Tag: Helen Ryan

Old Money by Sarah Wooley, Hampstead Theatre, 7 December 2012

A quintessentially Hampstead Theatre piece…

…and in many ways that was the problem with it.

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

Well acted, directed and produced – of course. But a rather predictable, tame piece. Maureen Lipman and Tracy-Ann Oberman for sure could handle something more challenging – probably all the cast could have done – we certainly would have preferred more challenge.

Here is a link to a search term for the reviews – mostly luke-warm but one or two very good reviews.

Overboard by Michael Vinaver, Orange Tree Theatre, 1 November 1997

Just me and Daisy this time at The Orange Tree – The Duchess was away on some sort of a bridge holiday IIRC.

Still, this play/production still seemed to last for ever. There is a seven hour version of the play – this just felt a bit like seven hours.

My log reads:

Somewhat rambling but has its moments.

The play is potentially enormously long (7 hours) – unsure of exact length of this production, but it seemed long although it was the short version.

Paul Taylor in The Independent independently reached a similar conclusion:

Overboard Taylor IndependentOverboard Taylor Independent 10 Oct 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph truly hated it:

Overboard Spencer TelegraphOverboard Spencer Telegraph 08 Oct 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, who is usually extremely kind to orange Tree stuff, seems to have omitted to review it. Speaks volumes.

Janie and I no doubt consoled ourselves with some Don Fernando grub afterwards.