This was my last visit to the theatre in the 1980s.
I don’t remember much about it. Even when I wrote up my notes, while the memory must have been a bit fresher (more than 30 years have now passed; just a few years would have passed when I first logged this production).
Bobbie was with me that night, but I doubt if she remembers it much either.
I was fresh back from the USA and had by chance seen some Mamet while there…
…so A Life In The Theatre probably seemed comparatively tame Mamet. Indeed, the one thing I do recall about it was feeling that it was tame Mamet.
One reason I wanted to see this production was the presence of Samuel West in the cast. I knew young Sam from school. He had been polite enough to come with his parents to watch me in the school play, Twelfth Night. more than 10 years earlier…
…so I felt I ought to return the favour. After all, perhaps his nascent career could do with some assistance. As it has transpired, Sam’s subsequent, extremely successful “life in the theatre” did not need my help. I have seen him on stage a couple of times since.
Denholm Elliot was also a draw to this production.
Fortunately, despite my poor memory of the piece and production, there are well-crafted reviews to be had which confirm that it was a very good production.
Michael Billington gave young Sam a good review as “an admirable foil” for Denham Elliot’s character. Would Billington have praised my “conviction and self assurance” if he had seen Twelfth Night in 1978? Mercifully, we’ll never know. But I did get to know Michael Billington quite well over the years, through theatre and cricket.
Billington On A Life In The Theatre Thu, Nov 2, 1989 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Michael Ratcliffe’s tepid review begins at the bottom of the previous column with the words, “David Mamet’s A Life In The”…and then goes on:
Ratcliffe on A Life In the Theatre Sun, Nov 5, 1989 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com