Tag: Cottesloe Theatre

The Day I Stood Still by Kevin Elyot, Cottesloe Theatre, 24 January 1998

Superb. One of the best.

My logged comment suggest that we really liked this one. We both really did.

There is a Theatricalia entry for this one with all the details – click here. Adrian Scarborough was excellent in the lead role. Ian Rickson directed.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it in The Standard:

23 Jan 1998, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend Michael Billington liked it but didn’t love it in The Guardian:

23 Jan 1998, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Similarly Suzannah Clapp in The Observer, whose review reminds me that the critics main reservation about this play is that they didn’t like it as much as they liked Elyot’s (also wonderful) My Night With Reg.

25 Jan 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph also spoke highly of it with some limitations:

31 Jan 1998, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Theatre Stories by Ken Campbell, Cottesloe Theatre, Followed By Dinner At Vong, 18 October 1997

I have long been partial to a bit of Ken Campbell. This one man show comprised “more than a bit” of him, I suppose.

Superb fun.

…was my verdict. I think I got more out of it than Daisy did, but she still liked it a lot.

Patrick Marmion liked it in the Standard.

Theatre Stories Marmion StandardTheatre Stories Marmion Standard 20 Oct 1997, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent was very taken with it.

Campbell Taylor IndyCampbell Taylor Indy 20 Oct 1997, Mon The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dinner At Vong

Janie’s thing at that time was for us to go to a posh place for after theatre dinner. This time, we went to Vong at The Berkeley Hotel.

Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote up the place for the Telegraph a few month’s earlier:

Vong Lloyd Weber TelegraphVong Lloyd Weber Telegraph 28 Jun 1997, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Matthew Fort in The Guardian described the place as too chic and achingly glossy in 1996 when it first opened.

Vong Fort GuardianVong Fort Guardian 24 Feb 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I remember finding the food very interesting and the price less scary than Nobu.

Othello by William Shakespeare, Cottesloe Theatre, 2 August 1997

I don’t think Othello & I get on.

I was underwhelmed when I saw this play for the first time, with Bobbie, in 1989.

Again, this time with Janie, we saw a stellar cast and the work of a fine director (Sam Mendes rather than Trevor Nunn).

My log says:

Sadly, Janie hated it and I had pulled my neck, so we bowed out gracefully at half time. (Well, Janie bowed, I couldn’t bow of course).

My neck condition was doubtless not improved by Janie’s manifest disquiet and the length of the play. Perhaps I had overdone it the previous weekend at Andrea’s BBQ party on the Saturday and Kim & Micky’s evening do the next day.

Apologies to the fine cast who had to do without us for the second half of that evening; Simon Russell Beale, David Harewood & Claire Skinner leading the pack. Trevor Peacock, Colin Tierney, Indira Varma and others supporting well no doubt. It’s either me, or the play, or me & the play…it’s not you, loves. The Theatricalia entry gives you chapter and verse on the cast and crew.

There was a hoo-ha in the press that summer about whether or not Othello could or should be played by a white actor. Having seen Willard White in 1989 and David Harewood in 1997, I was not really party to the phenomenon that Othello is usually played by a white actor and that the play is increasingly rarely performed because some people are uncomfortable about skin colour with regard to that part.

Janie and I saw a preview long before the press night of this production – indeed before most of that press hoo-ha kicked off, which made the hoo-ha seem even more weird to us.

Anyway, Charles Spencer seemed very impressed with the production once press night came around:

Othello Spencer TelegraphOthello Spencer Telegraph 18 Sep 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh seemed to quite like it in The Standard

Othello de Jongh StandardOthello de Jongh Standard 17 Sep 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington found it “brilliant” in the Guardian:

Othello Billington GuardianOthello Billington Guardian 18 Sep 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I am happy to concede that the critics were right and/but this simply isn’t a play for Janie and probably (even though i am far more partial to Shakespeare than she) not for me either. A pain in the neck is how I remember it.

Closer by Patrick Marber, Cottesloe Theatre, 31 May 1997

No equivocation from us nor the critics on this one. While my “very good” report on many pieces covers a range of satisfaction, for this one I wrote:

One of the very best…

…which is not something I wrote often. I very clearly recall Janie and I walking out after Closer saying “wow” to each other.

Patrick Marber himself directed it and we were skilful/fortunate to see the original cast at the Cottesloe as this production upscaled in the light of rave reviews, multiple awards and huge audiences. We saw Liza Walker, Clive Owen, Ciaran Hinds and Sally Dexter. Here is the Theatricalia entry.

Here are the pick of the reviews.

First up – Charles Spencer in the Telegraph raving about it:

Closer Spencer TelegraphCloser Spencer Telegraph 30 May 1997, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian described it as a triumph and a great play:

Closer Billington GuardianCloser Billington Guardian 31 May 1997, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Bennett in The Independent was perhaps a lone unequivocal voice, who saw it as essential viewing but dangerously autobiographical:

Closer Bennett IndependentCloser Bennett Independent 31 May 1997, Sat The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Yet Robert Butler the next day in the same paper was very excited about the play/production:

Closer Butler IndyCloser Butler Indy 01 Jun 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Janie and I both just so remember that “wow” feeling and still remember this as one of the very best plays/productions we have ever seen.

Cardiff East by Peter Gill, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 February 1997

My log is quite clear about our opinion of this piece:

It was dreadful. We walked out at half time.

But wait – look at the stellar cast. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for it. Kenneth Cranham, Karl Johnson, Elizabeth Estensen, Windsor Davis…

…and Di Botcher. Di Botcher who directed Newsrevue in 1994 and seemed so keen on my stuff. Where’s the mutual support?

Well, in truth I do think that Di Botcher can act. Her role in this miserablist piece, as far as I could tell, was mostly to stand around looking miserable. Di stood around looking miserable with aplomb.

Here’s what our friend Michael Billington had to say…and you know for sure that when he uses the phrases “important” and “not an easy evening” that misery must be part of it:

Billington On Cardiff EastBillington On Cardiff East Thu, Feb 13, 1997 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

East of Cardiff…

Michael Coveney in the Observer speaks more highly of it…

Michael Coveney on Cardiff EastMichael Coveney on Cardiff East Sun, Feb 16, 1997 – 73 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…perhaps we should have stuck it out to the second half after all. But we were about to fly off to Lebanon & Syria just over a week later, so time was at a premium…and they really know how to play for sympathy over there.

We didn’t learn our lesson about Peter Gill’s miserablist Welsh plays, because just over 10 years later we went to see a revival of Small Change at the Donmar and got precious little out of that one either:

Small Change by Peter Gill, Donmar Warehouse, 12 April 2008

Some folk never learn, mark you.

The Cripple Of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 February 1997

We were neither of us too sure about this play/production.

Granted, it was extremely well received. Granted, we recognised Martin McDonagh’s talent and said we’d like to see more of his work, which subsequently we have done.

But this particular play/production felt like a pastiche of a pre war Irish play to us and left us a bit cold.

Here is a link to the production’s Theatricalia entry.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph shared some of our concerns:

Inishmaan Charles Spencer TelegraphInishmaan Charles Spencer Telegraph 09 Jan 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh similarly:

Inishmaan Nicholas de Jongh StandardInishmaan Nicholas de Jongh Standard 08 Jan 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Michael Billington praised the work highly while also signalling that he felt McDonagh could achieve yet greater things:

Inishmaan Billington GuardianInishmaan Billington Guardian 09 Jan 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Blinded By The Sun by Stephen Poliakoff, Cottesloe Theatre, 31 August 1996

I wrote in my log:

Yes, we saw it before it opened. Yes, it was very good.

Press night was early the following week.

I was always partial to a bit of Poliakoff, so this will have felt like a bit of a birthday treat, opening at that time of year.

In fact, we had been due to go to the Proms on my actual birthday that year, but “Proms 7:30” is scribbled out in my diary for the preceding Wednesday. Not sure what went wrong there – probably we simply failed to get tickets (Claudio Abbado & The Berlin Phil doing Brahms – very popular).

But I digress.

Stellar cast for this one – as was the way back then with Poliakoff at the National or the RSC: Douglas Hodge and Frances de la Tour the biggest names; Graham Crowden & Hermione Norris also standout performers. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

This is Lyn Gardner’s review from The Guardian:

Blinded Lyn Gardner GuardianBlinded Lyn Gardner Guardian 04 Sep 1996, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Blinded Coveney ObserverBlinded Coveney Observer 08 Sep 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also liked it a lot:

Blinded Paul Taylor IndyBlinded Paul Taylor Indy 05 Sep 1996, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Designated Mourner, Wallace Shawn, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 June 1996

What an amazing piece of theatre this was.  The late great Mike Nichols, better known as a director of course, acted brilliantly, with Miranda Richardson and David de Keyser, all wonderful.

David Hare, better known as a playwright but also a talented director, did a grand job with the piece.

Wallace Shawn, perhaps better known as an actor than as a playwright, although also a very talented playwright, wrote it.  Not his best known; indeed possibly not his best piece, but, an excellent play.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Despite all that role rotation, it came off superbly well for us.

Janie and I recognised the unmistakable back of Wallace Shawn’s head just in front of us that night.  A few years later, we chatted with Wallace Shawn at the Almeida when he turned up to see Miranda Richardson in Aunt Dan and Lemon; he waxed lyrical about how wonderful he thinks she is, seemed genuinely self-effacing about his writing and genuinely delighted that we had been inspired to seek out his plays by seeing this piece and of course My Dinner With Andre, one of my favourite films ever.

Wikipedia explains the plot – click here.

Bit early in the life of the web for on-line reviews, but I found this rather informative thing – click here.

Michael Billington was very taken with the play and production in the Guardian:

Billington on MournerBillington on Mourner Thu, Apr 25, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney seemed less sure but still speaks well of it:

Coveney on MournerCoveney on Mourner Sun, Apr 28, 1996 – 65 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We were really taken with it; discussing the issues for the rest of the weekend and beyond.

Stanley by Pam Gems, Cottesloe Theatre, 13 February 1996

My log and indeed my memory is unequivocal about this one:

Quite outstanding. One of the very, very best.

A rare visit to the theatre midweek, I’m guessing that our impending trip to Thailand & Vietnam restricted our choices of dates for this one. Such was our desire to see it, we booked a midweek evening to be sure of seeing the production.

Both Antony Sher and Deborah Warner were superb in their roles, as indeed was the whole supporting cast.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

In truth, Stanley Spencer’s art is not really my bag, but his story is strange and peculiarly touching, certainly as told in this excellent play by Pam Gems.

Strangely, I cannot find a Guardian review for this one, but Michael Simons previewed it:

Michael Simons Previews StanleyMichael Simons Previews Stanley Mon, Jan 22, 1996 – 57 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor gave the play & production rich praise in The Independent.

Michael Coveney in The Observer agreed the play was excellent and enjoyed the production too:

Coveney On StanleyCoveney On Stanley Sun, Feb 4, 1996 – 68 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

It picked up awards and stuff, did Stanley. But there’s no praise higher than the Ged & Daisy accolade quoted at the top of this piece.

Violin Time by Ken Campbell, Cottesloe Theatre, 16 January 1996

This evening – a rare visit to The Cottesloe on a Tuesday evening – was the first time I saw Ken Campbell perform.

I was really smitten with this piece – I found it very funny. I think I got more out of it than Janie did, but she was fascinated enough to want to see more of his work after that.

One of the things that attracted us to the piece, apart from the weirdness of the blurb, which promised us – I paraphrase from various book blurbs available:

“Cathar heretics, a mysterious female French book thief and a Vietnamese violinist who does pig impressions”.

It would be difficult to say no to that, especially as we had booked to go to Vietnam a couple of months later.

Janie and I saw an early preview of the show; it didn’t get reviewed until October but we saw a preview in January.

There is a somewhat tepid Independent review of the piece by Robert Hanks available on-line – here.

Michael Coveney in the Observer liked it, perhaps because he got a name drop:

Coveney on Violin TimeCoveney on Violin Time Sun, Oct 6, 1996 – 76 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Unusually, it doesn’t look as though The Guardian reviewed it.