Tag: John Cater

Ivanov by Anton Chekhov, Almeida Theatre, 1 March 1997

We loved this play and production.

In those days, Ralph Fiennes was one of my buddies as Lambton Place…

…OK, what I really mean is that I’d quite often see him there and we were nodding acquaintances.

Anyway, Fiennes was doing great theatre work in those days, not least at the Almeida, which was having a heyday under the joint leadership of Iain McDiarmid (also one of my nodding acquaintances in the Notting Hill neighbourhood back then, as it happens) and Jonathan Kent.

I wrote in my log:

Very good production. Ian McDiarmid near stole the show the night we went understudying as Kosykh.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry, which informs us that John cater was supposed to play Kosykh.

Anyway…

Charles Spencer loved it in The Telegraph:

Ivanov Spencer TelegraphIvanov Spencer Telegraph 20 Feb 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh was less sure in The Standard:

Ivanov, de Jongh, StandardIvanov, de Jongh, Standard 20 Feb 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul taylor spoke highly of it in The Independent:

Ivanov, Taylor, IndependentIvanov, Taylor, Independent 21 Feb 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While my friend, Michael Billington, loved it:

Ivanov, Billington, GuardianIvanov, Billington, Guardian 20 Feb 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…as did we (have I mentioned that yet?) – then we left the country for a few weeks.

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: