Tag: Debbie Green

Far Away by Caryl Churchill, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 25 November 2000

In my log, we rated this one:

excellent.

Janie’s diary reminds me that we had dinner the night before with Jamil and Suad Amyuni at Home House, which was also a very memorable evening in its own way.

Janie’s diary also notes, beside Far Away

1/2 hour.

It was short, but not quite that short. I know we saw a preview, but I trust my memory and the reviews that, even the preview, ran to more than 45 minutes, but probably less than an hour.

I had first seen Linda Bassett in A Place With the Pigs:

A Place With The Pigs by Athol Fugard, Cottesloe Theatre, 20 February 1988

There is a lovely interview piece with Linda Bassett about this production, which I found whilst rummaging for reviews:

Bassett Feature Standard Bassett Feature Standard 4 Dec 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Fabulous cast – not only Linda Bassett but also Kevin McKidd and Katherine Tozer, directed by Stephen Daldry. I only realise now what a hot ticket this must have been and how privileged we are/were, as Royal Court members, to grab hot tickets like this before they all got grabbed.

Predictably, Charles Spencer didn’t think much of it – he didn’t tend to get Caryl Churchill:

Far Away Spencer Telegraph Far Away Spencer Telegraph 5 Dec 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Irving Wardle in the Sunday telegraph wrote highly of it:

Far Away Wardle Sunday Telegraph Far Away Wardle Sunday Telegraph 3 Dec 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard got it:

Far Away de Jongh Standard Far Away de Jongh Standard 1 Dec 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rhoda Koenig was not so sure:

Far Away Koenig Indy Far Away Koenig Indy 1 Dec 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Even giving the casting vote to our friend Michael Billington doesn’t really help, as Billy-o gives the production four stars but his review is somewhat equivocal.

Far Away Billington Guardian Far Away Billington Guardian 1 Dec 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Strangely, the productions that tend to float our boats the most tend to split the reviewer jury. I guess Janie and I like controversial stuff. And as the now late (25 years on) Jamil Amyuni once famously put it in a different context:

why the bloody hell shouldn’t we?

From Square (14 February) To Naked The Next Weekend: Naked by Luigi Pirandello, Almeida Theatre, 21 February 1998

The Square (Restaurant), 14 February 1998

“Dinner with some chick”

…reads my diary entry for that evening…

“8:00 Valentine Night The Square Restaurant” 6 Bruton Street W1 Karine”

…reads Janie’s more helpful entry.

Janie’s diary also informs me that we went to Sound On Wheels in North Harrow that morning, where the indomitable Maurice & Ray will have sorted out the latest arrival in our household, my souped-down Honda CRX, Nobby, with a sound system.

Picture borrowed from allinlondon.co.uk

25 years on, Sound On Wheels has gone. As has The Square, which presciently closed down just before the Covid 19 pandemic.

When we went it was all the rage, having relatively recently moved to Mayfair. It was in the process of collecting its second Michelin Star had it not done so already.

Also borrowed from allinlondon.co.uk, for consistency’s sake

Janie remembers this as one of the finest meals we have had, with superb service too. It was a very special evening.

Naked by Luigi Pirandello, Almeida Theatre, 21 February 1998

There had been a lot of hype about Juliette Binoche coming to tread the Almeida boards, so we were really looking forward to this one.

Our review:

Not as good as we expected – the critics were more convinced by Ms Binoche than we were

My recollection is that we found it hard to hear what she was saying despite the fact that we were sitting in the front row.

The critics fell in love with her, though. My friend, Michael Billington, going a little overboard. I agree with him about Juliette Binoche’s “eccentric inflections” and that Oliver Ford Davies put in a blinder of a performance.

Naked Billington GuardianNaked Billington Guardian 19 Feb 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Benedict in The Independent leapt to Juliette’s defence, like a knight in shining armour, denying even the accusation that the inflections were eccentric:

Naked Benedict IndependentNaked Benedict Independent 25 Feb 1998, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard hated the play but loved Juliette Binoche. I would agree that part of the problem was the play – not one of Pirandello’s best:

Naked de Jongh StandardNaked de Jongh Standard 19 Feb 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Unsurprisingly, Charles Spencer was star struck by Juliet Binoche in The Telegraph:

Naked Spencer Telegraph (for real)Naked Spencer Telegraph (for real) 19 Feb 1998, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I stand by our own review – we couldn’t hear clearly what Juliet Binoche was saying in a play that, in any case, would have been a fairly difficult watch.

We ate at Pasha afterwards. Another once-excellent eatery that is no longer there 25 years later:

A hat trick of thanks for pictures to allinlondon.co.uk