Tag: Gemma Jones

Battle Royal by Nick Stafford, Lyttelton Theatre, 11 December 1999

Our verdict on this one:

Had its moments.

That is not a rave review.

This production was awash with star names; Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Gemma Jones, Suzanne Burden, Brendan Coyle, Matthew Macfadyen…

…directed by Howard Davies.

Here is the Theatricalia link for this play/production.

The production and talent on show was all very high quality – I don’t think the play did it for us.

It didn’t seem to please all the critics either. Nick Curtis in the Standard gave it the dreaded blob:

Battle Curtis StandardBattle Curtis Standard 10 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor, in the Independent, also panned it.

Battle Taylor IndependentBattle Taylor Independent 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Charles Spencer in the Telegraph rather liked it:

Battle Spencer TelegraphBattle Spencer Telegraph 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But our charitable friend, Michael Billington, awarded it a rare mediocre two stars:

Battle Billington GuardianBattle Billington Guardian 11 Dec 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

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:

Disposing Gross S TelegraphDisposing Gross S Telegraph 01 Aug 1999, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michel Billington went into more detail in The Guardian and on balance liked it:

Disposing Billington GuardianDisposing Billington Guardian 15 Jul 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nick Curtis in The Standard went into detail explaining why he didn’t like the piece:

Disposing Curtis StandardDisposing Curtis Standard 14 Jul 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I think, on balance, we were more Curtis than Billington about this one.

Tolstoy by James Goldman, Richmond Theatre, 5 April 1996

I lost all record of this one, other than the diary notes. If I recall correctly, the programmes weren’t yet available as we saw a preview of this ill-fated play/production at The Richmond Theatre.

Janie made the arrangements and it seems we took The Duchess with us. So if the play was as tedious as the reviews and poor audiences suggest, we had quite an evening. No wonder I blotted it out of my mind.

Here is the Theatricalia entry, which on this occasion is my sole canonical source of “who was in it” type information – thanks for that.

Michael Billington in The Guardian (a friendly critic, not known for his damning reviews), describes the piece as a “piffling bio-play”.

Billington on TolstoyBillington on Tolstoy Wed, May 1, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent describes it as “a largely dire production” – click this link to read on-line.

Peter Preston wrote a biting obituary for the play/production when it closed due to poor audiences (see below):

Preston on TolstoyPreston on Tolstoy Sun, May 19, 1996 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

With the cast including F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Marsh and Gemma Jones, there should have been some salvation in the performances, but it clearly wasn’t a good play/production.

I suspect that The Duchess was not impressed and that it was our fault that the theatrical part of the evening did not meet her high expectations. I’m guessing we ate at Don Fernando’s in Richmond, as we hadn’t booked anything and that’s where we would go without a booking.

The Dance Of Death by August Strindberg, Almeida Theatre, 11 February 1995

We went on a bit of a Strindberg fest that February – this the first of two Strinds in one month. the second was Easter at The Pit:

Easter by August Strindberg, The Pit, 25 February 1995

My log says that we thought The Dance Of Death “superb” and why not? John Neville, Gemma Jones, Cheryl Fergison and Anthony O’Donnell makes for a seriosuly good cast.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

A contemporaneous review or two:

…and some clippings. First up: Michael Billington:

Billington On dance Of DeathBillington On dance Of Death Thu, Jan 19, 1995 – 31 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Next up – Kate Kellaway:

Kate Kellaway On Dance Of DeathKate Kellaway On Dance Of Death Sun, Jan 22, 1995 – 146 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Unfinished Business by Michael Hastings, The Pit, 29 January 1994

Janie and I binged on The RSC/ The Barbican at the start of 1994 – this is the first of a hat trick of productions we saw there within the space of a few weeks.

We thought this one was very good. I tend to like Michael Hastings’s plays and what a line up for us to see. Emerging names such as Toby Stephens, Jasper Britton & Monica Dolan alongside established stars such as Gemma Jones, Philip Voss & John Carlisle, directed by Steven Pimlott.

The play is basically about Nazi sympathisers in the UK during the war. It was chilling although it did have its moments of humour, as is Michael hastings’s wont.

Here is a link to this play/production’s Theatricalia entry.

Here is a link to the sole contemporaneous review I can find on-line; The Independent.

Also clippings to be found – here’s Michael Billington’s review:

Billington On Unfinished BusinessBillington On Unfinished Business Fri, Jan 21, 1994 – 32 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On Unfinished BusinessCoveney On Unfinished Business Sun, Jan 23, 1994 – 67 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com