Tag: Jason Carr

Stevie by Hugh Whitemore, Hampstead Theatre, 6 March 2015

We rather liked this one. Not as much as the critics, who mostly lapped it up, but we did enjoy the play.

It’s about the poet Stevie Smith and of course Zoë Wannamaker is a superb actress; indeed all three of the cast were.

It’s a bit twee; both the setting (but then Stevie Smith did live a twee suburban life in Palmers Green) and also the play, which is a little old-fashioned in style. It reminded me of the sort of play that did well in the Hampstead Theatre’s portacabin glory days, back in the eighties and nineties.

Excellent Hampstead on-line resource saves me most of the trouble – click here – reviews too but of course only those effusive ones.

I think we were still going to Harry Morgan pre-theatre back then; the Friday evening Hampstead theatre gig worked that way most times.

The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams, Olivier Theatre, 9 April 2007

A rare visit to the theatre on a Monday – this was Easter Monday.

Janie and I both love a bit of Tennessee Williams and we had only seen an amateur production of the Rose Tattoo before – at the Questors some 10 years earlier.

This was a top notch production at the National – no holds barred.

Zoe Wannamaker was exceptional.

Critics seemed to think the production and performances masked a less than brilliant play – I think I probably agree with that analysis – click here for a link to reviews.

Below is the trailer from the 1955 movie – very different style:

Mr Peters’ Connections by Arthur Miller, Almeida Theatre, 22 July 2000

In truth, I remember little detail about this piece. My impressionistic memory of it is that we found the piece impenetrable and sensed that Miller was, sadly, well past his prime when he wrote it. I didn’t write anything positive or negative about it in my log…which is a tad negative.

We leapt in early and saw a preview on 22 July.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production. The production toured subsequently.

Susannah Clapp compared it unfavourably with the Steppenwolf production that was touring at the same time.

Peters’ Clapp Observer

Article from 30 Jul 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

David Benedict slammed the piece directly in the Independent:

Peters Benedict Indy

Article from 27 Jul 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

While Kete Bassett Telegraphed her antipathy in the ehadline:

Peters’ Bassett Telegraph

Article from 28 Jul 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Nicholas de Jongh gave it a dreaded Standard blob rating, with words of damnation and occasional faint praise:

Peters’ de Jongh Standard

Article from 27 Jul 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Would our friend, Michael Billington, rescue this one with his trademark kindness and positivity? The almost unheard of two star review says, “no”.

Peters’ Billington Guardian

Article from 28 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Even Arthur Miller, even the Almeida (which was terrific back then) could muster the occasional dud and this was one of those.

Janie and I quietly agreed that we’d think twice before again booking to see plays written by great writers once they were quite so deep into their dotage.

Sleep With Me by Hanif Kureishi, Cottesloe Theatre, 24 April 1999

We rated this piece very good. We saw it very early in the run – just a couple of days after press night so before reviews were out.

Excellent cast, including Jonathan Hyde, Sian Thomas, Peter Wight & Penny Downie – here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard really liked it:

Sleep Standard de JonghSleep Standard de Jongh 23 Apr 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, didn’t much like it:

Sleep Billington GuardianSleep Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1999, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, on the other hand, absolutely hated it:

Sleep Spencer TelegraphSleep Spencer Telegraph 26 Apr 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams, Comedy Theatre, 10 April 1999

We do like our Tennessee Williams, do Janie and I. This is a rarely performed play and I have always been fascinated by it.

Indeed, we must have been very keen to see this one, as we booked for the first Saturday of the West End run. We tend to avoid the West End these days.

We loved it. I wrote in my log:

Superb. One of the best so far this year.

Sheila Gish was predictably excellent, but we were also much taken with a young Rachel Weisz; I think this was the first time we saw her. There was more to the cast than those two – see tags in this piece – the Theatricalia entry unusually lacks them. 

We were wowed; not much else that we can say.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was also wowed

Suddenly Standard de JonghSuddenly Standard de Jongh 15 Apr 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But wait! Our friend, Michael Billington, didn’t like it:

Suddenly Guardian BillingtonSuddenly Guardian Billington 17 Apr 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We need a third opinion. Charles Spencer in the telegraph. Pretty darn positive:

Suddenly Telegraph SpencerSuddenly Telegraph Spencer 16 Apr 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Talk Of the City by Stephen Poliakoff, Swan Theatre, 20 June 1998

Good, but not his best…

…was my log note for this one. “His” referring to Stephen Poliakoff, whose best I rate very highly.

Janie and I saw this one as part of an extraordinary whistle-stop long weekend which took in three plays at Stratford (this the second of the three), a motorised hike to the Welsh Borders for lunch at The Walnut Tree before going on to Hay-On-Wye for some overnight- second-hand-book-buying on my part before stopping off for a long lunch at Raymond Blanc’s place (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons) in Oxfordshire and then home. Friday to Monday. The other bits have been written up separately from this piece – click here or below.

A Long Weekend In Stratford-Upon-Avon & Hay-On-Wye, Including Trips To The Walnut Tree & Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, 19 to 22 June 1998

I think we stayed in the Shakespeare for this trip. Janie booked it but only wrote down “Twelfth Night Room £115 per night” which I suspect in those days was a suite or certainly a superior room. I did the rest of the trip, including The Old Black Lion in Hay.

As for Talk Of the City, Poliakoff directed this one himself, if I recall correctly, which I think might have been (and often is) a minor mistake – i.e. playwrights, even if superb directors, can usually do with an external eye as director on their own works.

Great cast, including David Westhead, John Normington, Sian Reeves and a young Dominic Rowan. Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Charles Spencer thought the play a muddle:

Spencer Telegraph TalkSpencer Telegraph Talk 01 May 1998, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh didn’t much like it either:

30 Apr 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, The Playhouse, 27 December 1996

We don’t often go to the theatre “at Twixtmas”, not least because you don’t get a lot of serious drama over that period. But in 1996 someone decided to transfer this superb Theatre Royal Bath production to London over the festive season.

I’m pretty sure it was on this occasion that Janie and I ran into Jacqui Somerville, who was in the audience but I think connected with someone or something to do with the production.

In my log, Janie and I declared this event to be an

…excellent production…

I do remember this production well and especially fondly. Anthony Page directed, Janet McTeer (who won multiple awards for this performance), Owen Teale and John Carlisle were in it. There is a Theatricalia entry for it.

Postscript

Jacqui Somerville was indeed there that evening – she reports and reminds me:

…a light blew that evening above the stage and Janet McTeer was a consummate professional. Giggled for ages then clicked back into character.

It was a superb production. I think I blagged the last seat in the house!

Nicholas de Jongh rated this production/London transfer very good and wrote highly of it:

de Jongh Doll's House Standardde Jongh Doll’s House Standard 25 Oct 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Tom Lubbock in The Observer was also impressed, not least with Frank McGuinness’s version:

Tom Lubbock Doll's House ObserverTom Lubbock Doll’s House Observer 27 Oct 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Finally an interesting piece from the Independent Tabloid on Anthony Page’s Production:

Independent on Doll's House & PageIndependent on Doll’s House & Page 30 Oct 1996, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

In short, this particular evening was a great way to round off the theatre-going year.

Mary Stuart by Friedrich von Schiller, Lyttelton Theatre, 20 April 1996

Frankly, Janie and I were not too much taken with this one. And how were we to know that, 10 years later, Anna Massey would become one of Janie’s regular clients? And that more than 20 years later both of us would have a go on Mary Stuart’s tennis court at Falkland Palace, which remarkably still plays?

Edinburgh Day Five: Falkland Palace Gardens And Tennis, 21 August 2018

But I digress.

A fine cast, not only Anna Massey but Isabelle Huppert, Tim Pigott-Smith and a fine collection of RNT regulars, directed by Howard Davies. The Theatricalia entry for this production can be found here.

It just didn’t really float our boat.

What did the critics make of it, I hear you cry?

Michael Billington described it as “far from perfect” but commendable. I’d go with that:

Billington on Mary StuartBillington on Mary Stuart Fri, Mar 22, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent described it as a “far from unrewarding evening” – I can go with that too.

Michael Coveney, on the other hand, was absolutely taken with it:

Coveney on Mary StuartCoveney on Mary Stuart Sun, Mar 24, 1996 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman, Lyttelton Theatre, 24 September 1994

Some rare long intervals between visits to theatre and concert hall that summer, all down to the dawning of my business Z/Yen, which took up ludicrous amounts of time including weekends.

So this was our first arty-evening since Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass at the same venue some six week’s before.

Broken Glass by Arthur Miller, Lyttelton Theatre, 13 August 1994

The Children’s Hour is a great play – Wikipedia describes it here.

The Lyttelton production we saw was very good. Super cast including Harriet Walter and Clare Higgins. Howard Davies directed it. Theatricalia sets out the cast and crew here.

No on-line reviews for the 1994 production that we saw…

…except I now have the odd clipping:

Billington On The Children's HourBillington On The Children’s Hour Sat, Sep 24, 1994 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this one from Michael Coveney:

Coveney On The Children's HourCoveney On The Children’s Hour Sun, Sep 25, 1994 – 81 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

But anyway you can take our word for it that this was a very good production.

Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 June 1994

In theory this National theatre production should have been amazing. Alan Howard, Frances de la Tour, Sheila Gish, a young as yet little known Jude Law…

…but my log reads, “not bad. Not the greatest either”. That means we didn’t like it all that much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I think it was a little farce-like for our taste.

I cannot find any contemporaneous reviews for this one, so my vague memory will have to do…

..except that I do now have at least this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Les ParentsBillington On Les Parents Sat, May 7, 1994 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this Michael Coveney clipping…

Coveney On Les ParentsCoveney On Les Parents Sun, May 8, 1994 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Our indifference to this production did not stop it from getting a West End transfer, nor did it stop Jude Law from winning “Outstanding Newcomer” awards for his performance, making this production seminal for him, if not necessarily all that special for us.