Tag: Guy Moore

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Young Vic Theatre, 3 June 2000

This was a great production. I recall gently persuading Janie to see Macbeth again – she’s no fan of Shakespeare and felt that she had “done” Macbeth when seeing the 1994 Jacobi version.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Barbican Theatre, 19 February 1994

It was the pull of Tony Sher and Harriet Walter that won Janie round, firstly to attending and in the end to admitting what a fabulous production this production at The Young Vic was. It was fast, it was furious, it was very memorable. Greg Doran knows a thing or two about doing Shakespeare.

The Theatricalia entry reminds me that the 2000 version was an RSC touring production that started at the Swan in late 1999 and ended up at The Young Vic in mid 2000.

Here’s Charles Spencer’s review from the Swan:

Macbeth Spencer Telegraph

Article from 18 Nov 1999 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

While Spencer gushed, Susannah Clapp really raved about it in the Observer:

Macbeth Clapp Observer

Article from 21 Nov 1999 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor also spoke very highly of it in The Independent:

Macbeth Taylor Independent

Article from 17 Nov 1999 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Here’s Nicholas de Jongh’s take on the production, once it landed at The Young Vic:

Macbeth de Jongh Standard

Article from 28 Apr 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Is the ultimate accolade five stars from our friend, Michael Billington?

Macbeth Billington Guardian

Article from 17 Nov 1999 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Of course not – the ultimate accolade is Janie admitting that this was an exciting, jaw-dropping production of a play she didn’t much like.

A Weekend Including The Arrival of Nobby, Cause Célèbre by Terence Rattigan, Lyric Hammersmith, A Drive Out To Mainelli-land On The Sunday & Finally Unwanted News On Our Return Home, 7 & 8 February 1998

A memorable weekend in all sorts of ways, this one – good and bad.

The weekend started with me collecting Nobby, my souped-down Honda CRX. I don’t often buy cars, so this was a big day.

Janie, with Nobby, at his last resting place, 16 years later

Then Cause Célèbre at the Lyric, which I simply rated “good”.

It didn’t get much press. Here’s a snippet from the Sunday Telegraph:

22 Feb 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Cause Célèbre 2 of 2 Sunday TelegraphCause Célèbre 2 of 2 Sunday Telegraph 22 Feb 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I’ve never been a huge fan of Rattigan and I recall that this play/production didn’t really change my view.

On the Sunday, somewhat on a whim I seem to recall, the Mainelli’s invited us over to their place as they had several people already scheduled to visit and they wanted a butchers at my new motor.

My abiding memory of that visit was how cold it was that day, but the assembled throng (especially Rupert Stubbs) insisted that we remove the roof of the car and drive off demonstrating the open-toppedness of the thing.

Dall-e thinks we looked a bit like this

When we got home, while we were eating a camembert salad supper, Janie’s twin sister Philippa called to let us know the bad news that she had been diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. That news dampened our mood considerably and turned our world upside down for quite a while.