David Horovitch – Ian Louis Harris

Grief by Mike Leigh, Cottesloe Theatre, 26 December 2011

I don’t think we’d been to the theatre on Boxing Day before…nor have we (to date) since.

But the timing worked for us and we thought, “why not?” We are very keen on Mike Leigh’s work generally. Also we wanted to make amends for the involuntary hoo-ha, in front of Mike Leigh’s very eyes, last time we attended one of his plays – a few months ago – especially as he had been so nice about it:

Ecstasy by Mike Leigh, Hampstead Theatre, 18 March 2011

But unfortunately, we didn’t think all that much of Grief.

It had a fine cast including several of Mike Leigh’s regular stars, headed up by Lesley Manville.

The play had been developed in ensemble – the Mike Leigh method if you will. But, to us, it seemed rather dated and lacked sparkle this time.

It got somewhat mixed reviews – click here for a search term that finds them.

Below is a sort of review vid about the play/production:

Spinning Into Butter by Rebecca Gilman, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 13 January 2001

This was a really interesting play and it was an excellent opportunity to reciprocate David & Rachel’s hospitality from a couple of month’s earlier:

Kinky Friedman Live In Brighton With David Seidel & Rachel Barnard, 12 November 2000

Apart from the quintessentially US nature of the production and the left field approach to tackling racism through performance, it’s hard to see much similarity between the evenings.

Rebecca Gilman’s play was memorable through its “warts ‘n’ all” approach to anti-racism and political correctness on campus. Also memorable was a superb performance by Emma Fielding in the lead role. The supporting cast were also “Royal Court good”, as was Dominic Cooke’s directing.

Our friends David and Rachel found it interesting and we had plenty to discuss over grub after the play.

Our other friend, Michael Billington, gave it a very good review in the Guardian:

Spinning Guardian Billington
Article from 11 Jan 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor did not like the play, describing it as self-conrgratulatory white guilt in search of a play:

Spinning Taylor Indy
Article from 10 Jan 2001 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Nicholas de Jongh couldn’t put aside his issues with the play, describing it as mediocre and giving it the dreaded Standard blob:

Spinning Standard de Jongh
Article from 10 Jan 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Charles Spencer thought the play flawed yet intriguing and well worth seeing:

Spinning Telegraph Spencer
Article from 11 Jan 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Suzannah Clapp gave it a very balanced review in The Observer, concluding that a play that makes you argue is a play worth seeing:

Spinning Observer Clapp
Article from 14 Jan 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Disposing Of The Body by Hugh Whitemore, Hampstead Theatre, 14 August 1999

In truth I remember little about this play/production. I logged it without comment, which doesn’t help.

Super cast and crew. Stephen Moore, Charlotte Cornwell, Gemma Jones and David Horovitch, directed by Robin Lefevre.

John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph gave it a modest review, which doesn’t help the memory much, 25 years later, other than making me feel better about the fact that I remember so little about it: