The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams, Questors Studio, 17 January 1998

We went to the Questor’s with The Duchess (Janie’s mum) that night. Unusually, there is no mention of a meal in a restaurant afterwards, but Janie’s diary has lots of notes about her mum going off to Tunisia on holiday the next day, so my guess is that we agreed to just go to the theatre and separately had light suppers at the respective homes afterwards.

As for the play/production, I noted that this was a:

…very good Questor’s production

Janie and I are especially partial to Tennessee Williams – it is a credit to this production that we liked it, as we sense that Williams is not easy to produce well. The Rose Tattoo is not Williams best/easiest play either.

The Questor’s has a super archive for all its productions – here is a link to the archive for this one.

I have downloaded the inside of the programme which includes a handwritten note that tells us this was the first night of the production.

A decade later, Janie and I saw a top notch professional production of this play…

It is inappropriate to compare the two – Zoe Wannamaker played the lead at The National. Suffice it to say that I remember both productions well and fondly.

A Dream Of People by Michael Hastings, The Pit, 18 August 1990

I’ve long been partial to a bit of Michael Hastings; I think he is under-rated as a playwright and novelist. So I no doubt chose this one on the back of its authorship.

It’s quite an odd play; sort-of about the welfare state ideal in the hands of a quirky civil service idealogue. Typical Hastings in its untypicality.

Bobbie and I both liked it.

I was reminded of this piece, without remembering exactly which piece I was being reminded of, when Janie and I saw Really Old, Like 45 at The Cottesloe some 20 years later:

Peter McEnery played the lead and Janet Suzman directed the piece. The Theatricalia entry for the production can be found here. Not yet ever revived (he says in January 2021), I imagine a re-read would quickly determine whether it is now due for a revival or explain why it has not yet been revived.

Michael Billington in The Guardian clearly liked it while peppering his piece with a bit of Billingtonian faint praise.

Billington on HastingsBillington on Hastings Sat, Aug 4, 1990 – 19 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer was also fascinated but not entirely convinced:

Coveney on Piano & HastingsCoveney on Piano & Hastings Sun, Aug 12, 1990 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com