I recall this play/production doing less for me than I had hoped. I was expecting something quite visceral from the author of Rat In The Skull, which I had read with wide-mouthed interest back in the day.
We were keen Hampstead goers, even back then when the venue was still a portacabin down the road from the current high-class venue.
We dined at Harry Morgan’s ahead of the show, getting a fix of Jewish deli grub in St John’s Wood on our way to Swiss Cottage, as was our occasional wont back then.
The cast comprised John Gordon Sinclair, Miranda Pleasence, Andrew Woodall, Rob Spendlove, William Chubb and Kenneth Colley. The actor Denis Lawson directed the production.
Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard panned it.
Burning de Jongh Standard 26 Apr 2000, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Paul Taylor in The Independent also panned it:
Burning Taylor Independent 26 Apr 2000, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Whereas my friend Michael Billington…in truth, also panned it:
Burning Billington Guardian 27 Apr 2000, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
I didn’t think about this play when I saw Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, but reflecting on it now, I can see how Rosenblatt managed to make similar subject matter come alive…
…whereas Burning Issues by Ron Hutchinson, a playwright who had proved that he could write good plays on tough topics, somehow couldn’t make this subject matter fizz.
A rare Hampstead dud for us.
