Tag: Jessica Harris

Harper Regan by Simon Stephens, Cottesloe Theatre, 19 April 2008

So there’s more to Uxbridge than the cricket ground.

Seriously, Janie and I both really liked this play. Simon Stephens is one of our favourite playwrights these days and this one worked really well in the Cottesloe for us.

The eponymous lead is a big part; Lesley Sharp is a correspondingly big part actress who was able to deliver big time on this play/production.

Very shocking in parts and also very moving.

Macbeth False Memory by Deborah Levy, ATC at the Lyric Studio, 29 April 2000

In truth I remember little about this play/production at the Lyric Studio, other than the fact that it was one of those plays with lots of video projection.

Mostly such plays leave us cold, which I think this one did, although sometimes, when done well, the mixture of live performance and video effects can be stunning, such as Bluets, which we saw last year (as I write in 2025):

Bluets by Maggie Nelson adapted by Margaret Perry, Royal Court Theatre, 18 May 2024

But I digress.

David Leddy in Total Theatre Magazine didn’t like it.

It didn’t go down well in the Standard either.

But the piece does address…

“the transitional millennial crisis of identity and integrity, fuelled by postmodern uncertainties and deconstructions.”

…according to this academic piece, downloadable from ResearchGate if you, like me, have a free account there.

According to Janie’s diary, the piece was a merciful 80 minutes long and we went on to dine at a place called The Springbok Cafe on Devonshire Road in Chiswick- very appropriate given that Deborah Levy is of South African origin! Strangely, I remember the meal more than the play.

Here is a wonderful review of that eatery from The Independent. Trigger warning – fans of Southern African wildlife should not click here.

Heads up – no postmodern uncertainties and deconstructions here.