Tag: Bridget Turner

Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen, RSC, Swan Theatre, 19 April 1997

Janie and I are both partial to a bit of Ibsen and partial to a bit of Stratford-Upon-Avon, so this RSC production of Little Eyolf caught our eye.

A stellar cast and crew, including Robert Glenister, Joanne Pearce and Damian Lewis, directed by Adrian Noble. The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

We rated this production very good, as did our friend Michael Billington in The Guardian:

Billington Guardian EyolfBillington Guardian Eyolf 21 Dec 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas De Jongh in The Standard was less sure:

De Jongh Standard EyolfDe Jongh Standard Eyolf 19 Dec 1996, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph spoke very highly of it:

Spencer Telegraph EyolfSpencer Telegraph Eyolf 20 Dec 1996, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Olivier Theatre, 30 June 1990

I rated this production very good and I remember it surprisingly well.

Howard Davies directed this one and gathered an excellent cast. Tom Wilkinson as John Proctor, Zoe Wanamaker as Elizabeth Proctor, Clare Holman as Abigail, plus a top notch RNT ensemble, as was the way at that time.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Nicholas de Jongh’s review from The Guardian:

de Jongh on The Cruciblede Jongh on The Crucible Sat, Jun 2, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

This production must have been very good, because it is quite a long play and I had “done my back” pretty dramatically the week before. Thus started a period when my back would tell me whether or not I was fully engaged in a theatrical production. For this one, I only recall the superb drama; I don’t recall the pain!

Tis Pity She’s A Whore by John Ford, Olivier Theatre, 16 April 1988

A superb run of seeing amazing productions started to break down just a little with this one.

Again a Saturday evening, again with Bobbie. My log says the production was good. It also says:

Suzan Sylvester was indisposed that day, so we saw Michelle Evans understudy the lead

Tis pity that, as I think Suzan Sylvester must have been a very good Annabella opposite Rupert Graves as Giovanni. I do remember Bobbie and I feeling that the understudy did well, though.

My friend Michael Simkins was also in it, as Soranzo. Coincidental at the time of writing, in early 2019, as we saw Michael at the Hampstead Downstairs just a couple of weeks ago:

Eden by Hannah Patterson, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 16 February 2019

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Alan Ayckbourn directed the production – there is some additional information about it on his site – click here.

It’s not a happy story and matters unsurprisingly…spoiler alert…do not end well for the protagonists. The Wikipedia entry gives a good synopsis.

In those days I think we were quite partial to some Jacobean blood and gore. It’s only latterly that I’ve gone all snowflake.

Below is Michael Radcliffe’s review from The Observer:

Tis Pity RadcliffeTis Pity Radcliffe Sun, Mar 6, 1988 – 40 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian found this production “too tasteful”:

Tis Pity BillimgtonTis Pity Billimgton Sat, Mar 5, 1988 – 16 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com