Tag: Andrew Havill

Drawing The Line by Howard Brenton, Hampstead Theatre, 27 December 2013

When we saw Jacquie and Hils Briegal for Christmas, we discovered that we were all going to see this play on the same night as couple of days later, along with Brother-in-law/Uncle Bernard Jacobs.

Typically, Jacquie said that Janie and I should join the family at her place for some supper after the show which we did.

Frankly, the play was rather dull. It’s funny how Howard Brenton tends to either get it very right or very wrong for me. this one missed the mark.

Fascinating subject, the partition of India, but what an old-fashioned “tell don’t show” history play it was.

Click here for a link to the Hampstead resource on this production.

Below is a video trailer with cast interviews:

Below is an interview with Howard Brenton about it:

The show got mostly good reviews – click here for a search term that finds them – so Janie and I form a minority view in that regard.

I think we were the least impressed among the family too.

What the family readily agreed, though, was that Jacquie’s supper spread and the family natter was the highlight of the evening. Bernard was in especially good form that night. Sadly, he passed away just before new year 2018 – more or less exactly four years after this splendid gathering, which I’m sure he enjoyed, as did we.

This House by James Graham, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 September 2012

This was a bit unfortunate for us, as we were there for a preview and Phil Daniels had just been forced to pull out of the leading role, so we saw the understudy (Andrew Frame I think, although we might have had a temporary understudy our night) reading from the script.

Even so, I don’t think this was really our type of play.

The Cottesloe had been laid out like the House of Commons, with the audience on both sides forming the back benches.

The play is basically about the chaotic era of the hung parliament in the mid-to-late 1970s; not least the scheming of the whips to try to get some semblance of business done in trying times.

At the time of writing (March 2018) this seems like a hark back to halcyon days, but in 2012 I think we were supposed to be thinking, “thank goodness our 2012 coalition is so much saner and more stable – politics is just more mature now, isn’t it?”

Below is the trailer:

There were some amusing lines, but it was all a bit obvious and of course, as the case with all dramatisation of historical events, there was no suspense for us in the “what happens next” department because we lived through it all as youngsters.

As a play, it all felt a bit “tell” rather than “show”.

I have a lot of time for John Graham as a playwright but this one didn’t really do the business for us and I don’t think it was just the unfortunate understudy business – we’ve seen enough theatre to be able to adjust and allow for that.

We saw Beth (from downstairs) and her dad across the political divide; I discovered afterwards that they got more out of it than we did…

…as did most of the critics, who hailed the piece and the production – click here for a link to the reviews – so don’t listen to us.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 17 November 1990

I went up to Stratford with Moose (Mara Frank) where we saw this wonderful production of Much Ado. My log, I think mistakenly, suggests that we also saw Troilus And Cressida on that trip, but I suspect that I saw a preview of Troilus on my tod in April when in the Midlands for other reasons, perhaps procuring the programme when returning to Stratford with Moose and thus confusing myself a few years later.

Anyway…

…this was a great show. Susan Fleetwood as Beatrice, Roger Allam as Benedick, John Carlisle as Don Pedro, a fine supporting ensemble and the very capable hands of Bill Alexander directing.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Michael Billington in The Guardian enthused…sort of:

Billington on Much AdoBillington on Much Ado Thu, Apr 12, 1990 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in the Observer hated it. But what did he know?

Coveney on Much AdoCoveney on Much Ado Sun, Apr 15, 1990 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com