Tag: Frances de la Tour

The Forest by Alexander Ostrovsky, Lyttelton Theatre, 30 January 1999

Oh dear! I wrote the following in my log:

It was so bad we walked out at half time.

In those days, that meant REALLY bad.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it:

Forest de Jongh StandardForest de Jongh Standard 29 Jan 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

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

Forest Billington GuardianForest Billington Guardian 30 Jan 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp in the Observer was a little more equivocal:

Forest Clapp ObserverForest Clapp Observer 31 Jan 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Robert Butler in The Sunday Indy didn’t really like it, finding it TV cosy in the way that probably put us right off:

Forest Butler IndependentForest Butler Independent 31 Jan 1999, Sun The Independent (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 Fire Raisers by Max Frisch, Riverside Studios, 10 June 1995

We were having a veritable Max Frisch fest that spring, having seen Biography at The Questors just a few weeks earlier:

Biography by Max Frisch, Translated by Michael Bullock, Questor’s Theatre, 20 May 1995

In those days, The Riverside Studios were doing some quite large theatre productions. This was part of a season, I believe, hence the generic season programme cover above.

I rated this very good and I’m sure Frances de la Tour and Malcolm Tierney were excellent, but I’m not sure this is the best Fire Raisers production we have seen. We returned to the piece some years later to see Benedict Cumberbatch in this play (translated as The Arsonists) at the Royal Court, which I think was a more dynamic production.

The Arsonists by Max Frisch, Royal Court Theatre, 3 November 2007

Still, very good is very good. Michael Billington said these faint praise things about it:

Billington on Fire RaisersBillington on Fire Raisers Thu, Jun 1, 1995 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney was also unsure about it:

Coveney on Fire RaisersCoveney on Fire Raisers Sun, Jun 4, 1995 – 78 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Three Tall Women by Edward Albee, Wyndham’s Theatre, 19 November 1994

We didn’t book much theatre or concert stuff that autumn, what with the birth of Z/Yen and all that going on, but we did book a handful of things we couldn’t bear to miss. This was one of those. Edward Albee’s new play, Three Tall Women.

Janie even put aside her Maggie Smith aversion in the interests of seeing this one.

Michael Billington interviewed Edward Albee ahead of the press night:

Billington Albee Part OneBillington Albee Part One Wed, Nov 9, 1994 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Billington On Albee Part TwoBillington On Albee Part Two Wed, Nov 9, 1994 – 29 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We both thought the play and production was very good.

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

I cannot find on-line reviews for the original cast (which we saw) but this Independent piece compares and contrasts the originals with their replacements a year or so later…

…but I can find review clippings – Michael Billington for example:

Billington On Three Tall WomenBillington On Three Tall Women Wed, Nov 16, 1994 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is Kate Kellaway on the production:

Kate Kellaway On Three Tall WomenKate Kellaway On Three Tall Women Sun, Nov 20, 1994 – 84 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The original three; Maggie Smith, Frances de la Tour and Anastasia Hille, were all superb in my view.

Albee doesn’t always work for me (us) but this one surely did.

Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 June 1994

In theory this National theatre production should have been amazing. Alan Howard, Frances de la Tour, Sheila Gish, a young as yet little known Jude Law…

…but my log reads, “not bad. Not the greatest either”. That means we didn’t like it all that much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I think it was a little farce-like for our taste.

I cannot find any contemporaneous reviews for this one, so my vague memory will have to do…

..except that I do now have at least this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Les ParentsBillington On Les Parents Sat, May 7, 1994 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this Michael Coveney clipping…

Coveney On Les ParentsCoveney On Les Parents Sun, May 8, 1994 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Our indifference to this production did not stop it from getting a West End transfer, nor did it stop Jude Law from winning “Outstanding Newcomer” awards for his performance, making this production seminal for him, if not necessarily all that special for us.