Tag: Annie Castledine

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, A Version by Frank McGuiness, Theatre Royal Plymouth At The Richmond Theatre, 3 December 1999

Another Friday, another theatre visit. This time we had even booked for the Saturday, but switched to the Friday to accommodate Caroline Freeman’s engagement party on the Saturday.

Janie and I rated this Hedda Gabler as “good”.

Janie and I had seen a mediocre (or, in Janie’s words, “OMG it was dreadful”) Hedda in Holland Park a few year’s earlier…

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Holland Park, 17 July 1993

Even after this 1999 Hedda, I still didn’t feel that Janie had seen a good enough version, so we did it all again at The Almeida a few year’s later.

Anyway, this one was a West End preview with Francesca Annis as Hedda and other West End names such as Peter Bowles and Nyree Dawn Porter in tow. Frank McGuiness directed it.

This one started in Plymouth a week or so before we saw it in Richmond. Here is Leon Winston’s review from the Herald Express:

Hedda Winston HeraldHedda Winston Herald 23 Nov 1999, Tue Herald Express (Torquay, Devon, England) Newspapers.com

This production didn’t seem to make much sense to Charles Spencer in The Telegraph:

Hedda Spencer TelegraphHedda Spencer Telegraph 02 Dec 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Becky Gaunt in The Feltham Chronicle liked it but felt short-changed by Frank McGuiness’s scaled-back version.

Hedda Gaunt FelthamHedda Gaunt Feltham 02 Dec 1999, Thu The Feltham Chronicle (Hounslow, London, England) Newspapers.com

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, Olivier Theatre, 7 June 1997

We were tending to book RNT things in preview or very early in runs, so this was an unusually late visit to see this one – perhaps we couldn’t get the seats we wanted until later or perhaps we missed it in the first block of dates.

Anyway, we thought this was “very good”.

One of our favourite troupes, Théâtre de Complicité, was responsible for this one. Juliet Stevenson played the lead along with Simon McBurney who also directed. The Theatricalia entry can be found here.

This was the first of those “in the round” productions that the RNT did at The Olivier while it was being refurbished.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was not too keen on it:

Caucasian de Jongh StandardCaucasian de Jongh Standard 22 Apr 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph imagined that his cordial loathing of this show would be a minority view:

Caucasian Spencer TelegraphCaucasian Spencer Telegraph 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Predictably, then, our friend Michael Billington loved it:

Caucasian Billington GuardianCaucasian Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But Robert Butlet in The Independent didn’t much like it either:

Caucasian Butler IndyCaucasian Butler Indy 27 Apr 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Oh well.

Foe by J M Coetzee, Young Vic Theatre, 4 May 1996

We loved Complicité, (or Théâtre de Complicité as it was then known) back then. This joint production with West Yorkshire Playhouse at the Young Vic was perhaps not their best work.

It is based on a J M Coetzee novel which is basically a sequel to Robinson Crusoe.

We found it impenetrable.

It seems we weren’t alone with that feeling. Michael Billington reviewed it thusly:

Billington on FoeBillington on Foe Sat, Mar 9, 1996 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney got on with Foe a bit better it seems:

Coveney on FoeCoveney on Foe Sun, Mar 17, 1996 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com