Mike Ward 16 April 1996
Actor’s Workshop
West Grove Terrace
Hopwood Lane
Halifax West Yorkshire
HX1 5EX
Dear Mike
APOLOGIES!!!!
Life is something between anarchy and chaos since I got back. I don’t know what the “something” (as in “something in the City”) is, but at times I wish it was something else. Is that a cue for a song??
I have finally managed to down tools for long enough to print out my latest batch of stuff for you. Hope it isn’t too late. Some day soon I hope to find time to write some more – this weekend looks like a contender as I can feel the need to write welling up inside my tormented little brain.
Hope to see you and speak soon.
Yours sincerely
Ian Harris
Encs.
Liberia, NewsRevue Lyric, 15 April 1996
I don’t think this idea for a lyric worked very well and I don’t think NewsRevue used this lyric.
LIBERIA
(To the Tune of “America”)
CHORUS 1
Life is no good in Liberia,
Famine and war and hysteria,
Leprosy, AIDS and diphtheria,
Toss hand grenades in Liberia.VERSE 1
Former American colony,
Product of trading in slavery (very);
Characters names sound like Mark Twain,
But soon as you learn them they’re slain.CHORUS 2
Life is no good in Liberia,
Peacekeeping force from Nigeria,
Most would agree that’s inferior,
No-one feels free in Liberia.VERSE 2
More fighting in Cape Mesurado,
Lining up forming a warfare queue (fa’ queue);
Roosevelt Johnson leads from the front,
But everyone says he’s a Krahn.
(That doesn’t rhyme with front??)CHORUS 3
Life is the pits in Liberia,
Whole bunch of shits in Liberia;
Fight mercenaries in Monrovia,
Get dysentery and diarrhoea.
Below is America from West Side Story with lyrics on the screen, after a lengthy (circa three minutes) build up:
Unabomber I Want, NewsRevue Lyric Unfinished Fragment, 15 April 1996
The Unabomber was apprehended in April 1996 and I thought to make a NewsRevue lyric out of it. Mercifully, I either thought better of the idea or ran out of ideas…or both. The fragment below might make you smile, though.
UNABOMBER I WANT
(To the Tune of “You’re The One That I Want”)
VERSE 1 – THE BOMBER, STRAPPED TO AN ELECTRIC CHAIR
I’ve got bombs, they’re worth applying,
Cos I’m out of control;
But the power I’m defying,
Is electrifying (electrifying, electrifying, electrifying).MIDDLE EIGHT 1 – THE COPS
You’d better confess,
Cos we need our man,
Keep the public satisfied.
You’d better confess,
You’d better understand,
Vengance has to be applied.
BOMBER: Are you sure?
COPS: Yes we’re sure to have you fried.CHORUS 1
Unabomber
VERSE 2
CHORUS 2
VERSE 3
CHORUS 3
Below is a video of You’re The One That I Want with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John prancing about, plus the lyrics in both English and Spanish:
Tolstoy by James Goldman, Richmond Theatre, 5 April 1996
I lost all record of this one, other than the diary notes. If I recall correctly, the programmes weren’t yet available as we saw a preview of this ill-fated play/production at The Richmond Theatre.
Janie made the arrangements and it seems we took The Duchess with us. So if the play was as tedious as the reviews and poor audiences suggest, we had quite an evening. No wonder I blotted it out of my mind.
Here is the Theatricalia entry, which on this occasion is my sole canonical source of “who was in it” type information – thanks for that.
Michael Billington in The Guardian (a friendly critic, not known for his damning reviews), describes the piece as a “piffling bio-play”.
Billington on Tolstoy Wed, May 1, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Peter Preston wrote a biting obituary for the play/production when it closed due to poor audiences (see below):
Preston on Tolstoy Sun, May 19, 1996 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
With the cast including F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Marsh and Gemma Jones, there should have been some salvation in the performances, but it clearly wasn’t a good play/production.
I suspect that The Duchess was not impressed and that it was our fault that the theatrical part of the evening did not meet her high expectations. I’m guessing we ate at Don Fernando’s in Richmond, as we hadn’t booked anything and that’s where we would go without a booking.
Letter To Mike Ward, Actors’ Workshop, 5 April 1996
Mike Ward 5 April 1996
Actor’s Workshop
West Grove Terrace
Hopwood Lane
Halifax West Yorkshire
HX1 5EX
Dear Mike
I’M BACK!!!!!
Sorry I missed your trip to London last month. Thailand and Vietnam were fascinating and refreshing. Now it’s back to reality I’m afraid and it doesn’t feel so good.
I recall leaving the country owing your charity money, as you did not deduct any angel money from the 1996 New Year Revels cheque. From memory, Angelling costs £25. Let me know if this is not the right amount.
Hope to see you and speak soon.
Yours sincerely
Ian Harris
Enc.
An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Nineteen: A Final Full Day & Then Part Of A Day At The Rayavadee In Phra Nang, Before Returning Home, 31 March & 1 April 1996
Believe it or not, the above picture shows the Rayavadee jacuzzi
Finished watching Indochine – pool – canoed round rocks fun – swam a bit – had better Beach Bar lunch – swam/sunbathed/siesta/swam
I finished Brownout [On Breadfruit Boulevard] – had sauna/Jacuzzi/massage…
…private barbecue in evening.
I watched Trading Places (Janie mysteriously watched highlights)
Partly the film didn’t please her, partly the exertions of the previous day got to Janie, I suspect.
1 April 1996
Snorkelled Phra Nang beach rocks – swam & sunbathed.
We wanted to enjoy every last minute of that place. In future years, we would probably not have done the “swimming until the last minute” thing as it is so difficult to transport wet cossies all the way home!
I made no notes about the journey home; I suspect it was relatively problem free and therefore not note-worthy. Certainly not memorable…in a good way.
It had been a fabulous journey all in all.
All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Eighteen: Dangerous Hiking & Relaxation In Phra Nang, 30 March 1996
I can safely say that Janie took this picture on the dangerous hike
Went to pool early – set off on trek – Janie completed/Ian gave up
Janie returned to pool – noodle lunch – siesta watching Last Tango In Paris – returned to pool – quick aborted snorkel at Railay and then Thai starter dinner at Thai Restaurant, then watched most of Indochine.
A few memories to accompany this. Janie realised she had bitten off more than she could chew with that lagoon hike and was most grateful to the Thai hikers who kept an eye on her and helped her out.
I recall that the afternoon sun was simply too hot for us both, pretty much every day, so we needed to siesta every afternoon and chose to watch the odd movie from what seemed to be an excellent video library, not least with films like Indochine, which helped to reinforce what we had just seen on our touring. Interesting choice of movie there in Last Tango. Neither of us had seen it before so we thought we’d give it a go. I suspect that Janie had seen enough steamy hot scenes for one day exploring that lagoon so probably now claims to remember little of it.
We loved the little villa we called our own for those few days at Rayavadee. They also had an excellent collection of CDs and I recall listening a lot to several there which I subsequently bought, including a Best Of Van Morrison. Funny what sticks in the mind.
All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Seventeen: Chicken Island, Poda Island & Relaxation In Phra Nang, 29 March 1996
Why do they call in Chicken Island?
Went to Chicken Island/Poda Island snorkelling – superb morning trip.
Had sandwich lunch at Beach Bar – watched Indecent Proposal over siesta, played briefly with canoes, had seafood meal at the Thai/Seafood Restaurant and early night.
(I finished The Professor of Desire)
All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Sixteen: Princess Cave & Relaxation In Phra Nang, 28 March 1996
Entering Princess Cave (Above). Nam Mao Beach on the way (below)
Latish up – went to see Princess Cave…
…had a light lunch of noodles and rice (aborted lunch at beach restaurant) – after swam – played with snorkles – had sauna, jacuzzi and massage.
Then got lazy, ate in from private dining and watched An Autumn’s Tale on video.
All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.
An Independent Trip To Northern Thailand & Vietnam, Part Fifteen: From Phuket To Phra Nang, Thailand, 27 March 1996
Arriving at the Dusit Rayavadee in Phra Nang, near Krabi.
Early up and walked around [Phuket Laguna] resort.
Transfer to Phra Nang – Dusit Rayavadee.
Settled in, got bearings, swam, ate noodles, swam…
Ate in main restaurant and watched The Lover.
All the photos from the part of the journey that featured Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam & then Thai resorts can be found through the Flickr link here or below.