We were such groupies in those days – we leapt in early and went to see the opening night (i.e. the first preview) of this one, on a Friday.
So keen were we to make sure that we were psychologically and spiritually ready for the experience, we both took that Friday off work. OK, maybe we had some other things to do that day, such as try to jostle Gavin along into finishing the long overdue work in Clanricarde Gardens.
Anyway, this piece is about Proust’s Remembrance, not my rambling memories. The conceit of this production was a film script that Harold Pinter had written in the 1970s, adapting Proust’s epic into screenplay. That movie had never been made. Di Trevis liked the screenplay and helped further adapt it into a three-hour play, which she then directed.
Fabulous cast – including Duncan Bell, Sebastian Harcombe, Julie Legrand, Diana Hardcastle, David Rintoul and a young Indira Varma.
There was a buzz in the theatre world about this one ahead of time and I think it buzzed on for some time. It certainly transferred to the Olivier, but I think that had always been planned in to the deal.
We loved the Cottesloe (now Dorfman) and were very keen to see this one early.
I remember being very impressed by it. Janie thought it a bit long…
…try reading Proust, love…
…and/but I suspect that our preview ran longer than the scheduled three hours as some material was probably cut between previews and press night.
Some of the press gushed. Here’s Nicholas de Jongh:
Remembrance de Jongh Standard 24 Nov 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Paul Taylor was not so sure – liking much but disliking the freeze frames:
Remembrance Taylor Indy 24 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Dominic Cavendish positively found the whole thing mediocre – which is faint praise indeed:
Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph 27 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Our friend Michael Billington was balanced, mostly positive about it.
Remembrance Billington Guardian 25 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
I must admit, I’ve made do with having seen this production and reading some passages in translation. The full one-and-a-quarter-million pages of the novel will have to wait – almost certainly for another life.
Thanks Harold, thanks Di.
