Tag: Ed Wilson

The Weir by Conor McPherson, Duke of York’s Theatre, 2 January 1999

With the Royal Court in exile, we missed the original “Upstairs” version of this at the Ambassadors. With all the stuff we had been dealing with in 1998, this one almost passed us by completely when it transferred “downstairs” to The Duke of York’s. So when the Duke of York’s production returned to that Royal Court “home in exile”, at the start of 1999, to kick off a major tour, we booked early and were there at the outset.

Excellent play and production

I wrote.

That was to say the least. It was truly memorable and awe-inspiring drama. No wonder many critics had fawned over it when it first came out in 1997.

Here’s John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph:

Weir Gross Sunday TelegraphWeir Gross Sunday Telegraph 13 Jul 1997, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh thought that the Royal Court overdid Irish drama, but still liked this one:

Weir de Jongh StandardWeir de Jongh Standard 11 Jul 1997, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer thought it superb:

Weir Telegraph SpencerWeir Telegraph Spencer 14 Jul 1997, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We saw a great cast and crew – most if not all the originals – Kieran Ahern, Brendan Coyle, Dermot Crowley, Michelle Fairley and Jim Norton acting, Ian Rickson directing. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for the production we saw. It was a privilege to have seen that production.

Via Dolorosa by David Hare, Royal Court Theatre At The Duke Of York Theatre, 19 September 1998

Janie and I thought this piece and performance was simply superb. In fact, I wrote:

Superb!!

…in my log and I am not normally the double-exclamation-mark type.

This was David Hare’s brave dive into performing a one-man-show on one of the thorniest topics he might possibly choose – the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Talk about high risk, but we thought Hare pulled off a blinder with this piece/performance.

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard loved it:

Dolorosa de Jongh StandardDolorosa de Jongh Standard 09 Sep 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer also gives the piece high regard:

Dolorosa Spencer TelegraphDolorosa Spencer Telegraph 09 Sep 1998, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Irving Wardle guesting in The Sunday Telegraph also spoke very highly of the piece:

Dolorosa Sunday Telegraph Wardle Dolorosa Sunday Telegraph Wardle 13 Sep 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The only slight equivocation came from the Guardian, which chose to have a diplomatic correspondent review the piece rather than a theatre critic:

Dolorosa Black GuardianDolorosa Black Guardian 12 Sep 1998, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Old Neighbourhood by David Mamet, Royal Court Theatre at the Duke Of York’s Theatre, 11 July 1998

All I wrote in my log was:

No interval.

That suggests that we didn’t get a great deal out of this one, unusually for Mamet. Possibly we just felt that we’d seen a lot of material like this before.

Was it three short plays or one play with three somewhat disconnected scene?. I wrote down

The Disappearance of the Jews, Jolly and Deeny.

Splendid cast: Linal Haft, Colin Stinton, Zoe Wanamaker, Vincent Marzello and Diana Quick, directed by Patrick Marber.

Nicholas de Jongh really liked it:

de Jongh, Standard, Mametde Jongh, Standard, Mamet 24 Jun 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington also liked it a lot:

Billington Guardian MametBillington Guardian Mamet 24 Jun 1998, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph was less sure:

Spencer Telegraph MametSpencer Telegraph Mamet 25 Jun 1998, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Kellaway’s interview with Patrick Marber is very interesting:

Kellaway Observer Marber InterviewKellaway Observer Marber Interview 14 Jun 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Reading these reviews and the interview, I think I should, 25 years later, re-read the play(s) and see what I think of them now.

The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco, Royal Court Theatre At The Duke Of York’s Theatre, 31 January 1998

Weird evening

That’s all I wrote in my log.

I’m not too sure what made the evening weird.

We ate at Fung Shing afterwards, as planned, that I do know. Which was a return to the “scene of the crime” from the Z/Yen Christmas do a few week’s earlier…

A “Works Outing” To Remember, From Detroit To Fung Shing Via Scissor Happy At The Duchess Theatre, 12 December 1997

I guess neither of us quite got our heads around The Chairs. You need to be in the mood for Ionesco and perhaps we weren’t.

This version was Martin Crimp’s adaptation and Simon McBurney/Théâtre de Complicité’s production, so weirdness was probably very much the order of the evening. Richard Briers and Geraldine McEwan led the cast. Here is the Theatricalia entry for the production.

“What did the papers say about it?” I hear you cry.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph liked it, while denying that we should read too much into the piece – darned right!

26 Nov 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard said it is the “weirdest French farce of them all”, making my simply “weird” comment more understandable.

25 Nov 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian thought the production brilliant:

Chairs Billington GuardianChairs Billington Guardian 25 Nov 1997, Tue The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Blue Heart: Heart’s Desire & Blue Kettle by Caryl Churchill, Royal Court Downstairs At Duke of York’s Theatre, Followed By Dinner At Nobu, 4 October 1997

Our take on this:

Interesting (weird) evening. Programme missing – only insert sheet.

Actually the programme might turn out to be a play text which might turn up somewhere on my bookshelves.

I wouldn’t mind reading these plays again. This was Caryl Churchill in impenetrable mood.

Gabrielle Blunt, Jacqueline Defferary, Karina Fernandez, Bernard Gallagher, Valerie Lilley, Mary Macleod and Jason Watkins, directed by Max Stafford-Clark.

Paul Taylor in The Independent was impressed:

Blue Heart Taylor IndyBlue Heart Taylor Indy 25 Sep 1997, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nick Curtis from The Standard reviewed it a few week’s earlier in Edinburgh, also finding it good:

Blue Heart Curtis StandardBlue Heart Curtis Standard 22 Aug 1997, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We are all agreed them – weird but good.

Dinner At Nobu

Then on to Old Park Lane Nobu for dinner. That place was the latest “in place to dine” back then, so we were keen to try it. Who’d have thought that, 25 years later, the signature black cod in miso dish would be something we can obtain from our local (Japanese) fishmonger and serve at home?

This was a couple of years before the Old Park Lane Nobu became infamous for Boris Becker’s broom cupboard romp and many years before Boris ended up in jail.

In 1997, Nobu had just opened to rave reviews. Here’s Fay Maschler in The Standard:

Nobu Maschler StandardNobu Maschler Standard 25 Feb 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Helen Fielding in The Independent also waxed lyrical in amusing fashion about Nobu

Nobu Fielding IndyNobu Fielding Indy 09 Mar 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

That was a lot of sensory stimulation for one evening – Caryl Churchill followed by Nobu. My guess is that Janie was very keen to try the place but could only get a late evening booking, so it sort of made sense to go after theatre.

To add to the excitement, we did it all again (in terms of theatre followed by dinner out) the very next day:

Look, Europe! by Ghazi Rabihavi, Almeida Theatre, Followed By Dinner At Granita, 5 October 2007