Tag: Charmian Hoare

A Weekend Including The Arrival of Nobby, Cause Célèbre by Terence Rattigan, Lyric Hammersmith, A Drive Out To Mainelli-land On The Sunday & Finally Unwanted News On Our Return Home, 7 & 8 February 1998

A memorable weekend in all sorts of ways, this one – good and bad.

The weekend started with me collecting Nobby, my souped-down Honda CRX. I don’t often buy cars, so this was a big day.

Janie, with Nobby, at his last resting place, 16 years later

Then Cause Célèbre at the Lyric, which I simply rated “good”.

It didn’t get much press. Here’s a snippet from the Sunday Telegraph:

22 Feb 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Cause Célèbre 2 of 2 Sunday TelegraphCause Célèbre 2 of 2 Sunday Telegraph 22 Feb 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I’ve never been a huge fan of Rattigan and I recall that this play/production didn’t really change my view.

On the Sunday, somewhat on a whim I seem to recall, the Mainelli’s invited us over to their place as they had several people already scheduled to visit and they wanted a butchers at my new motor.

My abiding memory of that visit was how cold it was that day, but the assembled throng (especially Rupert Stubbs) insisted that we remove the roof of the car and drive off demonstrating the open-toppedness of the thing.

Dall-e thinks we looked a bit like this

When we got home, while we were eating a camembert salad supper, Janie’s twin sister Philippa called to let us know the bad news that she had been diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. That news dampened our mood considerably and turned our world upside down for quite a while.

The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan, The Other Place, 20 September 1996

I described this play/production as:

…magical…

…in my log.

Janie and I took a short break in Stratford, starting, I think, on the Wednesday afternoon. Details in my diary are scant and Janie’s 1996 has gone walkies (perhaps only temporarily).

I am pretty sure we stayed at The Shakespeare, as was our wont at that time. I mentioned in our 1994 visit:

we stayed at The Shakespeare Hotel that time; I think for the second and possibly the last time. We found the room a bit pokey…

…but on reflection I think this 1996 visit was also the Shakespeare and quite possibly the last visit to that hotel.

As for the play/production, we absolutely loved it. The cast included several people who went on to great things, not least Joseph Fiennes, David Tennant, Stephen Boxer, Teresa Banham and director Michael Attenborough. Here is the Theatricalia entry for the play/production.

One memorable thing about the night we visited was the excitement around the presence of HRH The Prince Of Wales and Camilla (subsequently Duchess of Cornwall). The Other Place isn’t really that sort of place, so the royal attendance was more than a bit of a surprise.

The play/production was very well received, for good reasons.

Here is Michael Billington’s take:

Herbal Bed Billington GuardianHerbal Bed Billington Guardian 24 May 1996, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is a preview from The Evening Standard:

Herbal Bed Standard PreviewHerbal Bed Standard Preview 22 May 1996, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Herbal Bed Coveney ObserverHerbal Bed Coveney Observer 26 May 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

See, I told you. Magical.

Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood, Criterion Theatre, 7 October 1995

This was a West End transfer from the Chichester Festival, which had been so well received that even we set aside our West-End show scepticism to see it in Theatreland.

We weren’t disappointed. This was a very good production of a very good play. It is basically about the denazification investigation of the German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler.

Michael Pennington & Daniel Massey played the lead roles, investigating officer major Arnold & Furtwängler respectively. Harold Pinter added yet more gravitas by directing it.

The Theatricalia entry for the play/production can be found here.

Michael Billlington really liked it when he saw it in Chichester that spring:

Billington taking SidesBillington taking Sides Tue, May 23, 1995 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney also liked it while comparing it with Absolute Hell:

Coveney on Taking SidesCoveney on Taking Sides Sun, May 28, 1995 – 75 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Pentecost by David Edgar, The Other Place, 4 November 1994

In amongst the heave of getting Z/Yen started that autumn, Janie and I did make the time for a solitary long weekend in Stratford-Upon-Avon, during which we saw three plays.

Not exactly a rest cure…

…said Janie, when I latterly (c25 years later, October 2019) showed her the evidence of that weekend.

The evidence shows that we stayed at The Shakespeare Hotel that time; I think for the second and possibly the last time. We found the room a bit pokey.

Anyway, we saw this David Edgar play on the Friday evening and thought it superb. I’ve always been a fan of Edgar’s plays and this is a good example of his work.

Wikipedia is not all that forthcoming about the play – click here – but I learn that we saw the premier and that it won an Evening Standard Award the following year on transfer to The Young Vic.

Theatricalia sets out the cast and crew here.

I’ve managed to find a contemporaneous review of this one on-line – Paul Taylor from the Independent – click here…

…scraped to here just in case the above link goes down.

Here’s a Michael Billington clipping:

Billingtpn On PentecostBillingtpn On Pentecost Fri, Oct 28, 1994 – 40 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Billington On Pentecost Part TwoBillington On Pentecost Part Two Fri, Oct 28, 1994 – 41 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s take:

Coveney On PentecostCoveney On Pentecost Sun, Oct 30, 1994 – 79 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Anyway, we loved this play/production, that’s for sure. The notion of art and culture fusing/transferring both from west to east and from east to west is more or less received wisdom now, but the debate in the play, especially while the southern slavic region of Europe was still in turmoil, felt very topical and of the moment in 1994.

Did we eat in Fatty Arbuckle’s that evening? Quite possibly, but unless more evidence turns up we’ll not know for sure.

Unfinished Business by Michael Hastings, The Pit, 29 January 1994

Janie and I binged on The RSC/ The Barbican at the start of 1994 – this is the first of a hat trick of productions we saw there within the space of a few weeks.

We thought this one was very good. I tend to like Michael Hastings’s plays and what a line up for us to see. Emerging names such as Toby Stephens, Jasper Britton & Monica Dolan alongside established stars such as Gemma Jones, Philip Voss & John Carlisle, directed by Steven Pimlott.

The play is basically about Nazi sympathisers in the UK during the war. It was chilling although it did have its moments of humour, as is Michael hastings’s wont.

Here is a link to this play/production’s Theatricalia entry.

Here is a link to the sole contemporaneous review I can find on-line; The Independent.

Also clippings to be found – here’s Michael Billington’s review:

Billington On Unfinished BusinessBillington On Unfinished Business Fri, Jan 21, 1994 – 32 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On Unfinished BusinessCoveney On Unfinished Business Sun, Jan 23, 1994 – 67 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Henry IV Parts One & Two by William Shakespeare, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Part Of A Back-Aching Weekend In Stratford With Bobbie, 27 to 29 September 1991

Back in the day, when I didn’t look much like the bard, Bobbie and I were partial to a bit of Shakespeare.

This sounded like the real deal, with Robert Stephens as Falstaff and Michael Maloney as Hal. A little-known (at that time) actress Linda Bassett played Mistress Quickly and Adrian Noble directed the thing.

Besides, I had studied Henry IV Part One for my English ‘O’ Level, so obviously I knew what I was talking about.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for Henry IV Part One – which we saw on Friday 27 September.

My log for Henry IV Part One reads:

Back-aching but worth it

Whereas for Henry IV Part Two, which we saw on Saturday 28 September, it reads:

Seriously back-aching but still worth it

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for Henry IV Part Two.

Both plays were long – hence the back ache. I was still suffering the aftermath of my multiple lower back disc prolapses the previous year.

They were very good productions though.

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review of Henry IV Part One:

Coveney on Henry IV Part OneCoveney on Henry IV Part One Sun, Apr 21, 1991 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s take on Part One in the Guardian

Billington on Henry IV Part OneBillington on Henry IV Part One Thu, Apr 18, 1991 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Kate Kellaway’s Observer review of Part Two

Kate Kellaway on Henry Part TwoKate Kellaway on Henry Part Two Sun, Jun 2, 1991 – 72 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Billington in The Guardian ecstatic about the pair after seeing Part Two

Billington On Part TwoBillington On Part Two Sat, Jun 1, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We stayed in an unmemorable B&B on the edge of town. I vaguely recall a bossy (i.e. rule-laden) owner.

I think we ate good food. Fatty Arbuckle’s or Lambs, and then The Glory Hole, if I recall correctly. I’m pretty sure the latter on the Saturday night because Henry IV Part Two was so darned, back-achingly long, there was only one eatery in Stratford open that late in those days.

We suffered for our art, going to Stratford, back then.

The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Barbican Theatre, 14 September 1991

Stellar cast for this RSC production of the great Chekhov play. Alfred Burke, Simon Russell Beale, Amanda Root, John Carlisle, Susan Fleetwood, Roger Allam…to name but a few. In the capable hands of Terry Hands.

The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

Bobbie and I both enjoyed this production a lot.

I hadn’t realised that this production was Terry Hands’s swansong for the RSC, but Nicholas de Jongh made much of that fact while praising the production in The Guardian:

De Jongh on SeagullDe Jongh on Seagull Sat, Jul 13, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com