Tag: Judith Greenwood

My Zinc Bed by David Hare, Royal Court Theatre, 9 September 2000

We saw a preview of this play/production. My log note:

very good indeed.

What else could there possibly be to say?

Steven Mackintosh, Tom Wilkinson and Julia Ormond were the superb cast. I think David Hare directed it himself…the formal reviews will probably cover that point. Let’s tale a look at those.

Paul Taylor in the Independent was impressed:

Zinc Taylor Indy

Article from 15 Sept 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Susannah Clapp in The Observer, like Paul Taylor, especially lauds Julia Ormond’s memorable performance:

Zinc Clapp Observer

Article from 17 Sept 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Predictably, Charles Spencer was not keen on this play – he tends to dismiss Hare plays:

Zinc Spencer Telegraph

Article from 15 Sept 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

John Gross in the Sunday telegraph seemed to like it:

Burial Zinc Gross Sunday Telegraph

Article from 17 Sept 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, liked it for sure:

Zinc Billington Guardian

Article from 15 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Antigone by Sophocles, The Old Vic, 28 October 1999

For some reason, stuff at The Old Vic rarely works for us and this production of Antigone was no exception. It had been bigged-up in the media on the back of a big name cast, headed up by Tara Fitzgerald alongside Jonathan Hyde, Anna Calder-Marshall, Zubin Varla and several others, under the skilled direction of (and adaption by) Declan Donnellan.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for that production.

Janie and I didn’t think that Tara Fitzgerald suited that part, or indeed possibly the stage, but what do we know?

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard gave it a blob:

Antigone Standard Old Vic Antigone Standard Old Vic 12 Oct 1999, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Paul Taylor in The Independent liked it a lot:

Antigone Taylor IndependentAntigone Taylor Independent 12 Oct 1999, Tue The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, in the Guardian, absolutely loved it:

Antigone Billington Guardian 1 of 2Antigone Billington Guardian 1 of 2 14 Oct 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Antigone Billington Guardian 2 of 2Antigone Billington Guardian 2 of 2 14 Oct 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

More often than not, if the critics are divided, we side with Billington (Guardian) over Spencer (Telegraph), but Charles Spencer panned this production (perhaps more vociferously than our view). I’ll let him have the last word:

Antigone Spencer TelegraphAntigone Spencer Telegraph 13 Oct 1999, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com