Tag: Complicité

Light by Complicité, Almeida Theatre, 28 October 2000

We gave this a one word review in my log:

Superb.

Janie and I had been big fans of Complicité, having cemented our getting started together at Street Of Crocodiles, some eight years earlier:

Janie and I Go On Our First Proper Date, The Street Of Crocodiles, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 August 1992

Still, we were prepared to admit that Complicité had missed if it missed – but this one was very much to our taste.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

We saw a preview of a short run that apparently was sold out on application.

Light Standard Light Standard 26 Oct 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

It seems that Mnemonic, the year before, which we also rated superb, had really turned Complicité into a thing.

Mnemonic by Simon McBurney, Théâtre De Complicité, Riverside Studios, 18 December 1999

Paul Taylor in The Independent rated it highly, but not as highly as he rated Mnemonic:

Light Taylor Indy Light Taylor Indy 1 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, similarly was less impressed with this one than he had been with earlier Complicité pieces.

Light Billington Guardian Light Billington Guardian 1 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph agreed with us:

Light Cavendish Telegraph Light Cavendish Telegraph 2 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Mnemonic by Simon McBurney, Théâtre De Complicité, Riverside Studios, 18 December 1999

Janie and I have tended to have a soft spot for anything Complicité, not least because our first proper date was Théâtre De Complicité’s Street Of Crocodiles:

Janie and I Go On Our First Proper Date, The Street Of Crocodiles, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 August 1992

But Mnemonic didn’t need our soft spot – it was excellent in its own right.

Superb

…I said in my log and meant it.

Strangely, writing 25 years later, this piece has recently been revived (or rather, reimagined) by Complicité in London at the National.

This original production was at the more utilitarian Riverside Studios, a venue we have always liked.

Excellent cast, including Simon McBurney himself, the wonderful Katrin Cartlidge (who died tragically young) and Richard Katz, who had previously worked wonders with my material in NewsRevue – for example the Woody Allen role in Mama Mia Farrow:

Mama Mia Farrow, NewsRevue Lyric, 18 August 1992

…but I digress.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Anyway, Mnemonic really was superb and we were lucky to have seen the original production of it.

Nick Curtis wrote it up at length in The Standard:

Mnemonic Curtis StandardMnemonic Curtis Standard 03 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The local rag loved it:

Mnemonic Tear HammersmithMnemonic Tear Hammersmith 24 Dec 1999, Fri Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush Gazette (Hammersmith, London, England) Newspapers.com

I think a lot of the usual suspects ignored it until it transferred to the National a couple of year’s later…and then was reimagined more than 20 years after that.

But we saw the original production…at The Riverside…have I mentioned that before?

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