Tag: Carole Nimmons

Life Support by Simon Gray, Richmond Theatre, 20 June 1997

We went on a Friday evening to see part of a preview run of this play/production, which went on to have a good long stint at the Aldwych and which had previously been tested at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (according to my notes) and/ot Theatre Royal Bath according to the Theatricalia entry.

Anyway…

…I have always been partial to a bit of Simon Gray and also partial to a bit of Alan Bates’s acting and Harold Pinter’s directing, so this was a “must see” for me and Janie – hence the Friday evening booking.

Below is a rare review of the actual Richmond performances from the Ealing & Acton Gazette:

Life Support Ealing & Acton Gazette Tim HarrisonLife Support Ealing & Acton Gazette Tim Harrison 20 Jun 1997, Fri Ealing and Acton Gazette (Ealing, London, England) Newspapers.com

Below is a charming interview piece from the Guardian about the genesis of this play:

Life Support Simon Gray Claire Amitstead GuardianLife Support Simon Gray Claire Amitstead Guardian 26 Jul 1997, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard didn’t much like the play when he saw it at The Aldwych:

Life Support de Jongh StandardLife Support de Jongh Standard 06 Aug 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Suzannah Clapp liked it more in The Observer:

Life Support Clapp ObserverLife Support Clapp Observer 10 Aug 1997, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We voted it “good”, which is not great, but we did rate the piece and the performances highly enough.

What The Heart Feels by Stephen Bill, Orange Tree Theatre, 11 October 1996

The programme for this one went missing, so we have to reconstruct cast and creatives as best we can from on-line archives reviews and stuff.

Stephen Bill wrote it. The Doolee description reads:

“…a group of friends attempt to build an arts centre in the Midlands.”

The production was previewed in The Evening Standard:

What The Heart Feels, Standard PreviewWhat The Heart Feels, Standard Preview 11 Oct 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kim Bunce wrote it up thus in The Independent:

What The Heart Feels Kim Bunce ObserverWhat The Heart Feels Kim Bunce Observer 10 Nov 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Michael Billington, an Orange Tree fan, wrote the following:

What The Heart Feels Billington GuardianWhat The Heart Feels Billington Guardian 19 Oct 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I think we quite liked this play/production. In truth I only vaguely remember it from the descriptions.

Bodies by James Saunders, Orange Tree Theatre, 24 August 1996

Not especially memorable, this one…

…I noted in my log.

Janie and I were very keen on The Orange Tree at that time and on the whole the plays and the productions were excellent. James Saunders is not the easiest playwright, though.

Here is a link to the Bodies page on the James Saunders website.

We saw a revival of the piece, which had been an early effort at the Orange Tree back in the 1970s. Sam Walters had directed the original version; Dominic Hill directed our revival – no doubt mentored by Sam at that time. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for the version we saw.

Here is the review from the Independent.

Bodies Adrian Turpin IndependentBodies Adrian Turpin Independent 25 Sep 1996, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Nick Curtis’s review from The standard:

Bodies Nick Curtis StandardBodies Nick Curtis Standard 03 Sep 1996, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Belle Of The Belfast City by Christina Reid, Orange Tree Room, 5 June 1993

Of the three plays Janie and I went to see at the Orange Tree Room together, before that “above the pub” bit of the Orange Tree empire closed down, this is the only one for which I still have the “programme” – i.e. sheet of paper:

Just as well I have the sheet, because, unlike Saigon Rose – click here or below…

Saigon Rose by David Edgar, Orange Tree Room, 20 March 1993

…I cannot find any reviews on-line.

Ian Angus Wilkie of NewsRevue fame once again found his way into the cast; he must have found favour with the Orange Tree folk back then and for good reason.

I was gutted that Ian Angus Wilkie didn’t list NewsRevue in his recent relevant experience – it had only been about a year before – perhaps less ( I have a feeling he did Edinburgh or Christmas that 1992 year). How could he hold back on reporting that career highlight?

All I wrote in my log for this one was that I thought it was a very good play/production – which was the way I felt about all the things we saw in that Orange Tree Room…but in truth this was the least memorable of the three, for me.