Tag: Ivan Kyncl

Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, Royal Court Theatre, 10 March 2000

Janie and I had been blown away by The Weir, the previous year…

The Weir by Conor McPherson, Duke of York’s Theatre, 2 January 1999

…and were very keen to see Conor McPherson’s next one.

Further, as members who had been loyal through the years of “exile” while The Royal Court was being redone, we were invited that Friday afternoon to a “guided tour” of the revamped building. Janie and I were both motivated to take a Friday afternoon off work and “go see” before the show.

It was on that tour that Janie and I spotted the little nook seat in a recess of the stairway just before you get to the upstairs bar…latterly the library. We took a shine to that nook and for many years took great pleasure in having a pre-show or interval drink in there.

As for Dublin Carol, we really liked it and it cemented our view that Conor McPherson was a writer to watch. It didn’t quite pack the punch of The Weir, but that play was always going to be a tough act to follow.

Brian Cox played the lead in Dublin Carol, with great charisma. Andrew Scott, & Bronagh Gallagher were also excellent in support. Ian Rickson directed.

I’m not sure what the critics made of it at the time…let’s find out.

I’d forgotten this bit, but because of delays to the finishing of The Royal Court, Dublin Carol previewed at The Old Vic for a while. Susannah Clapp reviewed it, with great enthusiasm, there…

Dublin Carol Clapp ObserverDublin Carol Clapp Observer 23 Jan 2000, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…as did Michael Billington in The Guardian…

Dublin Carol, Billington GuardianDublin Carol, Billington Guardian 22 Jan 2000, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But most of the subsequent reviews seemed to want to talk about the grand opening of the newly refurbished Royal Court than the play/production that graced it, doing McPherson, Cox et. al. no favours. Please note, the grand opening was two or three weeks before the hoi polloi tour that we enjoyed in March.

Royal Court IndependentRoyal Court Independent 18 Feb 2000, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Royal Court StandardRoyal Court Standard 23 Feb 2000, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

At least Charles Spencer had the good grace to laud both the Champagne-swilling opening and the production:

Dublin Carol Spencer TelegraphDublin Carol Spencer Telegraph 24 Feb 2000, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, Albery Theatre, 26 February 2000

This production was credited as “Donmar Warehouse at the Albery” and everything about it was Donmar Warehouse, but playing away from home. This production had received glowing reviews and awards the year before at the Donmar. We missed out then but were not about to miss out on it now.

Excellent cast, Nigel Lindsay, Sarah Woodward, Stephen Dillane & Jennifer Ehle leading, with David Leveaux directing.

Here is a Theatricalia entry link for this one.

No notes in the log, but I remember it as a very good production and I am pretty sure that Janie warmed to it.

We had seen an amateur production of The Real Thing at The Questors a few year’s earlier, along with The Duchess (Janie’s mum)…

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, The Questors Theatre, 3 April 1993

Our “Donmar Warehouse at The Albery” experience was a more relaxing evening and a very fine production. Janie doesn’t really warm to Stoppard, but she did warm to this one.

I won’t overdo the reviews, as they are from the original production 9 months earlier, but here’s just a couple of examples of the raving – the first from our friend Michael Billington in The Guardian…

Real Thing Billington GuardianReal Thing Billington Guardian 03 Jun 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…followed by a fairly rare example of Charles Spencer in the Telegraph lining up with Billington to praise the same production to the rafters:

Real Thing Spencer TelegraphReal Thing Spencer Telegraph 03 Jun 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I think Janie must have sourced these tickets, because her diary notes that we’ll be sitting in the fifth row. Great diary detail, 25 years on, that one.

Bash by Neil LaBute, Almeida Theatre, 29 January 2000

This production blew us away. It was shocking and also intensely gripping drama.

We trusted the Almeida in those days, so we booked a preview of this one, “on spec”, although we were unfamiliar with Neil LaBute’s work and also unfamiliar with the imported cast and director.

We were right to trust!

Bash is a collection of short plays, rather than “a play”. All were excellent in our view. The last one was the most shocking, but all were shocking in their own way. Brilliantly well acted by Mary McCormack, Zeljko Ivanek & Matthew Lillard. Joe Mantello directed. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I’m pretty sure the critics tended to be with us in admiring this one. Let’s see.

Yup, Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard waxed lyrical:

Bash deJongh StandardBash deJongh Standard 03 Feb 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph admired the writing and performances but hated the plays:

Bash Spencer TelegraphBash Spencer Telegraph 04 Feb 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our fried, Michael Billington, in the Guardian absolutely got it:

Bash Billington GuardianBash Billington Guardian 03 Feb 2000, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

One of those utterly unforgettable nights at the theatre that makes us want to go back for more!

Battle Royal by Nick Stafford, Lyttelton Theatre, 11 December 1999

Our verdict on this one:

Had its moments.

That is not a rave review.

This production was awash with star names; Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Gemma Jones, Suzanne Burden, Brendan Coyle, Matthew Macfadyen…

…directed by Howard Davies.

Here is the Theatricalia link for this play/production.

The production and talent on show was all very high quality – I don’t think the play did it for us.

It didn’t seem to please all the critics either. Nick Curtis in the Standard gave it the dreaded blob:

Battle Curtis StandardBattle Curtis Standard 10 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor, in the Independent, also panned it.

Battle Taylor IndependentBattle Taylor Independent 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Charles Spencer in the Telegraph rather liked it:

Battle Spencer TelegraphBattle Spencer Telegraph 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But our charitable friend, Michael Billington, awarded it a rare mediocre two stars:

Battle Billington GuardianBattle Billington Guardian 11 Dec 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Remember This by Stephen Poliakoff, Lyttelton Theatre, 9 October 1999

My log reads:

I got more out of this one than Janie did. Not SP’s best.

We saw a preview – the press night was about a week later.

Stanley Townsend is always good news and he didn’t disappoint as the charismatic lead. Good support too from Geraldine Somerville and others, directed by Ron Daniels. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

It was the play that lacked coherence. Janie couldn’t see past the fragile conceits of the play.

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, seems to have shared our reservations. He says that the plot “has more holes than a second-hand colander”…

…(does a new colander have fewer holes than a second-hand one, Michael?)…

Remember Guardian BillingtonRemember Guardian Billington 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh seems to have hated it. “Ponderous” is not a desirable adjective if you are Poliakoff:

Remember Standard de JonghRemember Standard de Jongh 18 Oct 1999, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in the Telegraph described it as “chronically dull”:

Remember Telegraph BassettRemember Telegraph Bassett 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

OK, OK, I’ve got the point. A rare dud from Poliakoff, the master.

Aunt Dan And Lemon by Wallace Shawn, Almeida Theatre, 1 May 1999

We thought this play/production was wonderful and we both remember this particular evening at the Almeida extremely well.

I had been especially keen to book this production, as I had read the play in the late 1980s, found it very interesting and wondered whether I would ever get to see it performed.

Janie and I attended a preview, as oft we do. Wallace Shawn was there and we chatted with him for quite some while. He came across as being exactly the sort of slightly-awkward, self-effacing type that he depicted in the film My Dinner With Andre, which is a great favourite of ours. A couple of times I said to Wallace, “I’m sure you need to speak with some other people”, to allow him to move on without discomfort, but he made it quite clear that he was happy chatting with us and continued to do so.

We talked about his other plays, many of which I had read and several of which Janie and I had seen together. We also chatted about the Almeida production of Aunt Dan & Lemon. He told us how thrilled he was that Miranda Richardson was playing Aunt Dan, as he was a huge fan of hers. I remember reflecting afterwards, with Janie, that Wallace Shawn seemed more star struck about Miranda Richardson than we were star struck by chatting with him.

Wallace Shawn. Photo by Sam Felder, CC BY-SA 2.0

The production was truly excellent. I had wondered, when I read the play, how it could possibly be staged well. Director/designer Tom Cairns and the production team had a myriad of clever answers, not least the hugely effective but not overpowering use of video projections on a screen.

Glenne Headly was superb as Lemon, as was Miranda Richardson as Aunt Dan. An excellent supporting cast including Corey Johnson and Kerry Shale.

Our friend Michael Billington loved this play/production:

Aunt Dan Billington GuardianAunt Dan Billington Guardian 06 May 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

It’s a shame that the Guardian mis-labelled the photo as Natasha Richardson (daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, no relation to Miranda). I wonder whether Wallace Shawn laughed or cried at that mistake back then?

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard also liked it:

Aunt Dan Standard De JonghAunt Dan Standard De Jongh 06 May 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Suzannah Clapp also really liked the production:

Aunt Dan Clapp ObserverAunt Dan Clapp Observer 09 May 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph considered the piece to be pernicious and wrong-headed, which is an interesting counter-argument to those coming at the piece from a more liberal perspective:

Aunt Dan Spencer TelegraphAunt Dan Spencer Telegraph 07 May 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Thinking about the play some 35 years after reading it and 25 years after seeing it, I am struck by the thought that the play would, today, seem implausible, because an academic with Aunt Dan’s views would be lucky to survive even one semester as an Oxford don. Mind you, Wallace Shawn probably wouldn’t last much longer in an elevated academic institution either. Having thought provoked in this manner is not for wimps.

One of the very best and most memorable evenings we have spent at the theatre.

A Weekend During Which Janie & I Did More Than Plenty, including…Plenty by David Hare, Albery Theatre, 17 April 1999

Richard Croft / The George Hotel Wikimedia Commons

Elvis Has Entered The Building

The highlight of this weekend – or at least the most memorable event – was me being recognised by Elvis Costello when he and his misses were heading for their seats just behind us at the Albery.

I have written that up in my piece about the play/production:

Plenty by David Hare, Albery Theatre, 17 April 1999

Prior To the West End, A Jaunt To Lincolnshire & Nottingham

Our diaries indicate a flurry of activity on the Friday and the Saturday, which I only vaguely remember. Janie had a podiatry course at Nottingham University on the Saturday morning and we had chosen to take the Friday off to make that a more palatable affair, not least because Janie didn’t fancy the crack of dawn start to go to Nottingham and back in a day.

We lunched at The George At Stamford, in Lincolnshire, a place I knew and linked from “back in the day” when business took me up that way. Janie checked us in to The Village Hotel and Leisure Club in Nottingham, which enabled me to enjoy facilities while she was on her training course. Janie’s diary reminds me that she arranged for both of us to have massages there on the Friday evening when we arrived, which we both deemed to be a very ordinary “pitty-pat” experience, unlike our regular arrangements in London.

After Janie’s course we legged it back down to London and then on to The Albery. It all reads very hectic in the diaries – we’d for sure avoid such a crush 25 years later, as I write.

And The Next Day…

We went to the Barbican Hall for a concert, which I have written up here, with yet more celebrity name-dropping potential for me and Janie:

Janie, Me & MTT At The Barbican, 18 April 1999

Plenty by David Hare, Albery Theatre, 17 April 1999

A star-studded audience our night: me, Janie, Elvis Costello…

…we didn’t/don’t normally go to celebrity gala preview evenings for productions. Indeed, I think we ended up at this one by accident.

If I remember correctly, Janie booked this one on an early priority booking as she was a member of the Almeida Theatre, which was responsible for (or at least heavily involved with) this production. We tend to like and book previews, because they are usually low key and precede the hullabaloo of press nights and the like. For some reason this one seemed to be different.

We got to the Albery and our seats in good time. Then someone in the row behind me taped my shoulder and said “hello” as he was going past towards his seat. It was Elvis Costello, whom I had got to know reasonably well in the 1990s at Lambton Place Health Club (now BodyWorksWest).

In fact, for several years at Lambton Place, I was aware of this friendly fellow who was obviously in the music business, as indeed were many members at Lambton’s. I had not recognised him as Elvis Costello, despite my having several of his albums and having seen him live several times in the 1980s. On one occasion, a few years before The Albery, he and I were chatting in the steam room and I asked him what he did. He said that he used to be in a band called Elvis Costello and the Attractions. “Oh yes”, I said “I have several of your albums and saw the band live more than once. Do you mind telling me your name?” He told me, and clearly found my embarrassment at my gaff funny.

I even reviewed one of Elvis Costello’s gigs for Concourse, our student newspaper, in 1983. That was only seven or eight years before I first met him.

Anyway, roll the clock to April 1999 again. We were still on “chat quite regularly at the health club” terms, hence Elvis Costello tapping me on the shoulder, saying hello and stopping for a brief chat as he was going through to his seat.

“Who was that?” asked Janie after he and his Mrs had moved on. “Elvis Costello”, I said, quietly and matter-of-factly I thought, but my words caused a flurry among a group of celebrity-spotters in the row in front of us, who proceeded to keep turning around at regular intervals, looking at Elvis Costello and quizzically looking at me and Janie whom, I suppose, they now suspected of being celebrities worth spotting in our own right. I found this more amusing than Janie did.

Unfortunately, the pre-show hullabaloo was probably the most entertaining aspect of the evening from my point of view. I didn’t much like the play and found Cate Blanchett’s character Susan incredibly irritating.

Not as good as we had hoped it would be

…was my log comment, so I am pretty sure Janie felt the same way.

It was all very well produced and had a tip-top cast under Jonathan Kent, but that couldn’t rescue the evening for us. Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Paul Taylor in The Independent shared our doubts about this play/production, although saying that he would sooner spend three weeks stuck in a lift with Hedda Gabler than have a drink with Blanchett’s character Susan is harsher than I could have been:

Taylor Independent PlentyTaylor Independent Plenty 28 Apr 1999, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph hated the play but fell in love with Cate Blanchett

Spencer Telegraph PlentySpencer Telegraph Plenty 29 Apr 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We had posh nosh at The Beaumont afterwards. I think it had recently had a makeover at that time – it will have had a makeover or two since (he says, writing 25 years after the event).

Good by CP Taylor, Donmar Warehouse, Followed By Dinner At Zafferano, 20 March 1999

By gosh, we seemed to be specialising in previews of Nazi stuff that month, having been to see Speer at the Almeida a couple of weeks earlier:

Speer by Esther Vilar, Almeida Theatre, 6 March 1999

My log comment for Good was less complimentary than that for Speer:

Didn’t quite do the business for us.

Great cast, with Charles Dance, Emelia Fox, Ian Gelder, John Ramm and several other stalwarts under the direction of Michael Grandage.

It might not have done the business for us, but it sure did for Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard:

Good Standard de JonghGood Standard de Jongh 24 Mar 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph shared our sentiments:

Good Spencer TelegraphGood Spencer Telegraph 25 Mar 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Anthony Holden in teh Observer also seemed equivocal in his praise:

Goood Holden ObserverGoood Holden Observer 28 Mar 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We ate at Zafferano after Good. Zaffs was very good indeed.

The Weir by Conor McPherson, Duke of York’s Theatre, 2 January 1999

With the Royal Court in exile, we missed the original “Upstairs” version of this at the Ambassadors. With all the stuff we had been dealing with in 1998, this one almost passed us by completely when it transferred “downstairs” to The Duke of York’s. So when the Duke of York’s production returned to that Royal Court “home in exile”, at the start of 1999, to kick off a major tour, we booked early and were there at the outset.

Excellent play and production

I wrote.

That was to say the least. It was truly memorable and awe-inspiring drama. No wonder many critics had fawned over it when it first came out in 1997.

Here’s John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph:

Weir Gross Sunday TelegraphWeir Gross Sunday Telegraph 13 Jul 1997, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh thought that the Royal Court overdid Irish drama, but still liked this one:

Weir de Jongh StandardWeir de Jongh Standard 11 Jul 1997, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer thought it superb:

Weir Telegraph SpencerWeir Telegraph Spencer 14 Jul 1997, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We saw a great cast and crew – most if not all the originals – Kieran Ahern, Brendan Coyle, Dermot Crowley, Michelle Fairley and Jim Norton acting, Ian Rickson directing. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for the production we saw. It was a privilege to have seen that production.