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This play was good fun, as I recall it and well received by most critics.
But it was not, in truth, a great play, nor an ideal outlet for the immense talent on show, both cast and creatives.
Still, we had a fun evening at the theatre and the National had somewhat of a hit on its hands.
Here is a link to a search term that finds reviews and stuff – click here.
Below is a trailer:
Below is an interview with the playwright:
Below is a vid with cast and author interviews:
Janie and I really like a bit of Ibsen. In some ways that is odd, in Janie’s case, as she tends to prefer modern plays and eschew classics. But she makes an exception for some classics; not least Ibsen, Strindberg and to some extent Chekhov.
Anyway, Rosmersholm is rarely performed and here was a production at one of our favourite theatres with a stellar cast and production team.
It’s hard to explain why this play is so rarely performed. In some ways Rosmersholm is über-Ibsen; it seems to throw in a lot of Ibsen’s favourite political, social and moral themes all at once. But then most of his great plays do that. Perhaps it is über-gloomy.
So although this was a superb night at the theatre, with wonderful performances and a truly top-notch production, we didn’t end up thinking that “everyone should see a great production of Rosmersholm” in the same way that we might say that about Hedda Gabler, Ghosts or A Dolls House, for example.
Still, a great theatrical event and right up our street.
There is an excellent stub resource on this play/production on the Almeida site – click here.
This was a very good production with a top notch cast, performed in that pop-up coach station of a theatre that the Almeida used while the main theatre was getting its major revamp. I’m pretty sure we saw a preview.
Helen McCrory and Aidan Gillen led the way, ably supported by solid performers such as Adrian Scarborough and Jodhi May, directed by Jonathan Kent – one of his last productions at The Almeida.
Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.
This is not the greatest Chekhov play – it is an early play that shows traces of the brilliance to come. Chekhov recycled some of the best bits of this one into his later, now classic plays. This production was based on an adaptation by David Hare.
It was a very good evening at the theatre, as I remember it, albeit rather a bum-numbing long one.
Nicholas de Jongh spoke highly of the production in The Standard:
Platonov de Jongh Standard 12 Sept 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Our friend Michael Billington also wrote highly of it:
Platonov Billington Guardian 13 Sept 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Charles Spencer in The Telegraph was less sure:
Platonov Spencer Telegraph 13 Sept 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Gosh I thought this was very good.
I think it might have been my first experience of a Lorca play and by gosh this production of Blood Wedding was powerful.
I saw this with Bobbie.
Subsequently Janie and I both became very keen on Lorca and saw a good production of Blood Wedding at the Almeida in 2005.
But returning to this production, the Theatricalia entry for it is here. A very young Helen McCrory starred as the bride and Cyril Nri was the groom.
It seems that we saw a preview, as press night was three days after our sight of it.
Below is Michael Coveney’s review from The Observer:
Coveney On Blood Wedding Sun, Jan 5, 1992 – 41 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
I think they got their timing wrong having press night on 17 December… a rare Cottesloe opening that missed out on Michael Billington or indeed anyone from the Guardian. But in my view it was the critics who missed out on a very good production.
