Tag: Liz Ranken

The King Of Hell’s Palace by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Hampstead Theatre, 28 September 2019

We wanted to like this. The story, about a medical scandal and whistle-blowing, set in rural China in 1992, sounded right up our street.

Playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig makes a compelling case for her play here…

…but we found the play itself stilted in style, the characters one-dimensional and the story rather too unsubtly obvious.

Chinese theatre perhaps has some of the above characteristics embedded in its culture, but Janie and I are familiar enough with China – we’ve been going there on and off since 1993 for goodness sake – we just felt that this play missed many opportunities to make its points more thoughtfully.

We felt that a talented cast was doing its best with a lengthy wooden script, so try as we might we couldn’t muster the desire to return for 75-80 minutes more after the interval.

A rare miss from the Hampstead these days, although we have noticed a sense of “playing it safe” creeping in to the upstairs scheduling; hence we’re booking less up there. Our next visit will be downstairs.

Here is a link to the Hampstead’s resources on this play/production.

It’s had decent reviews – this link should find them for you.

Kindertransport by Diane Samuels, Hampstead Theatre, 27 April 2007

This was a revival of a play from the 1990s which we hadn’t seen and which we fancied seeing.

The subject matter is a bit gruelling and the somewhat sentimental treatment could seem mawkish, but actually we found this a good play and a well-balanced production.

Reviews (and some comparisons with earlier and subsequent productions) can be found through this search term – click here.

One of our better Friday evenings at the Hampstead Theatre back then.

The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca, Young Vic Theatre, 5 June 1999

Very good indeed…

…we both said. We’re both partial to a bit of Lorca in any case.

Wonderful play, excellent production.

This production had been doing and continued to do the rounds for some time, at regional theatres. A superb cast, including Sandra Duncan, Amanda Drew, Tanya Ronder & Carolyn Jones, directed by Polly Teale – here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Our friend, Michael Billington, was also impressed by the production, once it landed at the Young Vic.

Bernarda Guardian BillingtonBernarda Guardian Billington 22 May 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard was also mostly very impressed:

Bernarda, de Jomgh, StandardBernarda, de Jomgh, Standard 20 May 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Changeling by Thomas Middleton & William Rowley, RSC Swan Theatre, 29 October 1992

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

This was the first of two plays Janie and I went to see on our first long weekend away together in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

I had seen The Changeling before, at the RNT in 1988, thought highly of it as a Jacobean revenge tragedy and thought Janie might like it. I didn’t yet realise that she was not so keen on classics/old plays. I’m not sure she realised it yet either.

My log reports:

Not quite to Janie’s taste – I rather liked it.

It was a superb production. Looking through the cast and creatives list you can see why. Cheryl Campell as Beatrice-Joanna, Malcolm Storry as De Flores, Michael Attenborough directing. Also a stellar list of youngsters who would break through in their own right later; Sophie Okeonedo, Barnaby Kay, Dominic Cooke (assisting Attenborough). Even Tracy-Ann Oberman (prior to her NewsRevue & SportsRevue days) puts in an appearance as an inmate of the asylum.

The Swan is an ideal venue for this type of play, much better than the Lyttleton. Very high production quality both times though – hard for me to rank one production above the other.

There’s a picture from The Swan production in a Guardian Gallery – click here and scroll down – but no on-line reviews of course.

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Changeling, Antony & Cleopatra, Michael Coveney

Changeling, Antony & Cleopatra, Michael Coveney Sun, Nov 8, 1992 – 57 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Changeling, Antony & Cleopatra Michael Billington