Tag: Kathryn Hunter

Dona Rosita The Spinster by Federico García Lorca, Almeida Theatre, 10 May 1997

We were on quite a roll with our theatre going that spring. We thought this one was very good, as indeed we had consistently said for some time – certainly everything we had seen since our return from the Middle East.

We are both partial to a bit of Lorca, but Dona Rosita is considered to be a difficult Lorca play. This production did the piece proud.

A superb cast for this one, including Celia Imrie, Eleanor Bron, Phoebe Nicholls, Justin Salinger, Amanda Drew, Kerry Shale, Kathryn Hunter (she seemed to be everywhere at that time) with Phyllida Lloyd directing. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was suitably impressed with it.

Billington Guardian Dona RositaBillington Guardian Dona Rosita 30 Apr 1997, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul taylor in the Indy, similarly lauding it and comparing the piece with high-class Chekhov:

Paul Taylor Indy Dona RositaPaul Taylor Indy Dona Rosita 01 May 1997, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Basset in the Telegraph was less keen:

Kate Bassett Telegraph Dona RoistaKate Bassett Telegraph Dona Roista 07 May 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Not for absolutely everyone, then, but certainly good enough for us!

Everyman by Anon, RSC, The Other Place, 21 April 1997

Very good, surprisingly moving…

…was Janie’s and my verdict on this late-medieval morality play.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not so sure:

Billington Guardian EverymanBillington Guardian Everyman 16 Nov 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Unusually, Charles Spencer was more in tune with our thinking on this one:

Spencer Telegraph EverymanSpencer Telegraph Everyman 18 Nov 1996, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

It was sort-of a Complicite thing. Here is the Theatricalia entry on it.

Nicholas De Jongh in The Standard didn’t much like it either.

De Jongh Standard EverymanDe Jongh Standard Everyman 15 Nov 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But we did like it – so there!

Foe by J M Coetzee, Young Vic Theatre, 4 May 1996

We loved Complicité, (or Théâtre de Complicité as it was then known) back then. This joint production with West Yorkshire Playhouse at the Young Vic was perhaps not their best work.

It is based on a J M Coetzee novel which is basically a sequel to Robinson Crusoe.

We found it impenetrable.

It seems we weren’t alone with that feeling. Michael Billington reviewed it thusly:

Billington on FoeBillington on Foe Sat, Mar 9, 1996 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney got on with Foe a bit better it seems:

Coveney on FoeCoveney on Foe Sun, Mar 17, 1996 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Out Of A House Walked A Man by Daniil Kharms, RNT, 3 December 1994

Janie and I both loved Théâtre de Complicité’s work ever since we saw The Street Of Crocodiles on our first proper date.

Janie and I Go On Our First Proper Date, The Street Of Crocodiles, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 August 1992

So, was this one, Out Of A House Walked A Man at the Lyttelton.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

The one review I could find on-line can be found here.

Here is the Michael Billington review clipping:

Billington On Out Of A HouseBillington On Out Of A House Sat, Dec 3, 1994 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is the Michael Coveney clipping:

Michael Coveney On Out Of A House & New EnglandMichael Coveney On Out Of A House & New England Sun, Dec 4, 1994 – 77 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We were ever so keen to see this one. We saw Landscape in the afternoon/early evening and this one at the regular theatre hour – a veritable theatre-fest of stuff we were very keen to see.

As usual a stupendously good cast assembled by Complicite, including Kathryn Hunter, Toby Jones and Marcello Magni. Simon McBurney at the helm but not on the stage for this one.

Again no actual reviews for this one but a wonderful Guardian piece about McBurney survives from a few week’s after we saw this show.

We both thought this production was very good.

We went to see Landscape by Harold Pinter earlier that day…

Landscape by Harold Pinter, Cottesloe Theatre, 3 December 1994

…and hung around for the Complicite. I guess we were a little time poor for theatre and stuff that autumn, as I was busy birthing Z/Yen and stuff that autumn.

Still, we highly rated both shows so that must have been a day to savour.

The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, Cottesloe Theatre, 26 March 1994

A strange play, this. Here is a link to its Wikipedia entry. Writing about it 25 yrars later, it seems in some ways more relevant now than it did then, as evidenced by the several revivals of it in recent years.

According to my log, Janie and I both found the play and the original RNT production we saw very good. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for that production.

The wonderful Kathryn Hunter was in it. As was Richard Katz, who had, at that time, fairly recently done a grand job with my material in NewsRevue. I’m pretty sure it was Richard who belted this one, for example:

Designer, NewsRevue Lyric, 5 January 1993

I’m struggling to find reviews, but this preview from the Independent is interesting.

Here is a clipping from The Guardian:

Billington On The SkrikerBillington On The Skriker Sat, Jan 29, 1994 – 24 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

While here is a 79 page doctoral thesis about this play, which posits that our whole political and social system comprises patriarchal binary oppositions. So there.

And there was Janie and I thinking that we’d spent an evening seeing an interesting play by Caryl Churchill performed exceptionally well. What simple souls we were/are.

The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt, Lyttelton Theatre, 9 March 1991

I think this was my first encounter with Complicité, or Théâtre de Complicité as it was then known.

I saw this production with Bobbie Scully.

Superb

…was my verdict at the time and I do still remember this as an especially wonderful night at the theatre.

Complicité stalwarts were out in force; Kathryn Hunter, Marcello Magni, Simon McBurney (the latter also directed this one)…plus Jasper Britton, who I wouldn’t normally think of as a Complicité dude.

The Theatricalia entry for this production can be found here.

Michael Billington wasn’t 100% sure about it, admiring the style but suggesting that the style somewhat swamped the content:

Billington on VisitBillington on Visit Fri, Feb 15, 1991 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Kate Kellaway in The Observer didn’t like it either.

Kellaway on The VisitKellaway on The Visit Sun, Feb 17, 1991 – 57 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The critics were wrong and I was right, is all I can say!