Man Beast And Virtue by Luigi Pirandello, Cottesloe Theatre, 7 October 1989

My log says “little recollection” for this one, so I guess it didn’t make a big impression. Bobbie was with me.

Pirandello is one of those playwrights whose work I want to like more than actually do like. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that I tend to enjoy reading his plays, because the ideas are fascinating, but many of them are difficult to produce in an entertaining way – at least to the eyes of the modern audience.

Man, Beast And Virtue is an early Pirandello, written in 1919 (100 years ago as I write in 2019), about two years before his breakthrough play, Six Characters In Search Of An Author.

A relatively straightforward, slightly farcical, love-triangle piece, there is a synopsis of the 1950s film version, in somewhat broken English at the time of writing, on Wikipedia.

Trevor Eve played Paolino, the lover, Terence Rigby played Captain Perella and Marion Bailey (best known for her Mike Leigh connections both professionally and privately) played Mrs Perella. William Gaskill directed. Charles Wood had written a new adaptation of the play fro this production. A fine supporting cast too – here is the Theatricalia entry.

So did all that research just now bring the experience flooding back to me? Ever so slightly yes…but basically no.

Probably not really my type of play. I do recall the setting being very imaginative and a sense that I felt entertained for the evening.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on Man BeastBillington on Man Beast Sat, Sep 9, 1989 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Ratcliffe in The Observer thought little of it:

Ratcliffe on Man BeastRatcliffe on Man Beast Sun, Sep 10, 1989 – 46 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Perhaps Bobbie remembers something more about it?

Mad Mullah, Comedy Lyric, cSeptember 1989

This is the first of the comedy lyrics on my log, roughly dated as September 1989. Actually I suspect that an early incarnation of The Ultimate Love Song probably preceded it, but no matter.

Mad Mullah lacks the subtlety and/or humour of some of my later work, but it is not bad for an early effort and has some multi-layering to it.

MAD MULLAH (A Song to the tune of "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens)

CHORUS

I’m being followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Ducking and hiding from a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

VERSE ONE

And if I went out of my tree,
Who would mourn Salman Rushdie?
And if they ever shoot my mouth,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to speak no more.
And if I went out of my mind,
Apologies then would be signed.
And if they ever blow my pen,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to write no more.
Yes, I’m being followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Ducking and hiding from a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

VERSE TWO

And if I ever lose my ken,
Would it be on “News at Ten”?
And if they ever blast my eyes,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to see no more.
And if I ever lose my sense,
Would they cease to take offence?
And if they ever beat my brains,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to think…. [no more].
Yes, I’m being followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Ducking and hiding from a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

VERSE THREE (MODULATION – DRAMATIC BIT)

“Did it take long to find me?”, I asked as the doorbell rang.
“Did it take long to find me, and am I to garotte or hang?”.

FINAL CHORUS

I’ve been followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Blasted to silence by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.
Mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

The video below has Cat Stevens singing Moonshadow with the lyrics on the screen:

A Five Day Work Visit To Amsterdam Including A Concertgebouw Evening 23 September 1989

Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam Steven Lek, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Dutch people were friendly, you know they put me up and they fed me…

Amsterdam, Al Stewart

My client was hugely apologetic. The only way they could arrange the three days of meetings in Amsterdam required at a delicate stage of the project I was managing was to schedule a Thursday, Friday and then Monday. They realised that this would be inconvenient for me and of course they were happy to fly me backwards and forwards to London if I wanted to spend the weekend at home or they were happy to put me up and feed me at their expense for the duration, including the weekend.

Young, free and single in September 1989, I was delighted to go for the “stay in Amsterdam at their expense” option.

Please stay at the Kras on our corporate account if you are going to stay that long…

…they said. It would have been rude to say no. I usually stayed for my short stopovers at a more modest place, the Rembrandt Classic I think, preferring the less formal and low key atmosphere.

Once work was done on the Friday evening, the weekend was my own. I didn’t keep a log of this visit but I remember most of the things I did:

  • an Indonesian rijsttafel meal on the Friday evening. A rijsttafel for one is a bit of an oxymoron, but the restaurant came highly recommended by my Dutch clients, for good reason;
  • Van Gogh Museum;
  • Rijksmuseum;
  • Rembrandt House;
  • Concertgebouw on Saturday evening (see below);
  • Anne Frank House (on the Sunday if I remember correctly);
  • Lots of strolling around the canals, sitting in coffee bars (the proper posh ones that serve coffee and play classical music), reading my book and feeling terribly sophisticated. I’m sure Mozart Violin Concertos weren’t playing all the time in every coffee shop, but I do remember hearing them more than once. I have, ever since, associated those concertos with this weekend in Amsterdam.

Concertgebouw, 23 September 1989

I was thrilled to be able to score a good ticket at the Concertgebouw “on a whim”. I guess it is that much easier to be lucky and get a single ticket at short notice. I liked the look of the concert and was not disappointed.

I heard/saw the house band (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra aka Koninklijt Concertgebouworkest) conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, with

  • Ludwig van Beethoven – Overture “Leonora” Op 72a
  • Richard Strauss – Horn Concerto No 2 in E Flat Major
  • Antonin Dvorak – Symphony No 7 in D Minor, Op 70

Local lad, Jacob Slagter, was the horn soloist.

I have long-loved the Dvorak’s 7th symphony and was in seventh heaven (did you see what I did there?) at this performance of it.

Here is that very orchestra, but under Colin Davis a few years earlier, playing the Dvorak 7th:

I loved Amsterdam. It is one of the few places in the world, other than London, where I think I could live happily.

The Wonder: A Woman Keeps A Secret, Susanna Centlivre, The Gate, 16 September 1989

I don’t recall much about this one and the diary is a mess for it. I suspect that the mention of Bobbie on the Friday and The Wonder on the Saturday ended up being one and the same evening. So I’m guessing that I saw this production with Bobbie on one of those evenings.

There’s the diary page for that week. If any of my friends can help me to unpick all of that, may I just thank you profoundly in advance.

The Wonder. To the extent that I remember it, I think the production and acting was very good but that we didn’t much like the play.

An interesting but now rarely performed playwright from the late Restoration/early Hanoverian period, I’m not sure that Susanna Centilivre‘s plays have dated well. But that’s not her fault. I don’t suppose she even faintly imagined The Wonder being revived in 1989 when she dedicated it to the new king, George I, in 1714.

The Wonder was a huge hit in its day. Here is a link to an on-line preview of the play book.

The Escapade Theatre Company (confusingly not the company that now bears that name) was a group dedicated to reviving plays written by or mostly about women.

Anna Mazzotti played the female lead role Isabella, with great poise and confidence I recall. I managed to track her down in 2019 as someone who did/does many Italian language programmes for the BBC and theatre in Rome -still listing The Wonder on her theatrical cv. Strangely (as she only lists two), she also lists Dealing With Clair at the Orange Tree, which Janie and I saw when the Orange Tree revived it (recently at the time of writing):

Dealing With Clair by Martin Crimp, Orange Tree Theatre, 24 November 2018

The male lead, Don Felix, was played by a young Christopher Eccleston – possibly only his second professional gig. His cv is no longer talking about this one, but it does still mention, amongst many other things, Dr Who.

Any further intelligence on this one will need to come from others, e.g. Bobbie!…

…or Michael Billington! Good old Billy – he reviewed the production in The Guardian:

Billington on The WonderBillington on The Wonder Sat, Sep 2, 1989 – 20 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

A Prom Commemorating The Day War Broke Out, City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Simon Rattle, Royal Albert Hall, 3 September 1989

Another CBSO with Simon Rattle concert and another note in my diary wondering who joined me for this one. My prime suspect this time is Bobbie. For sure she was around again by then, as she had been away for most of August that year but for sure was back by the end of the month when we saw the Merchant Of Venice:

The Merchant Of Venice by William Shakespeare, Phoenix Theatre, 29 August 1989

Here is a link to the BBC stub for this prom. This is what we heard:

  • Benjamin Britten – Sinfonia da Requiem
  • Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 7 in E minor

Anthony Payne in the Independent thinks Mahler’s 7th is a tough work and that the CBSO under Rattle did a good job with it:

Rattle Prom Payne IndyRattle Prom Payne Indy 05 Sep 1989, Tue The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Robert Henderson in the Telegraph thought the pairing of these two works ingenious while expressing his own doubts about Mahler’s 7th:

Rattle Prom Henderson TelegraphRattle Prom Henderson Telegraph 05 Sep 1989, Tue The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Want to judge for yourself? Here is Thomas Adès conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the Sinfonia da Requiem at the Proms in 2013…

…and here is Claudio Abbado with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra doing Mahler’s 7th.

The Merchant Of Venice by William Shakespeare, Phoenix Theatre, 29 August 1989

I saw this production of The Merchant Of Venice with Bobbie. I don’t think either of us was overly enamoured of it. I registered “quite good” in my log, which is faint praise from me.

There was a lot of hype about this production because Dustin Hoffman was playing Shylock. I recall that Bobbie’s friend May Lamb referred to that actor as “Dustbin Hoffman” – I must admit that I have never been able to process his name the same way since.

There were other good folk in this production; Geraldine James as Portia for a start. Michael Sibbery as Gratiano, Ian Lavender as Solanio, Leigh Lawson as Antonio, Peter-Hugo Daly as Launcelot Gobbo and many other good names. Peter Hall directed it.

Here is its Theatricalia entry.

Sometimes a collection of big names is not, in itself, enough.

Also, I have a feeling that this is not really a great play; that’s my opinion anyway. Technically it is a comedy in the Shakespeare canon, but well short of laughs for the modern audience, even by Shakespeare comedy standards.

This review piece from the New York Times archive suggests that the critics weren’t overly impressed with this production either.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on MerchantBillington on Merchant Fri, Jun 2, 1989 – 27 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:

Ratcliffe on MerchantRatcliffe on Merchant Sun, Jun 4, 1989 – 44 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is a little YouTube clip of Dustbin…

…I mean Dustin Hoffman rehearsing with Peter Hall:

My First Live Go At Bruckner’s 8th Symphony, Royal Albert Hall, 27 August 1989

The first but by no means my last earful of Bruckner’s 8th Symphony live.

This one was Bernard Haitink conducting the European Union Youth Orchestra.

I’m not 100% sure who joined me for this one, but Jilly is my prime suspect.

Here is a link to the BBC stub for this concert.

It got a Nice review in the Guardian…David Nice, to be precise:

Haitink Prom Nice GuardianHaitink Prom Nice Guardian 29 Aug 1989, Tue The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

If you want to hear Haitink conducting this piece, you could do worse than this Royal Concertgebouw recording.

When I was sitting in this August 1989 Prom, I would not have expected to have been sitting in the Concertgebouw less than four week’s later:

A Five Day Work Visit To Amsterdam Including A Concertgebouw Evening 23 September 1989

Life was a bit like that for me back then.

All Fired Up At A BBC Philharmonic Prom, Royal Albert Hall, 15 August 1989

Jilly is listed as having joined me for this one. Her work telephone number is strategically placed in my diary on the preceding day, so she might struggle to deny this one.

I’m not entirely sure why I chose it other than the fact that I was certainly into Richard Strauss and Sibelius at that time, so two pieces by those dudes that I hadn’t heard live before probably sealed the deal. It might have been Jilly saying “you’ve GOT to see this Heinz Holliger fellow”, as that was the sort of thing that Jilly would say.

Here is a link to the BBC stub for this one. Edward Downes conducting the BBC Philharmonic. We heard:

  • John McCabe – Fire at Durilgai
  • Richard Strauss – Oboe Concerto in D major
  • Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 1 in E minor

Robert Maycock in The Independent liked this concert:

Downes Prom Maycock IndyDownes Prom Maycock Indy 17 Aug 1989, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

McCabe wrote Fire At Durilgai for the BBC Philharmonic. Here is a recording of it by them, but under Yan-Pascal Tortelier’s baton.

Here is a recording of the great oboist Heinz Holliger, but with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe rather than the BBC Phil.

Here’s a recording of the Orchestre de Paris under Paavo Järvi giving Sibelius 1 a go:

Huis Clos by Jean-Paul Sartre, Lyric Studio, 5 August 1989

John White loves a bit of existential angst, so what could be a better choice for a Saturday night out than Huis Clos? Mandy was up for it. Annalisa was up for it. Off we went to the Lyric Hammersmith – the small Studio theatre there.

The play is set in hell, which is said to be a hot place.

It really was o-t ‘ot that evening. Clammy August and naturally the air conditioning system in the Studio wasn’t working.

Here’s my database/diary note for this evening:

The air conditioning had broken down on one of the hottest days of the year.  The Lyric gave us all free squash in the interval because it was so bad.  It did make the play about hell truly multi-sensory.  The line “it’s so hot in here” had the whole audience in stitches.

You don’t need to take my word for this. Here’s a link to a review from “The Stage”.  As Maureen Paton puts it in that review:

…the oven-temperature heat in the Studio does the rest. Hell is too many other people in the audience on a hot night.

Still, we had a good evening as far as I can recall and all four of us dined out on that story for some time. Indeed John still seems to be talking about it as I write in October 2016, as John’s comment on my piece about I, Daniel Blake – click here – confirms.

The rest of the programme follows – heck it was quite a job this evening to dig it out, so I thought I might as well scan the lot while I was at it.

huis-clos-2-of-4-tiny

huis-clos-3-of-4-tiny

huis-clos-4-of-4-tiny

 

Listings Huis ClosListings Huis Clos Fri, Aug 4, 1989 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Huis Clos ListingHuis Clos Listing Mon, Aug 7, 1989 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Andorra by Max Frisch, Rose Bruford at The Half Moon Theatre, 25 July 1989

I went to this show with Alison Benjamin. My log reads:

Alison was going out with one of the Rose Bruford mob – Simon McLinden I think.

That explains why she went to a Rose Bruford production. I went because I was invited and because it was Andorra, a play in which I had appeared at school more than 11 years earlier:

Andorra, 23, 24 & 25 February 1978

I seem to remember the Rose Bruford mob doing a decent job of Andorra although in truth I remember little about this production.

I’m sure I secretly felt that my school production was just as good if not better but would have been far too polite to say so…

…actually that’s nonsense. I probably secretly realised that our school production was properly “kids amateur” whereas the Rose Bruford production would have been close to professional quality.

The diary is silent about what we did afterwards – I suspect that some eating and drinking was involved, quite possibly with some of the cast.