Theatre – Page 68 – Ian Louis Harris

The Shape Of The Table by David Edgar, Cottesloe Theatre, 10 November 1990

Lots of memories from this one.

It was my “get out of jail” weekend. Michael Durtnall (my chiropractor) had insisted that I “lock down” for a month to enable my back to start healing – otherwise he wouldn’t treat me. More on that elsewhere, but basically this weekend was the end of my confinement and boy did I make the most of it with Bridge on Friday, this theatre visit on Saturday and a wedding on the Sunday.

I am very keen on David Edgar so we (me & Bobbie) will have long before booked to see this just after press night. I was very pleased to have negotiated my way out of lockdown to see this.

All I wrote in my log is:

Very good. Neil Kinnock and his entourage were there the night we went.

At the time Neil Kinnock was leader of the opposition. I don’t know whether he and/or his entourage took notes during this paly, but it was a political drama to be sure.

It is set in an unspecified former communist country that resembles the former Czechoslovakia.

Excellent cast; Karl Johnson, Stratford Johns and Katrin Cartlidge standing out in my mind.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the production.

Michael Billington spoke highly of it in the Guardian:

Billington on The Table Sat, Nov 10, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in the Observer was also impressed:

Coveney on table Sun, Nov 11, 1990 – 62 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, Lyttelton Theatre, 15 September 1990

I’m very partial to Athol Fugard’s work, but thirty years on, I remember very little about this one. Even the log, which was only a few years after the event, says:

Little recollection, strangely.

I saw this with Bobbie Scully, who seemed keen to see Fugard with me back then. Janie also has a taste for his work.

Here is the Wikipedia entry for this play/production.

I think the problem for me/us was that it was a story that pre-dated Nelson Mandela’s release but we were seeing it very soon after that momentous event. In that sense it felt a bit like old news, although of course the injustices and arguments depicted were still (are still) relevant.

Michael Billington in the Guardian loved it:

Billington on My Children! Sat, Sep 8, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer was less sure, finding it, unusually for Fugard, overly sentimental.

Coveney on My Children! Sun, Sep 9, 1990 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

A Dream Of People by Michael Hastings, The Pit, 18 August 1990

I’ve long been partial to a bit of Michael Hastings; I think he is under-rated as a playwright and novelist. So I no doubt chose this one on the back of its authorship.

It’s quite an odd play; sort-of about the welfare state ideal in the hands of a quirky civil service idealogue. Typical Hastings in its untypicality.

Bobbie and I both liked it.

I was reminded of this piece, without remembering exactly which piece I was being reminded of, when Janie and I saw Really Old, Like 45 at The Cottesloe some 20 years later:

Really Old, Like Forty Five by Tamsin Oglesby, Cottesloe Theatre, 30 January 2010

Peter McEnery played the lead and Janet Suzman directed the piece. The Theatricalia entry for the production can be found here. Not yet ever revived (he says in January 2021), I imagine a re-read would quickly determine whether it is now due for a revival or explain why it has not yet been revived.

Michael Billington in The Guardian clearly liked it while peppering his piece with a bit of Billingtonian faint praise.

Billington on Hastings Sat, Aug 4, 1990 – 19 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer was also fascinated but not entirely convinced:

Coveney on Piano & Hastings Sun, Aug 12, 1990 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare, Lyttelton Theatre, 28 July 1990

Bobbie & I were both very keen to see this one – hence our appearance on the first Saturday after press night, booking the tickets long before.

We weren’t disappointed. My log reads:

Superb. The setting was 1930’s style and they made a movie based on this production.

Below is a link to a National Theatre clip:

While below is a clip from the 1995 movie:

Janie would have got less out of this than Bobbie and I did – she is not so keen on Shakespeare, Sir Ian McKellen nor Dame Maggie. (The latter was not in the National Theatre stage production – Susan Engel played Queen Margaret.)

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for that Richard Eyre stage production.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review. He also thought this production excellent:

Billington on Dick The Shit Fri, Jul 27, 1990 – 31 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

In The Observer, Michael Coveney reviewed this Dick The Shit production and also the King Lear with which it was repping:

Coveney on Dick Shit & Lear Sun, Jul 29, 1990 – 51 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

While Kate Kellaway (also in the Observer) interviewed the two protagonists, Ian McKellen (Dick) & Brian Cox (Lear).

Kate Kellaway with Cox & McKellen Sun, Jul 29, 1990 – 51 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Olivier Theatre, 30 June 1990

I rated this production very good and I remember it surprisingly well.

Howard Davies directed this one and gathered an excellent cast. Tom Wilkinson as John Proctor, Zoe Wanamaker as Elizabeth Proctor, Clare Holman as Abigail, plus a top notch RNT ensemble, as was the way at that time.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Nicholas de Jongh’s review from The Guardian:

de Jongh on The Crucible Sat, Jun 2, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

This production must have been very good, because it is quite a long play and I had “done my back” pretty dramatically the week before. Thus started a period when my back would tell me whether or not I was fully engaged in a theatrical production. For this one, I only recall the superb drama; I don’t recall the pain!

Singer by Peter Flannery, The Pit, 9 June 1990

I saw this one with Bobbie and I recall we both found it very powerful, although a bit long for its relatively slight story.

What fine acting. Antony Sher & Malcolm Storrey in particular, but a fine supporting cast and Terry Hands directing.

The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

Nicholas de Jongh gave it a good but not ecstatic review in The Guardian:

de Jongh on Singer Sat, Mar 31, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Olivier Theatre, 19 May 1990

I thought this one was very good and I am pretty sure Bobbie thought so too.

An amazing cast directed by Peter Wood. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry – feast your eyes on that list of names. the big draw names were Jane Asher, John Neville, Prunella Scales and Dennis Quilly, but there is a plethora of fine actors and actresses on that list, several on the up with small parts in this production. Also notable was Richard Bonneville, who played Charles Surface, and is latterly very well known as High Bonneville.

Michael Coveney in The Observer was not so keen on this:

Coveney on Scandal Sun, Apr 29, 1990 – 54 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Guardian seemed to like it a bit better:

de Jongh on Scandal Thu, Apr 26, 1990 – 24 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Troilus And Cressida by William Shakespeare, Swan Theatre, 19 April 1990

Writing this one up more than 30 years later, I am a bit confused about when I saw it and with whom, if indeed anyone else. I do know for sure that I saw this production at The Swan and was very taken with it.

I took a week off work just after Easter that year, visiting various friends about the place. I’ll write that up as best I can in due course. But in my appointments diary it clearly states “Troilus” 19 April.

Roll the clock forward to November, I saw Much Ado at the Royal Shakespeare Memorial with Moose. Tucked in with the Much Ado programme is the Troilus programme.

So did I simply pick up the programme in November having seen a preview of Troilus on my tod in April, or did I duck out in April and see this in the autumn with Moose? I think the former, but I’ll see if Moose can help me unpick this one.

Anyway, what a cast and what a fine production I recall. Ralph Fiennes was Troilus and I think it might have been a conversation with him at Lambton Place (my health club, latterly BWW) that encouraged me to see a preview of this production at Stratford.

Amanda Root played Cressida very well and David Troughton was a top notch Hector, Paterson Joseph a fine Patroclus. Wonderful supporting cast full of names that latterly became big. Sam Mendes was a bit of a Shakespeare novice back then.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Nicholas de Jongh seemed pretty convinced in the Guardian:

de Jongh on Troilus Sat, Apr 28, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney loved it in the Observer…

Coveney on Troilus Sun, Apr 29, 1990 – 54 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…as did I. I only wish I could remember the peripheral details of my visit.

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

Very good indeed…

I said in the log, which is almost to be expected with a cast as fine as this under Deborah Warner.

This was an evening at The National with Bobbie. I have subsequently seen a good “Good Person” at The Orange Tree with Janie too, but this Olivier production was especially fine in my view.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Superb cast; Bill Paterson, Fiona Shaw, Susan Engel, Pete Postlethwaite and fine support too.

Michael Billington found the production powerful but sedate: