Red by John Logan, Donmar Warehouse, 5 December 2009

The more cynical reader/theatre lover might imagine this play/production having been designed for a Broadway transfer from the outset.

A two-handed, short play about the artist Mark Rothko, with an all (both) star cast and Michael Grandage directing.

Indeed, had it not been for the fact that the subject matter interests us both and that the stars in question (Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne) are both stars we like, we might have given this one a miss. We were falling out of love with the Donmar Warehouse by then.

But this was a very interesting play and it was superbly done, so we are very glad we went to see it at the very start of its transatlantic journey.

No on-line resource from the Donmar – they are far too busy arranging West End and Broadway transfers for that…

…update – I feel bad about having said that now that the Donmar has made its educational Study Packs available for download – here is the pack for Red.

It got mostly very good reviews, but not universally so:

It did well on transatlantic transfer too – here is Ben Brantley from the New York Times the following spring.

But back to London during chilly December 2009, Janie and I were really taken with the preview we saw, which is the bit that really matters. It has also made us look at Rothko works slightly differently since. We’re still not sure about their meditative qualities though.

Finally, here is an extracts package from Playbill from the Los Angeles transfer – sadly without Eddie Redmayne by then, but still you get to see Alfred Molina as Rothko:

 

 

The Hothouse by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 28 July 2007

We really enjoyed this play and production. It is a rare example of a Pinter comedy, which he wrote during his heyday in the mid 1950s but I don’t think it got produced until a fair bit later.

Being Pinter, the line between comedy and tense psychodrama is a thin one. Indeed, plays like The Caretaker, The Birthday Party and The Dumb Waiter are sinister yet have plenty of humour in them. The Hothouse has plenty of humour yet is sinister; it is set in an anonymous government run mental institution. Say no more.

This was a superb cast and production. Stephen Moore, Finbar Lynch, Leo Bill and Lia Williams the standouts. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry. For once, the awkward depth/shape of the Lyttelton stage could be used to good effect for an institutional look.

It was pretty well received by the critics on the whole:

The Reporter by Nicholas Wright, Cottesloe Theatre, 17 March 2007

I remember us both finding this piece about low-level BBC shenanigans interesting and enjoyable – despite a suicide forming the denouement (that is not a spoiler). I suspect, given subsequent events at the BBC, it would seem tame and much beside the point today.

I think I picked up the terms “cruel spectacles” and “waning powers”, both of which I use a fair bit, from this particular show.

Great cast, with Ben Chaplin, Paul Ritter, Bruce Alexander, Angela Thorne and Leo Bill really standing out.

Well directed by Richard Eyre and produced of course to RNT standards.

Reasonably well received by the critics – click here for a search term to find reviews.

It was worth seeing at the time for sure.

Demons & Dybbuks by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Method & Madness At The Young Vic, 18 September 1999

The log reminds me that we ran into Rob Pay, Susan Pay & Jay Jaffe at that show. In those days, Rob & Susan lived very near to my place, but my place was a building site that autumn and I was staying with Janie in Ealing at that time.

As for the play, I recall that Mike Alfred’s Method & Madness project was a bit Complicité-like, without quite the oomph (and certainly not the longevity) of Complicité.

The piece was basically adaptations (by Mike Alfreds) of a few Isaac Basevis Singer short stories.

Nick Curtis in The Standard was not very impressed:

Dybbuks Standard CurtisDybbuks Standard Curtis 02 Sep 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor was more charitable in The Independent:

Dybbuks Independent TaylorDybbuks Independent Taylor 02 Sep 1999, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The diary suggests that it was a long/late-finishing show, so I suspect that we picked up shawarmas after this show on the way home. The diary also tells me that we went to Gary [Davison]’s birthday lunch the next day. The diary is silent on where we went but in those days Gary tended to hold that event at Lemonia in Primrose Hill.

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:

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:

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).

Our Lady Of Sligo by Sebastian Barry, Cottesloe Theatre, 25 April 1998

Excellent

…was my single word verdict on this one.

I have tended to find Sebastian Barry plays long and wordy, but this one worked for me and encouraged back to try more of his stuff. I suppose after four plus hours of “Iceman” the previous week, this 150 minute jobbie seemed like a short sketch.

The Theatricalia entry for this play/production can be found here. What a fine gathering of cast and creatives. Sinéad Cusack got most of the plaudits. The critics loved it.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard:

Sligo Standard de JonghSligo Standard de Jongh 17 Apr 1998, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, wrote a BOGOF review of Sligo and Iceman, priasing both to the rafters:

Sligo Guardian Billington Sligo Guardian Billington 18 Apr 1998, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp did similarly in The Observer:

Sligo Observer ClappSligo Observer Clapp 19 Apr 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Not About Nightingales by Tennessee Williams, Cottesloe Theatre, 7 March 1998

Janie and I were quite excited about this one.

In the summer of 1996 (or was it spring 1997?), we had spent a Sunday on the Thames, on Michael & Elisabeth’s Thames sailing barge, The Lady Daphne, along with, amongst others, Trevor Nunn & Imogen Stubbs. Trevor was busy reading an early Tennessee Williams script, Not About Nightingales, which had never been performed in the UK. Despite not being among Williams best work, Trevor suggested to us the play had a lot going for it. He was thinking of putting it on at the Royal National Theatre once he became Artistic Director there. I think his appointment had been announced but Trevor had not yet taken up the role when we met him.

Anyway, we were very keen to see the finished product once the production was announced and booked to see it at the start of its run.

The only critic who really matters here on Ogblog…me…wrote:

Powerful stuff – not a great play but very well executed.

I especially remember Finbar Lynch and Corin Redgrave putting in standout performances.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph seemed to like it:

Nightingales Spencer TelegraphNightingales Spencer Telegraph 09 Mar 1998, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp in The Observer was not so convinced:

Nightingales Clapp ObserverNightingales Clapp Observer 08 Mar 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph was quite keen:

08 Mar 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard seemed particularly taken with it.

Nightingales de Jongh StandardNightingales de Jongh Standard 06 Mar 1998, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Don’t ask me how or why we had the stomach for this violent play but not for Shopping & F***ing the week before. Perhaps the violence seemed less gratuitous. Perhaps the way it was produced/directed.

Perhaps because we were demob happy – although we had cancelled our main spring holiday plans because of Phillie’s indisposition, we had decided to take a week off an go to Majorca for some much needed rest. We flew off early the next morning.

The Day I Stood Still by Kevin Elyot, Cottesloe Theatre, 24 January 1998

Superb. One of the best.

My logged comment suggest that we really liked this one. We both really did.

There is a Theatricalia entry for this one with all the details – click here. Adrian Scarborough was excellent in the lead role. Ian Rickson directed.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it in The Standard:

23 Jan 1998, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend Michael Billington liked it but didn’t love it in The Guardian:

23 Jan 1998, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Similarly Suzannah Clapp in The Observer, whose review reminds me that the critics main reservation about this play is that they didn’t like it as much as they liked Elyot’s (also wonderful) My Night With Reg.

25 Jan 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph also spoke highly of it with some limitations:

31 Jan 1998, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Cardiff East by Peter Gill, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 February 1997

My log is quite clear about our opinion of this piece:

It was dreadful. We walked out at half time.

But wait – look at the stellar cast. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for it. Kenneth Cranham, Karl Johnson, Elizabeth Estensen, Windsor Davis…

…and Di Botcher. Di Botcher who directed Newsrevue in 1994 and seemed so keen on my stuff. Where’s the mutual support?

Well, in truth I do think that Di Botcher can act. Her role in this miserablist piece, as far as I could tell, was mostly to stand around looking miserable. Di stood around looking miserable with aplomb.

Here’s what our friend Michael Billington had to say…and you know for sure that when he uses the phrases “important” and “not an easy evening” that misery must be part of it:

Billington On Cardiff EastBillington On Cardiff East Thu, Feb 13, 1997 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

East of Cardiff…

Michael Coveney in the Observer speaks more highly of it…

Michael Coveney on Cardiff EastMichael Coveney on Cardiff East Sun, Feb 16, 1997 – 73 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…perhaps we should have stuck it out to the second half after all. But we were about to fly off to Lebanon & Syria just over a week later, so time was at a premium…and they really know how to play for sympathy over there.

We didn’t learn our lesson about Peter Gill’s miserablist Welsh plays, because just over 10 years later we went to see a revival of Small Change at the Donmar and got precious little out of that one either:

Some folk never learn, mark you.