This was a major revival of Pinter’s classic, directed by Trevor Nunn with a cracking cast including Imogen Stubbs, Douglas Hodge, Anthony Calf and several other fine actors.
Unusually, we got to this one late – it had been running at the National for a while, since November 1998, by the time we saw it, towards the end of its run.
Charles Spencer had given it a rave review in The Telegraph:
The play is set some decades after the war, with Albert Speer somewhat rehabilitated as someone ancillary to the Nazi atrocity machine, despite his Nuremberg conviction. This play was about the unravelling of that more favourable image. David Edgar also wrote a play on this subject which was produced the following year, but this Esther Vilar one was the only one of the two we saw.
Another Sunday evening, another trip to the Barbican to see a cracking concert.
Janie thinks that one of her generous Lebanese clients gave us the tickets to this concert and the one the week before, because she had been called away at short notice. Sounds plausible and also most fortuitous, as I might well have chosen both concerts myself.
Schubert’s Symphony No 8 in B Minor, “Unfinished” followed by Bruckner’s Symphony No 7 in E Major.
I hadn’t quite acquired my “Bard look” in 1999, but nevertheless we interrupted our brace of weekend visits to the Barbican to see large scale concerts with a visit to the local cinema in Ealing to see Shakespeare In Love.
It was one of those films that you had to see at that time because everyone was talking about it.
These days, he says writing 25 years later, we tend to avoid films that everyone is talking about.
Anyway, we enjoyed this one, even the silly bits. We did not imagine we were having a history lesson.
Janie has never kept a narrative diary. But the wonderful thing about Janie’s diary is that she makes copious notes in the diary around her plans, especially if she is preparing a meal and going to specific places to buy specific ingredients.
This meal was Japanese food and Janie no doubt used the services of our now regular sources in Noddyland, such as Atari-Ya, to source sashimi and tempura as noted in her diary.
No doubt much saki was imbibed to help such dishes go down.
This will have been a rare evening out for Michael and Elisabeth at that time, as Xenia was just turned one. I cannot remember whether a babysitter was involved or whether they brought the infant Xenia with them. At that age, probably the latter.
My memories from these particular evenings are fairly impressionistic.
We had good turnout from the Z/Yen crowd, despite the fact that none of us were really into ten-pin bowling. The Children’s Society (TCS) turnout was not as good, although Charles Bartlett and Tony Duggan were into ten-pin bowling.
I think one of these evenings must have been the first time I met Dot Bartlett. Probably the second one when Janie also came along.
Despite Charles’s constant jokes about Romford being a gangsta’s paradise, the Romford bowling alleys we attended seemed remarkably peaceful and friendly. Perhaps Charles made it known to the Romford underworld that he was being visited by people he considered to be family and that, therefore, “this ain’t your night”. Ever “Charley the Gent Malloy”, is Chas.
I say alleys rather than alley, as I think we went to a different place each time. Perhaps the place known 25 years later as Namco Funscape the first time, then a place now known as Rollerball the second time.
I remember Elisabeth Mainelli doing exceptionally well, especially on that first occasion, having said that she had never so much as seen a ten-pin bowling alley before.
Charles insisted on having Teresa Bestard (who worked for Z/Yen but was doing a lot of work with TCS at that time) on his team. I don’t think this was a tactical move in the matter of improving the standard of his team, but it was an attempt to even up the sides, at least numbers-wise.
Naturally TCS prevailed the first time regardless of the intricacies of team selection and numbers.
In kicking off the arrangements for the second event, I wrote:
I promised to come up with some Monday dates for bowling. Janie is currently keeping Monday 8 February and Monday 15 February evenings free. If you recall, we plugged for Monday evening to enable Dean Burnell to attend.
The Z/Yen team been training hard for many weeks now. I’m not sure whether the management skills training will help the bowling – we’ll find out.
Chas replied:
Both dates are good for me although the second date (15 Feb) probably best as I am on leave to whole week prior to the 8th Feb and it would be helpful that I am around.
How many do you anticipate from Z/Yen for the ritual slaughter?
regards
Charles.
It might or might not have been ritual slaughter. I seem to recall Z/Yen doing a bit better second time around. But my main memory of the event was Janie trying to put Chas off while he was bowling, by wandering down the side of the lane, within his peripheral view, staring like an avid fan at Chas preparing his shot.
Chas got really discombobulated by this trick, claiming a complete inability to concentrate, keep a straight face and/or complete his bowl.
I think Chas might be over it by now, 25 years later. I have a feeling it didn’t stop TCS from winning again.
Chas was over it by 12 September 2005, when we saw England regain The Ashes at The Oval
I was on very good terms with the owners, Tony & Sheila Shaw. They also very much took to Janie.
By early 1999 I had decided that it was time for me to buy a flat and that I would buy one very much like the flat I was renting from Tony & Sheila…if not, that very one.
We invited Tony & Sheila around for dinner and I told them of my plans.
Tony & Sheila told me that they half expected to be hearing that news and that they wondered whether I might wish to buy that flat from them.
Hence we hatched a plan to get a few independent valuations, average them and transact privately…
Betrayal Telegraph Spencer 26 Nov 1998, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Betrayal Guardian Billington 25 Nov 1998, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Betrayal de Jongh Standard 25 Nov 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
