8, 1994 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Our indifference to this production did not stop it from getting a West End transfer, nor did it stop Jude Law from winning “Outstanding Newcomer” awards for his performance, making this production seminal for him, if not necessarily all that special for us.

No Big Deal by Rod Beacham, Orange Tree Theatre, 30 April 1994

I cannot find much about this one. My log claims that we thought the piece was very good.

I have managed to find an obituary post for Rod Beacham, the playwright – click here. Interesting to learnt hat his biggest success was Lies Have Been Told, a play about Robert Maxwell, which, like NoBig Deal, also starred Philip York.

Also interesting to learn that No Big Deal toured under then name Friends Like This with Barbara Dickson and Roy Hudd.

Also interesting to learn that Rod Beacham was instrumental in the oorigins of the Orange Tree Theatre. Sounds like a good bloke.

We’ll have dined at Don Fernando after the play, even in those days.

We would occasionally take The Duchess with us to the Orange Tree back then, but the log suggests not on this occasion. Small mercies. No big deal.

Angels in America – Millenium Approaches, Tony Kushner, Cottesloe Theatre, 8 April 1994

Angels In America is a two part play. I can only talk about the first part, Millenium Approaches, which Janie and I both thought was very good indeed.

We were both due to see the second part, Perestroika, the next day, but I got a bout of the raging trots and was confined to my bed instead.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for Angels In America, which covers both parts.

What a cast! Daniel Craig, Susan Engel, Clare Holman, Stephen Dillane, Harry Towd…directed by Declan Donnellan too.

I insisted that Janie go alone to see Perestroika and she told me at the time that it was not as good as Millenium Approaches. But was she saying that just to be kind or was she saying that because she got less enjoyment without me or was she saying that because actually the first part is the better part?

Here is the Wikipedia entry for both.

No on-line reviews from the RNT production back then, sadly. Here is a New York Times transcript from 1993…

…and here is Michael Billington’s review from 1992:

Billington On Angels KushnerBillington On Angels Kushner Sat, Jan 25, 1992 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, Cottesloe Theatre, 26 March 1994

A strange play, this. Here is a link to its Wikipedia entry. Writing about it 25 yrars later, it seems in some ways more relevant now than it did then, as evidenced by the several revivals of it in recent years.

According to my log, Janie and I both found the play and the original RNT production we saw very good. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for that production.

The wonderful Kathryn Hunter was in it. As was Richard Katz, who had, at that time, fairly recently done a grand job with my material in NewsRevue. I’m pretty sure it was Richard who belted this one, for example:

Designer, NewsRevue Lyric, 5 January 1993

I’m struggling to find reviews, but this preview from the Independent is interesting.

Here is a clipping from The Guardian:

Billington On The SkrikerBillington On The Skriker Sat, Jan 29, 1994 – 24 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

While here is a 79 page doctoral thesis about this play, which posits that our whole political and social system comprises patriarchal binary oppositions. So there.

And there was Janie and I thinking that we’d spent an evening seeing an interesting play by Caryl Churchill performed exceptionally well. What simple souls we were/are.

The Life Of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, Adapted by David Hare, Almeida Theatre, 12 March 1994

Janie and I see a lot of theatre and on the whole go to see productions that we find good or very good. But just occasionally we see something that is a cut above and is truly memorable as one of the best productions we have ever seen.

That is how my memory (25 years later) recalls this adaptation/production of The Life Of Galileo and my log from the time registers the simple phrase, “excellent production”.

Here is the Theatricalia record for this production.

Contemporaneous reviews only through the following clippings of Michael Billington’s review:

Billington On GalileoBillington On Galileo Fri, Feb 18, 1994 – 34 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com Billington On Galileo Part TwoBillington On Galileo Part Two Fri, Feb 18, 1994 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

My take is that Richard Griffiths was superb as Galileo, ably supported by a top notch cast dirtected by Jonanathan Kent.

This a David Hare adaptation was revived at The National some 12 years later; there are on-line reviews of that production – e.g. this one, which mentions the 1994 production.

The Wikipedia entry for the play provides a good synopsis.

An exceptionally good night at the theatre, I remember it well.

Wildest Dreams by Alan Ayckbourn, The Pit, 26 February 1994

My log reads,

Don’t remember this one too well, which says something.

I have managed to find a synopsis, click here, but it doesn’t really help me much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production. Still only a vague memory.

I don’t think we liked it.

I don’t think we walked out at half time. I suspect the performances from that top notch cast kept us going. But I don’t think we liked the play.

I’ve managed to find an on-line review for this one, in the Variety archive – click here.

Here is the Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Wildest DreamsBillington On Wildest Dreams Thu, Dec 16, 1993 – 34 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s clipping:

Coveney On Wildest DreamsCoveney On Wildest Dreams Sun, Dec 19, 1993 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Barbican Theatre, 19 February 1994

Janie is not partial to Shakespeare, but this production directed by Adrian Noble with Derek Jacobi as Macbeth and Cheryl Campbell as Lady Macbeth was quite special and we both thought it very good.

Theatricalia sets out the deal here.

I now learn that one of the three witches was Tracy-Ann Oberman, who went on (shortly after this production I think), to perform in NewsRevue/SportsRevue. Not our first sighting of her, that was in The Changeling at Stratford:

The Changeling by Thomas Middleton & William Rowley, RSC Swan Theatre, 29 October 1992

Returning to The Scottish Play, though, this is one of two productions Janie and I have seen; the other being the Tony Sher/Harriet Walter production to be Ogblogged “in the fullness”.

A couple of contemporaneous reviews survive on-line:

Here is Michael Billington’s review:

Billington On MacbethBillington On Macbeth Sat, Dec 18, 1993 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s the Michael Coveney clipping:

Coveney On MacbethCoveney On Macbeth Sun, Dec 19, 1993 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Not brilliantly well received, then.

Unfinished Business by Michael Hastings, The Pit, 29 January 1994

Janie and I binged on The RSC/ The Barbican at the start of 1994 – this is the first of a hat trick of productions we saw there within the space of a few weeks.

We thought this one was very good. I tend to like Michael Hastings’s plays and what a line up for us to see. Emerging names such as Toby Stephens, Jasper Britton & Monica Dolan alongside established stars such as Gemma Jones, Philip Voss & John Carlisle, directed by Steven Pimlott.

The play is basically about Nazi sympathisers in the UK during the war. It was chilling although it did have its moments of humour, as is Michael hastings’s wont.

Here is a link to this play/production’s Theatricalia entry.

Here is a link to the sole contemporaneous review I can find on-line; The Independent.

Also clippings to be found – here’s Michael Billington’s review:

Billington On Unfinished BusinessBillington On Unfinished Business Fri, Jan 21, 1994 – 32 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On Unfinished BusinessCoveney On Unfinished Business Sun, Jan 23, 1994 – 67 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com