Tag: Dominic Muldowney

Gethsemane by David Hare, Cottesloe Theatre, 8 November 2008

This one felt like a hot ticket when we booked it months before and also seemed well suited to my mind set just 48 hours after my Gresham Lecture on Commercial Ethics.

But this play was about the arguably thornier topic of political ethics and political pragmatism.

What a posse of cast and creatives for this one – click here for the Official London Theatre information stub.

I recall being most impressed by the performances and the production. Also, the play did its job of getting me and Janie talking about its big issues for the rest of the weekend. Yet this didn’t feel like premier league David Hare to me; I felt there was something lacking in the play.

It was that sort of play/production – influential people were supposed to talk about it but not all that many people got to see it. Janie and I saw a preview, so had every right to wax lyrical from an informed perspective and from the outset.

What good news for everyone that Janie and I tend to keep our counsel to ourselves on such matters.

Well worth seeing.

Never So Good by Howard Brenton, Lyttelton Theatre, 22 March 2008

Janie and I both carry fond memories of this play/production, although it was a long play and is the sort of play that we sometimes dislike.

Howard Brenton has a tendency either to pull off this type of history/personality play with aplomb (as he did with this one and the Ai Wei Wei one) or leave us stone cold, as he did with his play about drawing lines across India at the time of Independence.

Jeremy Irons isn’t my favourite; he’s always sort-of Jeremy Irons. But Jeremy Irons is sort-of Harold Macmillan, so that aspect worked.

One element of the play that I recall really working for me was the notion of the young Harold, played by Pip Carter, moving the narrative on, even in the later years when Harold was becoming an old duffer.

There’s a decent Wikipedia entry for this play – here – which also provides the links to the main theatre reviews (saving me the trouble), which were very favourable on the whole.

Having said that, Wikipedia’s critics list is short and perhaps selective:

Official London Theatre kindly archived its synopsis and list of cast and creatives, saving me a lot of typing. Thanks for nothing, RNT, which, with all its funding, provides far less past production archive than most half-decent fringe theatres.

Remembrance Of Things Past by Marcel Proust, adapted by Harold Pinter & Di Trevis, Cottesloe Theatre, 17 November 2000

We were such groupies in those days – we leapt in early and went to see the opening night (i.e. the first preview) of this one, on a Friday.

So keen were we to make sure that we were psychologically and spiritually ready for the experience, we both took that Friday off work. OK, maybe we had some other things to do that day, such as try to jostle Gavin along into finishing the long overdue work in Clanricarde Gardens.

Anyway, this piece is about Proust’s Remembrance, not my rambling memories. The conceit of this production was a film script that Harold Pinter had written in the 1970s, adapting Proust’s epic into screenplay. That movie had never been made. Di Trevis liked the screenplay and helped further adapt it into a three-hour play, which she then directed.

Fabulous cast – including Duncan Bell, Sebastian Harcombe, Julie Legrand, Diana Hardcastle, David Rintoul and a young Indira Varma.

There was a buzz in the theatre world about this one ahead of time and I think it buzzed on for some time. It certainly transferred to the Olivier, but I think that had always been planned in to the deal.

We loved the Cottesloe (now Dorfman) and were very keen to see this one early.

I remember being very impressed by it. Janie thought it a bit long…

…try reading Proust, love…

…and/but I suspect that our preview ran longer than the scheduled three hours as some material was probably cut between previews and press night.

Some of the press gushed. Here’s Nicholas de Jongh:

Remembrance de Jongh Standard Remembrance de Jongh Standard 24 Nov 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor was not so sure – liking much but disliking the freeze frames:

Remembrance Taylor Indy Remembrance Taylor Indy 24 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dominic Cavendish positively found the whole thing mediocre – which is faint praise indeed:

Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph 27 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington was balanced, mostly positive about it.

Remembrance Billington Guardian Remembrance Billington Guardian 25 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I must admit, I’ve made do with having seen this production and reading some passages in translation. The full one-and-a-quarter-million pages of the novel will have to wait – almost certainly for another life.

Thanks Harold, thanks Di.

Conversations After A Burial by Yasmina Reza, Almeida Theatre, 16 September 2000

I should describe this as “the weekend of the playwright Rezas”, shouldn’t I, having seen Reza de Wet’s play Crossings on the Friday…

Crossing by Reza de Wet, Riverside Studio 3, 15 September 2000

…we ventured to the Almeida for Yazmina Reza’s much anticipated follow up to Art…except it turned out to be an earlier play, not a subsequent one.

I wrote nothing in the log about this one, and sense that we weren’t overly impressed, but nor were we especially disappointed. I remember little about it other than it being a very high-end Almeida cast and production.

Paul Higgins, Amanda Root, Clare Holman, Claire Bloom, Matthew Marsh & David Calder were the cast. Howard Davies directed it. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Let’s see what the pundits had to say.

Susannah Clapp was not impressed, other than with Claire Bloom:

Burial Clapp Observer Burial Clapp Observer 17 Sept 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, John Gross in the Sunday Telegraph really liked it:

Burial Zinc Gross Sunday Telegraph Burial Zinc Gross Sunday Telegraph 17 Sept 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh also talks up Claire Bloom while damning the production with faint praise:

Burial de Jongh Standard Burial de Jongh Standard 13 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Casting vote to our friend Michael Billington, who liked its Chekhovian quality:

Burial Billington Guardian Burial Billington Guardian 13 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Cottesloe Theatre, 5 August 2000

I gave this production a one word review in my log:

Marvellous.

I remember that Janie and I had awaited this one eagerly. I remember that Ben Daniels was especially good in it, as were James Hazeldine, Paul Ritter, Julie Walters and Catherine McCormack. Howard Davies directing – and indeed the Cottesloe, now Dorfman as a location – were consistently good back then.

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph had to set aside his antipathy towards Arthur Miller because he thought this production so good:

Sons Spencer Telegraph

Article from 10 Jul 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Susannah Clapp loved the play and the production:

Sons Clapp Observer

Article from 9 Jul 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Patrick Marmion in The Standard issued a rare “outstanding” mark:

Sons Marmion Standard

Article from 7 Jul 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

John Gross, like his mate Charles Spencer, liked the production more than the play:

Sons & Samaritan Gross Sunday Telegraph

Article from 16 Jul 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

A rare and unexpected downbeat note comes from our friend, Michael Billington, who didn’t like the choice of play, nor did he like the production.

Sons Billington Guardian

Article from 8 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

I guess you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Master Class by Terrence McNally, Richmond Theatre, 8 October 1999

The conceit of this play is basically a Maria Callas masterclass towards the end of the great diva’s life.

We saw this one on a Friday evening. This was a touring production by Theatre Royal Bath Productions that was starting off at Richmond for just a few days.

My log reads:

Janie got more out of this one than I did.

So there you have it.

I think I found the play not so interesting. The production did a pretty good job with the material, as I saw it. Jane Lapotaire played the lead and she was very watchable.

Here is a clip from the Surrey Herald as the productions et off on its merry way:

Masterclass Surrey HeraldMasterclass Surrey Herald 30 Sep 1999, Thu Surrey Herald (Chertsey, Surrey, England) Newspapers.com

Here’s Andrew Kersey’s review in Cambridge a few weeks after we saw it:

Masterclass Cambridge KerseyMasterclass Cambridge Kersey 02 Nov 1999, Tue Cambridge Evening News (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England) Newspapers.com

The Late Middle Classes by Simon Gray, Richmond Theatre, 22 May 1999

Very good indeed. Thought provoking.

That’s what I wrote in my log at the time.

Janie booked this one, so I can report that we sat in seats D6, D7 & D8…and that she paid £20 a pop for this excellent evening at the theatre. I suppose £20 really was £20 back then. Still sounds like value.

The third ticket was for “The Duchess” (Janie’s mum).

Harold Pinter directed an excellent cast including Nicholas Woodeson, Harriet Walter & Angela Pleasence. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Our friend, Michael Billington, liked it in The Guardian:

Late Middle Guardian BillingtonLate Middle Guardian Billington 27 Mar 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Indy also thought highly of this production:

Late Middle Taylor IndyLate Middle Taylor Indy 27 Mar 1999, Sat The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We’ll have eaten at Don Fernando’s after theatre, because in those days, if we went to Richmond for theatre, that’s what we did afterwards. {Insert your own joke about “the late-dining middle classes” here].

The Invention Of Love by Tom Stoppard, Lyttelton Theatre, RNT, 27 December 1997

We normally liked to see these “Cottesloe-type plays” at the Cottesloe, but we missed the boat with this one, seeing it a few month’s later at the Lyttelton.

Not really our cup of tea, this one. Janie isn’t all that keen on Stoppard in general and I found this one “a bit slow”.

I suspect we were both exhausted having worked all the way up to Christmas and then done the family bit for Christmas itself. I can see that Janie arranged a cab for Pauline, so I suspect this is the Christmas that Pauline came to the house and was thoroughly rude to my mum, dad, Hilary, Jacqui and Len – Len tried snipping back – good for him.

But away from the real life drama, this Stoppard drama was about A. E. Housman, with a marvellous cast, including John Wood as “the man in old age” and Paul Rhys as “a younger version of the man”. Also a selection of the usual suspects for fine National Theatre character acting, including Michael Bryant, Robin Soans, Benjamin Whitrow and John Carlisle. Richard Eyre directing – at the National for the last time. There is a Theatricalia entry – here.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard loved it:

Invention Standard de JonghInvention Standard de Jongh 02 Oct 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also loved it:

Invention Standard de JonghInvention Standard de Jongh 02 Oct 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend Michael Billington was also taken with it:

Invention Guardian BillingtonInvention Guardian Billington 02 Oct 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

John Gabriel Borkman, Henrik Ibsen, Lyttelton Theatre, 20 July 1996

This was a great production of great play.  Paul Scofield as the big man, Vanessa Redgrave as the long-suffering wife, Eileen Atkins, Michael Bryant, a great supporting cast, Richard Eyre directing, what was not to like?

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Janie doesn’t tend to like “classics” but tends to makes an exception for Ibsen. This production was no exception to her exception.

As is often the case, the Lyttleton did the play no favours, too big and set back for intimacy yet not quite big enough or shaped right to be the big stage. But when the only criticism one can muster is that, the fact is that this was a great night at the theatre and I am so glad we saw this production.

Paul Taylor in the Independent loved it – click here.

Here’s another little review archive link – click here.

Michael Billington in the Guardian waxed lyrical about it:

Billington on BorkmanBillington on Borkman Sat, Jul 13, 1996 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

But in truth, you had to be there.  One of the more memorable evenings at the theatre.

La Grande Magia by Eduardo De Filippo, Lyttelton Theatre, 19 August 1995

Good. Had its moments.

That was the record in the log and that is faint praise. A superb cast including Alan Howard, Bernard Cribbins and Anne-Marie Duff . Richard Eyre directing. What’s not to like?

Here is the Theatricalia entry.

I think the play seemed a bit dated and cheesy to us.

Michael Billington loved it.

Billington on MagiaBillington on Magia Sat, Jul 15, 1995 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney also loved it. We must have been missing something.

Coveney on MagiaCoveney on Magia Sun, Jul 16, 1995 – 77 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com