Category: Theatre

The Orange Penguin by John Random, Risk Theatre, 30 July 1993

This period of 1993 was “peak Random”, with John perennially, heavily involved in NewsRevue (where he helped to get my comedy writing career going the year before) and also his show Sex In My Anorak, which had played in June.

Sex In My Anorak by John Random & Others (Including Me), Opening Night, Canal Cafe Theatre, 2 June 1993

Then, just a few weeks after “Sex”, a London production of John’s play from the previous year’s Edinburgh Festival, The Orange Penguin.

It had been well received, at least by The Independent it had – click here…

…or if that page goes walkies, try this scrape.

The theatre was a sort-of public hall in Hoxton, near to Annie Bickerstaff’s place. Janie and I went to see this play along with Annalisa and Annie. We all very much enjoyed the play. I think we ended up back at Annie’s place for dinner after the show.

It was my first ever sighting of Brian Jordan, who was known to me because he had taken The Ultimate Love Song to Edinburgh in his show Whoops Vicar, Is That Your Dick? at the same time that John took The Orange Penguin (with Iain Angus Wilkie in the lead).

Anyway, it was a very good evening, our evening in Hoxton seeing The Orange Penguin.

I wonder whether John still has the script and whether he thinks it might be time for a revival?

Oleanna by David Mamet, Royal Court Theatre, 24 July 1993

These days (he says, writing more than 25 years later), I do most of the running with regard to booking theatre. But back then, Janie was more proactive.

There are notes in her diary from weeks before, working out when this was going to open and when we might be available. Then, for the day itself (as one might now find in my diary) notes on exactly which seats she’d booked (Row J) and how long the play might be (8:00 to 10:10).

For sure I would have been a willing participant in seeing the latest Mamet – I had been a bit of a Mamet fan for years by 1993. David Suchet and Lia Williams? yes please. Harold Pinter directing? just tell me where I need to go and when. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

I remember it being a very good production of an extremely powerful play. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry on the play.

It was in fact a very controversial play and Mamet had written more than one ending for it. There was much debate in the press.

Below is Michael Billington’s review:

Billington's Review Of OleannaBillington’s Review Of Oleanna Fri, Jul 2, 1993 – 37 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here are links to The Guardian with some fascinating opinions published the following week:

Oleanna OpinionsOleanna Opinions Wed, Jul 7, 1993 – 20 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

<ore Oleanna Opinions<ore Oleanna Opinions Wed, Jul 7, 1993 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Finally, here is Michael Coveney’s review.

Michael Coveney On OleannaMichael Coveney On Oleanna Sun, Jul 4, 1993 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

This was a stunning, unforgettable night at the theatre; Janie and I are privileged to have seen this production.

Bish Bash Bosh, NewsRevue Spin Off In Willesden, Opening Night, 22 July 1993

I have written a short piece about Bish Bash Bosh when I uncovered my submission sheet for that show – no need to repeat myself – click here or below:

Bish Bash Bosh NewsRevue Submission, 20 June 1993

On 22 July, Janie joined me and “others” for the opening night. Quite a stalwart was Janie in those days.

Harriet Quirk writes about that opening night on the NewsRevue Facebook group – click here for link:

I remember it well ! Rory Bremner came along to the first show with unfortunately only about 10 other people!…

…so that’s Rory, Janie, me, Harriet and possibly six others. We might be anble to name the whole audience if we put our minds to it. Harriet continues…

We were asked to put on shows at a venue in Willesden by a big Newsrevue fan and after lots of deliberation could only come up with Bish Bash Bosh as a name. Unfortunately it didn’t take off ?

I responded:

The place was a dive if I remember correctly. I must interrogate Janie about it and see what she remembers. I do recall her not liking the place and forming a strong view that Newsrevue wouldn’t work there. 

Yup, that’s just about all she remembers.

I wonder whether anyone has the running order for that show. The only artifact that provides more clues I scraped from a comedy collective site some months ago – good job I scraped it because it has now gone. I have thus preserved one of Ivan Shakespeare’s classic songs – The Subsidy Song – for posterity. It was for sure in this Bish Bash Bosh show. Here’s the link again – enjoy.

That sheet confirms the Bish Bash Bosh cast…and what an excellent cast it was – scraped below with spellings/misspellings intact:

Jonathon Linsley, Paul Dietch, Paula Tappenden, Virginie Gilchrist and Una McNulty

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

There’s nothing like a good production of an Ibsen play…

…and this was nothing like a good production of an Ibsen play.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Janie and I had not yet seen any Ibsen play together and Janie had never seen Hedda Gabler and it was summer and the idea of theatre in the park sounded lovely.

As it happens, I had seen a very good Hedda (Lindsay Duncan) at Hampstead a few years earlier, but I thought I could never get too much Hedda.

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Hampstead Theatre, 18 October 1988

My log simply says:

It was so poor we walked at half time

This might have been the first time Janie and I “walked” together at half time.

On reminding Janie recently (December 2019) about this particular evening she simply said:

OMG it was dreadful

In truth, Janie and I had a tough search for a truly good Hedda. Richmond Theatre (previewing a West End Francesca Annis Hedda) in 1999 was a bit of a staid production. It wasn’t until 2005, Richard Eyre’s production at the Almeida (Eve Best as Hedda) that I thought Janie had seen a good enough production to be able to claim that we had both done Hedda.

So I’ve done four Heddas…in fact I think I might have seen a small town Hedda in my student days, making it five. As Judge Brack puts it:

Good God – people don’t do such things.

The Showman by Thomas Bernhard, Almeida Theatre, 12 June 1993

Janie and I both thought this play/production was very good.

Alan Bates was a superb actor and was espececially suited to this role. The supporting cast were excellent under Jonathan Kent’s expert direction.

Below is Michael Billington’s judgment on the piece:

Billington On the ShowmanBillington On the Showman Wed, May 19, 1993 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney was also very keen on this play/production:

Michael Coveney On The ShowmanMichael Coveney On The Showman Sun, May 23, 1993 – 64 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Janie and I still say “my dear child” in the gnarley style that Alan Bates delivered that phrase in this production.

This was our first visit to the Almeida together and I have a feeling we ran into my NewsRevue friend Ivan Shakespeare on this occasion and indeed on more than one of our first few occasions at the Almeida. Ivan was a volunteer there and I think he did Saturday evenings whenever he could.

The Belle Of The Belfast City by Christina Reid, Orange Tree Room, 5 June 1993

Of the three plays Janie and I went to see at the Orange Tree Room together, before that “above the pub” bit of the Orange Tree empire closed down, this is the only one for which I still have the “programme” – i.e. sheet of paper:

Just as well I have the sheet, because, unlike Saigon Rose – click here or below…

Saigon Rose by David Edgar, Orange Tree Room, 20 March 1993

…I cannot find any reviews on-line.

Ian Angus Wilkie of NewsRevue fame once again found his way into the cast; he must have found favour with the Orange Tree folk back then and for good reason.

I was gutted that Ian Angus Wilkie didn’t list NewsRevue in his recent relevant experience – it had only been about a year before – perhaps less ( I have a feeling he did Edinburgh or Christmas that 1992 year). How could he hold back on reporting that career highlight?

All I wrote in my log for this one was that I thought it was a very good play/production – which was the way I felt about all the things we saw in that Orange Tree Room…but in truth this was the least memorable of the three, for me.

Sex In My Anorak by John Random & Others (Including Me), Opening Night, Canal Cafe Theatre, 2 June 1993

Janie joined me (and I’m sure quite a few of my NewsRevue writer friends) for the opening night of this show, conceived by John Random.

I think the idea of it was to be a showcase for revue material that John and others of us sometimes wrote that was not ideally suited to the topical NewsRevue show.

I have a couple of pieces of paper about the show, one of which tells me that I forked out some dosh to angel the show.

I cannot remember how much, if any, of that cash came back to me. John might have information on’t.

Here’s the other artifact, which was a sort of interim newsletter which also gives some clues as to the conceit (if that is the right word) of the show.

I also cannot remember how many, if any, of my lyrics found their way into this show.

In fact, the item I remember most clearly about this show is an idea that John in the end didn’t use, which was the idea of performing Spike Jones’s version of the Hawaiian War Chant live.

It would have been wicked hard to stage well with four performers and one pianist. But John and I both still regret that the idea got…as it were…spiked.

I do remember one of John’s numbers, which I think was the closing number, named Living In A Cliche, which was a spoof of Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer.

Gosh, yes, that track is simply asking for the John Bon Random treatment.

I wonder whether John still has running orders and/or other materials pertaining to Sex In My Anorak. I do remember thinking the show was rather good.

Postscript: a few months ago we had a discussion about this show and also about Bish Bash Bosh on Facebook in the NewsRevue group – click here for link. Nick R Thomas in particular remembered some interesting stuff about Anorak:

I had a co-written sketch about cats. If I remember correctly, the sketch I wrote with Bournemouth writer Gary Mitchell was about the Cats Protection League actually being a protection racket run by cats.

John had a wonderful running song sketch throughout based on 2Unlimited but featuring nuns, eg “No no, no-no no no, no-no no no, no-no sex before marriage”.

Come to think of it, this No Limit number was also simply asking for the 2Johnlimited Random treatment.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, The Questors Theatre, 22 May 1993

Once bitten but seemingly not twice shy, here was another evening at the Questors with Pauline, Janie’s mum. Quite soon after the previous visit to see The Real Thing:

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, The Questors Theatre, 3 April 1993

On this occasion, I had been at a BDO Awayday on the Friday and overnight into the Saturday. This might have been the one after which Steve Taylor nearly lost his life in a car accident driving off to play cricket on the Saturday, but perhaps that was an earlier one.

I too was taking risks with my next day activities, but a different family of risks.

Anyway, according to Janie’s diary, she took work on the Saturday morning and gave blood that afternoon, before our evening engagement with her mum…

…that really is like giving blood twice in one day – not recommended.

Much like with The Real Thing, Janie and I got the opportunity, about seven years later, to see a tippy-top professional production of this fine play – in the case of All My Sons, one of Arthur Miller’s finest.

The Questors production was not at all bad, though.

No drinks at Pauline’s before this one – I think Pauline set into what became the regular pattern of “fairness”, which was:

  • Pauline did The Questors tickets
  • Janie paid for the drinks at The Questors
  • I paid for the restaurant meal afterwards.

I learnt some years later that, as a member of The Questors, Pauline got a certain number of free tickets for shows and I am pretty sure she calibrated her membership/invitations to ensure that she wasn’t actually paying for our tickets…ever.

Fair enough.

Janie’s diary reveals that we ate at Lisa’s after that particular show. Lisa served pretty good food on Pitshanger Lane, but my goodness did you get Lisa’s life story thrown in free of charge along with the food, especially if you were one of only a handful of late/after theatre tables.

Lisa’s was still there 20 years or so on, but now gone for good, I believe. Possibly just as well.

He Who Saw Everything by Robert Temple & Anon, Cottesloe Theatre, 14 May 1993

This piece was billed as:

fragments from The Epic of Gilgamesh…

…which made it rather interesting.

It was part of the Springboards thingie – we saw three of these studio pieces in two weeks – this was the third:

Daisy and I rated this one very good. Weird, though.

I don’t think the Observer reviewed this one, but the Guardian did – below is Michael Billington’s review of this piece.

Billio might choose to call his autobiography He Who Saw Everything, now I come to think of it.

Michael Billington He Who Saw Everything May 1993Michael Billington He Who Saw Everything May 1993 Sat, May 15, 1993 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Interesting stuff. It’s one of those nights at the theatre about which I remember little detail but it left a lingering impression on me nonetheless. I can still sort-of remember the sights, sounds and even smells of it.

Baby Doll by Andrew Poppy & Tennessee Williams, Cottesloe Theatre, 8 May 1993

This piece was billed as:

a new chamber opera based on the original screenplay…

…perhaps we should have paid heed to that billing.

It was not to our taste.

It was part of the Springboards season, of which we saw three productions at the Cottesloe in two weeks. This was the second of the three we saw.

Below is a review from The Guardian – opera review rather than theatre review please note:

Baby Doll May 1993Baby Doll May 1993 Tue, May 11, 1993 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Observer review can be seen as part of the article (including the picture) below:

Observer May 1993 CottesloeObserver May 1993 Cottesloe Sun, May 9, 1993 – 55 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We stayed at mine that weekend. Whether I cooked or we got a takeway on the way home is lost in the mists of time.

I do recall Janie trying to sound like the atonal operatic voices in this misguided Baby Doll production for some while after the show.

Oh dear.