Theatre – Page 68 – Ian Louis Harris

An Evening With Janie, John & Mandy; Death And The Maiden by Ariel Dorfman, Royal Court Theatre at the Duke of York’s Theatre, 17 October 1992

I believe this was the first time that either John or Mandy met Janie; Janie and I had only been going out together for a few weeks by then.

This was also only the second time that Janie and I went to the theatre together – the first time having been our first date; The Street of Crocodiles.

My diary is a bit of a confusion for that evening – indeed all that it reads is “Madness”…

…which I’m sure means “The Madness of George III”. But my theatre log is very clear that 17 October was this particular evening with John and Mandy and my diary also shows that “George III” reigned on 30 September for me:

What I think happened was that Bobbie, once again, could not make the planned theatre visit to see Madness of George III on 17 October, but was very keen to see that play. I vaguely recall Bobbie arranging a ticket swap with friends so that she/we could see “Madness” midweek a couple of weeks earlier and her friends got the prized Saturday night tickets that I had procured.

That freed up the evening of 17 October for Janie to meet John and Mandy and for all of us to see Death And The Maiden, which was still one of the hottest tickets in town that year, even though Juliet Stevenson (who had wowed audiences as the lead) had moved on.

Penny Downie played the lead in the cast we saw, which, as super subs go, is pretty darned super. Danny Webb and Hugh Ross played the male parts.

Janie and I are struggling to remember what other arrangements we made with John and Mandy around this evening. I think we might have had Chinese food in Soho with them before or after the theatre. Perhaps Mayflower? Or Joy King Lau in those days?

I also realise that my diaries at that time are littered with clues that John and Mandy must have recently moved house around that time:

Guessing that John and Mandy moved to Dangan Road that August, hence the address and phone number scrawled on 12 August…

…did I really escape the carnival 30 August to join John and Mandy in the George at Wanstead 30 August? Guessing that “birthday thing” 28 August would have been with my parents, but I’m not entirely sure about events of that weekend other than the 29 August hot date with Janie.

Anyway, on the day I am writing this up (29 August 2017), we shall be seeing John and Mandy later in the day, so I’ll pick their brains on these matters this evening and update this piece accordingly.

Back to Death And The Maiden.

The play is set in an unspecified nation emerging into democracy from brutal dictatorship. Ariel Dorfman was a Chilean exile during the Pinochet years and the brutal regime is clearly based on that one. It is one of those hugely affecting plays about torture and the abuse of power. It brings to mind also One For The Road by Harold Pinter and Fermin Cabal’s Tejas Verdes.

I’m sure we did something after the play – perhaps we did eat afterwards. For sure we’d have needed a drink. For sure we found a way to discuss and decompress together for a while.

I remember being very pleased that John, Mandy and Janie all seemed to get along so well; in that regard alone the evening was a tremendous success (to use John’s favourite adjective). But it was also an excellent evening of theatre and I’m sure we must have eaten and drunk well…if only Janie and I could remember those details too.

Postscript: A strange coda to this story. Both Janie’s and my diairy say “The Madras House” for this evening, not “Death And The Maiden”. But my log says Death And The Maiden and I have no recollection of going to the Lyric with John and Mandy to see The Madras House – Janie and I saw that play at The Orange Tree many years later. Did we make a late switch of play choice or have the memories and documentary records got into a terrible muddle? I think probably the former.

The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett, Lyttelton Theatre, 30 September 1992

I believe we did a date swap for this one. It is in my diary for Saturday 17 October, but I ended up going to see Death And The Maiden with Janie, John and Mandy that night.

I think Bobbie had a problem with that October weekend and we arranged to swap with a friend of hers to see this production midweek, on 30 September.

My production log says:

Went with Bobbie. Very good.

So what else is there to say? I remember it being a very big, busy play, with an enormous cast of courtiers attending to the protagonists. I remember laughing quite a lot. I suspect I would find it a bit cheesy if I saw it again now.

Nigel Hawthorne was very impressive and I suppose it is “quite a thing” that I saw him perform live.

The Wikipedia entry links to rave reviews on both sides of the channel. The subject matter very naturally had appeal for the USA so it is no surprise that it was also a hit there and also made into a film.

I was probably quite tired that evening, as the diary shows I spent a long day flying up to West Lothian the day before on business – that will have been Sky with Michael – a memorable working day.

I suspect that this was the last time I went to the theatre with Bobbie. We probably had a post theatre meal, perhaps at the RNT itself or perhaps somewhere like RSJs or the Archduke.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from the Observer:

Madness of George III, Michael Coveney Sun, Nov 24, 1991 – 59 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s review from The Guardian:

Madness of George III, Billington Sat, Nov 30, 1991 – 25 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Some Reviews & Critical Stuff On Street Of Crocodiles, 29 August 1992

Firstly, a Guardian preview from the day the production opened.

Street Of Crocodiles Preview 13 August 1992 Guardian Thu, Aug 13, 1992 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Next up, Michael Billington’s review two days later:

Billington On Street Of Crocodiles Sat, Aug 15, 1992 – 24 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Finally, Michael Coveney from the Observer:

Michael Coveney 16 August 1992 Sun, Aug 16, 1992 – 46 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Janie and I Go On Our First Proper Date, The Street Of Crocodiles, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 August 1992

This is the third and final part of my 25th anniversary Ogblog trilogy on “how Janie and I got it together”. In case you missed the first two parts and are interested in reading them, here are links to the first two episodes:

So, the ossobuco supper gave me the perfect opportunity to phone Janie to thank her for her hospitality and ask her out.

As luck would have it, I was sitting on a pair of hot tickets, The Street Of Crocodiles at the Cottesloe Theatre. It was my habit back then to book up quite a few such productions a long way in advance, with Bobbie Scully in mind for first dips, but with an unwritten agreement with Bobbie that she couldn’t commit that far in advance and that I might need to find someone else to join me…

…anyway, I had these tickets for 29 August and they seemed an ideal way to reciprocate.

Janie seemed keen on the idea, so the date was set.

I also offered to cook Janie a pre-theatre meal, after first checking that she liked Chinese food.

I can’t remember exactly which dishes I went for, but I’ll guess I plugged for bankable favourites that were reasonably easy to prepare and which needed relatively little clearing up afterwards:

cha chieng lettuce wrap – probably using veal mince or a mix of veal and pork mince;
chicken and cashew nuts with yellow bean sauce;
I thought the second main dish was steak slices with onions, mushrooms and black bean sauce, but Janie reckons the second dish was prawns with ginger and spring onions and now I think she is right;
pak choi with oyster sauce;
steamed basmati rice.

No TripAdvisor review for the meal, but on reminding Janie about it just now, she has described it as “amazing”, so there you go.

But far more amazing than my meal was The Street Of Crocodiles. It really was a stunningly good show.

The play is based on the stories of Bruno Schulz, which (from what we can gather) were weird enough when written, but when given the Complicite treatment, they become a sensory overload of words, music and movement.

Here is a link to Complicite’s page on their production.

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

I can’t find online reviews from 1992, but here is Ian Shuttleworth’s review from the 1999 London revival, in which he cross-references the 1992 production.

Here are some Newspaper.com clippings – Guardian & Observer – onl;y ones available at time of clipping:

Some Reviews & Critical Stuff On Street Of Crocodiles, 29 August 1992

An Almost Unbelievably Good Show – This Is The 1992 Programme Cover

This 2005 Guardian profile on Simon McBurney also references Michael Billington’s thoughts on the 1992 production, which were not entirely complimentary, as it happens…Billi-o, we thought you were our friend?

This Curtain Up review from the production’s run at the Lincoln Centre in 1998 is very explanatory and also suitably gushing.

Anyway, back to me and Janie.

Janie had driven to my place and insisted on also driving to the National Theatre – the latter habit being one she rarely deviates from 25 years later.

The evening seemed to have gone splendidly well. Janie was very complimentary about my cooking and seemed very taken with the show.

When we got back to my place, I asked Janie if she wanted to come back upstairs to my flat.

She said no.

I asked her if she was absolutely sure.

Janie said that she was absolutely sure and drove off.

So that was that – although on this occasion I sensed that “no” meant “not this time” and that there would be plenty of other times.

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) by Jess Borgeson, Adam Long, Daniel Singer, Reed Martin, Reduced Shakespeare Company, Arts Theatre, 5 August 1992

I went to see this show with Andrea, Maz and Daniel – normally the “three musketeers” of our bridge four.

Not sure whose idea it was to see this show…but I’ll guess that Maz was the ringleader for the trip.

I don’t remember much about it, but the diary says we met at 6:30 so I guess we had a drink before the show and a quick meal afterwards. I’m guessing The Mayflower Chinese, as I have a hint of a memory of dining with those three at that place, but I could be wrong.

Andrea or Maz might remember. Even Daniel might. I’d love to learn of any lingering memories from that evening.

My log simply says “fun”, which I recall it was. A rather silly show, of course, but that’s the idea of it.

Three days later, I met Janie. But that’s another story completely (unabridged).

The Reduced Shakespeare Company has its own website still, would you believe – here is the link.

There is also a Wikipedia entry for this great work – click here.

There is even a YouTube recording of the show – see below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqmfrqAVeK0

I can’t find formal reviews of this production but here is an interesting interview with the Reduced Shakeseare lot:

Veronica Lee With The RSC Mon, Mar 6, 2000 – 53 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 August 1992

This was the Saturday before my life-changing first encounter with Janie at Kim & Micky’s party.

I went to see this play with Bobbie Scully. I remember it very well; both of us were very taken with it. It did prove to be a big hit, transferring and being produced again many times.

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

This original production really was a cracker. I think it pretty much made Jane Horrocks’s name; I don’t think she was all that well known before – perhaps she was known on the TV. Pete Postlethwaite and Alison Steadman were terrific.

I’m not sure what we did for food, but we tended to go to The Archduke or possibly RSJs after the show in those days.

No on-line reviews from those days, so you’ll just have to take my word for it – it was a cracking show. I rated the evening very good in my log, that’s for sure. Several reviews on-line for subsequent versions refer to the 1992 production – click here for the search term that brings those up.

Better yet, below is Michael Billigton’s Guardian review:

Billington on Little Voice Fri, Jun 19, 1992 – 36 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer preview, mostly about Alison Steadman:

Michael Coveney Preview’s Little Voice Sun, Jun 14, 1992 – 63 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Then the following week Coveney reviewed Little Voice:

Coveney reviews Little Voice Sun, Jun 21, 1992 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar, Olivier Theatre, 27 June 1992

I have carried a fondness for this play with me for as long as I can remember, despite it not really being my type of play.

Revisiting my first encounter with it for Ogblog, some 25 years later (August 2017) I can understand why. This was one heck of a good production.

The Theatricalia website has recorded all the cast and crew details, mercifully, so I don’t have to – click here – then gasp in awe and wonderment. What a cast, what a production team.

Photostage has some photos, which you can peruse if you wish – here.

All my notes say is that I went with Bobbie Scully and that we thought it was very good.

I remember thinking Ken Stott was superb – I don’t think I had seen him before. It might have been my first encounter with the excellent Alex Jennings. Des Barrit was also a standout performer, as usual. But in truth the whole cast was good and you can see many names on the list who went on to do bigger and bolder things.

There are no on-line reviews to be found – until now – my one right here – yay!

I’m not sure what Bobbie and I did about eating afterwards, but in those days we would sometimes eat at the RNT itself – we might well have done that – or sometimes we’d go to The Archduke or somewhere of that ilk nearby.

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Coveney on Recruiting Sun, Mar 15, 1992 – 60 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s review:

Billington on Recruiting Sat, Mar 14, 1992 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

John Random’s 0898 Song, c1992

In remembering Chris Stanton, who died 9 March 2020, I refer to his masterful private performance of John Random’s superb 0898 song.

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about (and also for those who do), I’m pretty sure that John won’t mind me upping his lyric sheet for 0898 – click here.

And for those who are not sure what the tune might sound like, the following vid plays the best known version of the song, “Busy Line”, performed by Rose Murphy, upon which 0898 is based.

Please take my word for it that 0898 was traditionally delivered about 50% faster than Busy Line.

“Clubbing” Up West, 13 March 1992, The Night Of The Iguana by Tennessee Williams, Lyttelton Theatre, 14 March 1992

Excellent

I wrote in my log and I remember this production as such too. In 1992 I was still going to this sort of production with Bobbie as long as she was available, which most often she was, despite her protests that mebooking stuff so far ahead meant she couldn’t/wouldn’t guarantee her availability.

Bobbie was there for this one.

I’m pretty sure I had seen Bobbie the night before as well. The diary simply says “clubbing” which, as I recall it, meant a West End evening with Bobbie and several of her law reporter friends.

I remember the evening of Friday 13 March 1992 clearly, because I almost lost my life earlier that day on the M11, driving out to see Schering, when a lorry shed its load of timber on the two-lane motorway ahead of me and I had nowhere to go (other than into a central reservation barrier to the right or into the vehicles to my left) so I slowed down as much as I could through the timber and then vehicularly limped to the hard shoulder to have my broken car and shaken me rescued.

I must have bored everyone shitless with my Friday 13th story that previous evening and for sure the events of the day and evening of 13th were small beer compared with the drama that unfolded at The Lyttelton on the Saturday Night.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I’ve always been partial to a bit of Tennessee Williams and this play/production is a good example of why Williams is worth watching.

There’s a good synopsis of the play on Wikipedia – here.

Frances Barber as Maxine, Alfred Molina as The Reverend Shannon, Eileen Atkins as Hannah…top cast. Richard Eyre in the director’s chair.

Richard Burton, Ava Gardner & Deborah Kerr starred in the Hollywood film version – films are different, but here is a clip:

Returning to the 1992 production, here is Kate Kellaway’s preview piece from the Observer:

Kate Kellaway Preview Iguana Sun, Feb 2, 1992 – 59 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Michael Coveney on Iguana Sun, Feb 9, 1992 – 60 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on Iguana Sat, Feb 8, 1992 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

It really was a cracking night of theatre.

Murmuring Judges by David Hare, Olivier Theatre, 20 January 1992

Two visits to the Olivier Theatre with Bobbie in 48 hours. Just fancy. Must have been an availability thing and both of us wanting to see both plays.

In my log I wrote,

Good, but not as good as I had hoped it would be.

I seem to recall finding the play a bit wordy, a bit worthy and also some of the legal aspects a little unconvincing. I think the feedback from Bobbie’s legal entourage was similar on that last point when we ended up comparing notes.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for this play.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington Judges Judges Sat, Oct 12, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Coveney Judges Judges Sun, Oct 13, 1991 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

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