Tag: Jeffery Kissoon

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, Olivier Theatre, 7 June 1997

We were tending to book RNT things in preview or very early in runs, so this was an unusually late visit to see this one – perhaps we couldn’t get the seats we wanted until later or perhaps we missed it in the first block of dates.

Anyway, we thought this was “very good”.

One of our favourite troupes, Théâtre de Complicité, was responsible for this one. Juliet Stevenson played the lead along with Simon McBurney who also directed. The Theatricalia entry can be found here.

This was the first of those “in the round” productions that the RNT did at The Olivier while it was being refurbished.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was not too keen on it:

Caucasian de Jongh StandardCaucasian de Jongh Standard 22 Apr 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph imagined that his cordial loathing of this show would be a minority view:

Caucasian Spencer TelegraphCaucasian Spencer Telegraph 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Predictably, then, our friend Michael Billington loved it:

Caucasian Billington GuardianCaucasian Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But Robert Butlet in The Independent didn’t much like it either:

Caucasian Butler IndyCaucasian Butler Indy 27 Apr 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Oh well.

The Merchant Of Venice by William Shakespeare, Phoenix Theatre, 29 August 1989

I saw this production of The Merchant Of Venice with Bobbie. I don’t think either of us was overly enamoured of it. I registered “quite good” in my log, which is faint praise from me.

There was a lot of hype about this production because Dustin Hoffman was playing Shylock. I recall that Bobbie’s friend May Lamb referred to that actor as “Dustbin Hoffman” – I must admit that I have never been able to process his name the same way since.

There were other good folk in this production; Geraldine James as Portia for a start. Michael Sibbery as Gratiano, Ian Lavender as Solanio, Leigh Lawson as Antonio, Peter-Hugo Daly as Launcelot Gobbo and many other good names. Peter Hall directed it.

Here is its Theatricalia entry.

Sometimes a collection of big names is not, in itself, enough.

Also, I have a feeling that this is not really a great play; that’s my opinion anyway. Technically it is a comedy in the Shakespeare canon, but well short of laughs for the modern audience, even by Shakespeare comedy standards.

This review piece from the New York Times archive suggests that the critics weren’t overly impressed with this production either.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on MerchantBillington on Merchant Fri, Jun 2, 1989 – 27 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:

Ratcliffe on MerchantRatcliffe on Merchant Sun, Jun 4, 1989 – 44 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is a little YouTube clip of Dustbin…

…I mean Dustin Hoffman rehearsing with Peter Hall: