Tag: Abi Duddleston

Feelgood by Alistair Beaton, Hampstead Theatre, 26 January 2001

We had a very entertaining weekend at the end of January that year, seeing Feelgood on the Friday and then Entertaining Mr Sloane on the Saturday…

Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton, The Arts Theatre, 27 January 2001

…just before heading off for a wonderful holiday in South-East Asia.

Cambodia Laos and Thailand, Placeholder and Links, 4 February to 27 February 2001

On the Friday evening, we saw Feelgood. We would have eaten at Harry Morgans before the show. I remember this play having a superb cast: Jeremy Swift, Henry Goodman, Amita Dhiri, Nigel Planer, Pearce Quigley, Sian Thomas, Nigel Cooke and Jonathan Cullen (according to my log), and being lots of fun. Max Stafford-Clark directed it. It transferred to the Garrick with a slightly different cast – Peter Capaldi taking Jeremy Swift’s place. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for that one.

Nicholas de Jongh really liked it in The Standard, especially heaping praise on Henry Goodman’s performance:

Feelgood, de Jongh Standard Feelgood, de Jongh Standard 1 Feb 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph gave it a short but positive review too:

Feelgood Spencer Telegraph Feelgood Spencer Telegraph 10 Feb 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington covered Feelgood in a general piece about political theatre at the start of 2001:

Feelgood plus, Billington Guardian Feelgood plus, Billington Guardian 17 Feb 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Billington concludes that article with a statement that seems oh so apposite as I write 25 years later:

…theatre is a place of information as well as entertainment and the more it cuts itself off from society – and relies on a mixture of anodyne musicals and Hollywood-star casting, the more it is doomed to glamorous irrelevance.

The Good Samaritan by David Haig, Hampstead Theatre, 25 August 2000

Neither Janie nor I remember much about this play/production. Nor did I write any comments about it in my log – just the details of the visit.

The play is about a Samaritan helping a desperate young woman and the Samaritan becoming emotionally entangled with her. Janie would doubtless look on the whole thing very differently 25 years on, having been a Samaritan since the pandemic – i.e. for over five years at the time of writing.

The leads were played by Julian Wadham and Claudie Blakely, both of whom we rate highly. I do recall that I had been to see Julian Wadham perform more than once “back in the day” with Bobbie and her work colleagues from the law reports, as Julian’s sister, Sarah, worked with them. I also recall that this theatre visit came up in conversation at Bobbie’s place a few day’s before we went to see this play, when Janie and I visited her for dinner the previous Saturday.

Bobbie’s place… Jim Linwood, CC BY 2.0

Thank goodness for some good theatre reviews, to stop me from waffling and to inform the passing reader about the theatrical event itself.

Michael Billington in the Guardian wrote pretty well of the piece:

Samaritan Billington Guardian

Article from 13 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Charles Spencer thought the piece worthy but flawed:

Samaritan Spencer Telegraph

Article from 21 Jul 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor in the Independent

Samaritan Taylor Indy

Article from 22 Jul 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Enough said.

Peggy for You by Alan Plater, Hampstead Theatre, 27 December 1999

Our last show of the old millennium.

We rated the play/production “good”.

What was not to like? Maureen Lipman as Peggy Ramsey, with sound support from Tom Espiner, Selina Griffiths, Richard Platt and Crispin Redman, all ably directed by Robin Lefevre.

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

Yes, the show was a bit of a luvvy-fest but what else might you expect in the circumstances?

Susannah Clapp in The Observer preferred Mnemonic:

Mnemonic & Peggy Susannah ClappMnemonic & Peggy Susannah Clapp 28 Nov 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington really liked it:

Peggy Billington GuardianPeggy Billington Guardian 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent was entertained but thought that Maureen Lipman as Peggy was a case of miscastology…so at least Maureen got an ology I suppose and for sure she spent a lot of time during the play on the phone.

Peggy Taylor IndependentPeggy Taylor Independent 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com