In the Vale Of Health: Michael by Simon Gray, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 2 May 2014

Janie and I both really like Simon Gray’s plays and we really like the Hampstead Downstairs.

So this project; taking all four of Simon Gray’s attempts to write about a quirky pair of brothers in The Vale of Health, seemed like something we should do in full.

We saw them in this sequence/timing:

  • 21 March 2014 – Japes;
  • 18 April 2014 – Japes Too;
  • 2 May 2014 – Michael;
  • 16 May 2014 – Missing Dates.

We’d often see the same faces in the audience again. One gentleman who sat next to us on the last night, we’d seen at least once before. I said to him that it would be like saying goodbye to close friends when this little season ended and he said, “that’s exactly what I was thinking”.

Very intimate plays, beautifully written (it’s Simon Gray after all) and very well acted/directed.

I’m cutting and pasting this same piece for all four evenings; the above and the links below basically apply to all four.

Here is a link to a search term that will find you Hampstead resources and (unusually for downstairs) reviews, as they transferred this little season upstairs afterwards, because it had done so well downstairs.

Here is a YouTube interview and stuff:

In the Vale Of Health: Japes Too by Simon Gray, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 18 April 2014

Janie and I both really like Simon Gray’s plays and we really like the Hampstead Downstairs.

So this project; taking all four of Simon Gray’s attempts to write about a quirky pair of brothers in The Vale of Health, seemed like something we should do in full.

We saw them in this sequence/timing:

  • 21 March 2014 – Japes;
  • 18 April 2014 – Japes Too;
  • 2 May 2014 – Michael;
  • 16 May 2014 – Missing Dates.

We’d often see the same faces in the audience again. One gentleman who sat next to us on the last night, we’d seen at least once before. I said to him that it would be like saying goodbye to close friends when this little season ended and he said, “that’s exactly what I was thinking”.

Very intimate plays, beautifully written (it’s Simon Gray after all) and very well acted/directed.

I’m cutting and pasting this same piece for all four evenings; the above and the links below basically apply to all four.

Here is a link to a search term that will find you Hampstead resources and (unusually for downstairs) reviews, as they transferred this little season upstairs afterwards, because it had done so well downstairs.

Here is a YouTube interview and stuff:

In the Vale Of Health: Japes by Simon Gray, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 21 March 2014

Janie and I both really like Simon Gray’s plays and we really like the Hampstead Downstairs.

So this project; taking all four of Simon Gray’s attempts to write about a quirky pair of brothers in The Vale of Health, seemed like something we should do in full.

We saw them in this sequence/timing:

  • 21 March 2014 – Japes;
  • 18 April 2014 – Japes Too;
  • 2 May 2014 – Michael;
  • 16 May 2014 – Missing Dates.

We’d often see the same faces in the audience again. One gentleman who sat next to us on the last night, we’d seen at least once before. I said to him that it would be like saying goodbye to close friends when this little season ended and he said, “that’s exactly what I was thinking”.

Very intimate plays, beautifully written (it’s Simon Gray after all) and very well acted/directed.

I’m cutting and pasting this same piece for all four evenings; the above and the links below basically apply to all four.

Here is a link to a search term that will find you Hampstead resources and (unusually for downstairs) reviews, as they transferred this little season upstairs afterwards, because it had done so well downstairs.

Here is a YouTube interview and stuff:

The Mystae by Nick Whitby, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 21 February 2014

I’ve written down 9.00 beside this one, so I think it was a short play that they ran twice an evening.

Looks as though we ate beforehand (Harry’s I’d suggest) and I vaguely remember us both wondering why we’d taken on a late gig on a Friday evening.

But I also recall it was a very lively play that held our attention throughout.

One of those coming of age/rite of passage plays, but very well done.

Here is a link to the Hampstead resource on this production.

Here is a link to other stuff you might find (no formal reviews downstairs of course).

Below is the explanatory vid with director Tim Carroll:

The Blackest Black by Jeremy Brock, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 10 January 2014

Janie and I really liked this play/production. Another “Hampstead Downstairs special” in our book.

A three-hander about an uber-male astronomer whose space is invaded by an arty female.

Funny and thought-provoking. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The piece deserves a bigger audience.

Here is a link to the Hampstead’s resource on the production.

The author explains some of his thinking in the vid below.

Diary suggests we ate at Harry Morgans before the show. I think we were coming towards the end of the Harry’s pre show era at that time.

Fault Lines by Ali Taylor, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 6 December 2013

This was not the most sophisticated or interesting play we have seen at the Hampstead Downstairs, but still it was good.

It was about a charity responding to a developing world emergency rather ineptly in the aftermath of a staff Christmas party.

We needed to suspend a fair bit of belief but there were some good fun elements and some juicy moral dilemmas thrown in.

Click here for a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.

Below is the trailer:

Click here for a search term that finds whatever else there might be out there – no formal reviews downstairs in those days.

Godchild by Deborah Bruce, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 15 November 2013

This was a fun play with enough drama in it to keep us thoughtfully entertained.

Tracy-Ann Oberman (formerly of our NewsRevue parish – or at least the SportsRevue version is always superb value, as is Michael Attenborough, having a go in an even smaller house than the Almeida for once.

Click here for a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.

No formal reviews downstairs in those days, but this search term should find whatever there is out there on this production.

The Empty Quarter by Alexandra Wood, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 25 October 2013

A strangely sinister play this one, about a young couple of expats in Dubai who get themselves into difficulties and fall foul of some older, exploitative expats.

The story seemed somewhat extreme, although apparently it is possible to get into extreme difficulties in Dubai and similar places and some young people do thus get exploited.

Click here for a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.

It had its moments but was not the best thing we’ve seen downstairs at the Hampstead – mind you we have seen some absolute crackers down there.

We didn’t regret our visit, but we were a little disappointed given the high hopes we now always take with us to the Hampstead Downstairs.

Below is the (very short) trailer:

No formal reviews downstairs, but what there is to be seen should be found through this search term – click here.

A Human Being Died That Night by Nicholas Wright, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 10 May 2013

Occasionally an evening of theatre is so different and electrifying it sticks permanently in your memory as one of our very best theatre experiences. Janie and I both feel that way about A Human Being Died That Night.

The play is based on a book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikiezla, describing her work as a member of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission interviewing Eugene de Kock, who had been jailed for his murderous role in the apartheid regime.

Here is a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.

We attended the first ever performance of this play, at the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs.

The downstairs lobby area is actually part of the performance space. We were told to sit around and wait, then the character of Pumla Gobodo-Madikiezla, played by Noma Dumezweni does a sort of presentation for us, explaining the background to her involvement and the effect that her interactions with de Kock had on her…

…then she invites us to join her to witness her experiences and leads us into the main downstairs studio space, which is an interview space in the prison where de Kock (played by Matthew Marsh) is incarcerated.

Below is a vid of an interview with the two main actors when the production was revived at the Hampstead the following year:

Below is a short, sharp vid of an interview with Noma when the play transferred to New York:

The version we saw was not reviewed, but basically the same production did the rounds and was reviewed elsewhere – click here for a search term link to those reviews.

Say It With Flowers: A Selection Of Gertrude Stein Work, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 6 April 2013

Janie and I saw this one the day after we got married…

…I’m not sure the thoughts of Gertrude Stein were entirely appropriate for that occasion…

…not that it was always possible to work out from these pieces what the thoughts of Gertrude Stein really are/were.

We really wanted to like this assortment of short pieces. Some of them were really interesting and/or enjoyable. But some were, I suppose predictably, very obscure indeed.

It was very well done – Katie Mitchell and a very strong cast. The downstairs had been transfromed into several performance rooms – the audience had to mill around as the scenes/performers moved from piece to piece. We liked all of that.

Here is a link to the Hampstead resource on this production.

A rare (at that time) visit to the Hampstead on a Saturday. It was the start of a trend away from Hampstead Theatre Fridays towards Hampstead Theatre Saturdays for us.

No formal reviews downstairs back then, but here is a link to whatever there is to find on the producution.