Tag: Lyttelton Theatre

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 June 1994

We do like a bit of Pinter. I was especially keen to see this one. I’d never seen the play performed live; this 1994 production was the first London production since the West End production in the 1960s. But I had seen the wonderful 1980s TV version with Pinter himself as Goldberg.

I’d also previously seen excerpts from the play performed live; not least by my own school mates in the late 1970’s when Dan O’Neill was selected for the role of Goldberg ahead of me because he could do a much better Goldberg accent than me. I don’t bear grudges but I do retain a sense of unjust cultural appropriation to this day, not least because I still cannot do a Goldberg-style accent. I played Aston in The Caretaker instead, but I digress.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the version Janie and I saw in June 1994. My log says we thought it was very good. A young, then little-known Sam Mendes directed it. Bob Peck was Goldberg, Anton Lesser was Stanley. Dora Bryan and Trevor Peacock were Meg and Petey.

Here is a contemporaneous review from Irving Wardle in the Independent in 1994.

Below is the Michael Billington review:

Billington On The Birthday PartyBillington On The Birthday Party Sat, Mar 19, 1994 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On the Birthday PartyCoveney On the Birthday Party Sun, Mar 20, 1994 – 85 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

In truth, my memory for this play remains full of the wonderful BBC TV production from the 1980s…

…and Dan O’Neill’s Goldberg at school of course.

Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 June 1994

In theory this National theatre production should have been amazing. Alan Howard, Frances de la Tour, Sheila Gish, a young as yet little known Jude Law…

…but my log reads, “not bad. Not the greatest either”. That means we didn’t like it all that much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I think it was a little farce-like for our taste.

I cannot find any contemporaneous reviews for this one, so my vague memory will have to do…

..except that I do now have at least this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Les ParentsBillington On Les Parents Sat, May 7, 1994 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this Michael Coveney clipping…

Coveney On Les ParentsCoveney On Les Parents Sun, May 8, 1994 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Our indifference to this production did not stop it from getting a West End transfer, nor did it stop Jude Law from winning “Outstanding Newcomer” awards for his performance, making this production seminal for him, if not necessarily all that special for us.

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, Lyttelton Theatre, 17 April 1993

I liked this play and production far more than Janie did. Where I liked the intellectual aspects of the content, Janie found them pretentious and at times confusing.

Wikipedia gives a decent synopsis of the play – here.

Janie has never much liked plays that jump backwards and forwards in time, although, coincidentally, we saw Emma Fielding in a similarly time-shifting play recently (autumn 2019) which Janie really liked.

Michael Coveney revewed it the day after we saw it:

Sun, Apr 18, 1993 – 57 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

I think that’s one-nil to Janie in the “confusing rather than clever” stakes.

Michael Billington liked it more, I think:

Wed, Apr 14, 1993 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett, Lyttelton Theatre, 30 September 1992

I believe we did a date swap for this one. It is in my diary for Saturday 17 October, but I ended up going to see Death And The Maiden with Janie, John and Mandy that night.

I think Bobbie had a problem with that October weekend and we arranged to swap with a friend of hers to see this production midweek, on 30 September.

My production log says:

Went with Bobbie. Very good.

So what else is there to say? I remember it being a very big, busy play, with an enormous cast of courtiers attending to the protagonists. I remember laughing quite a lot. I suspect I would find it a bit cheesy if I saw it again now.

Nigel Hawthorne was very impressive and I suppose it is “quite a thing” that I saw him perform live.

The Wikipedia entry links to rave reviews on both sides of the channel. The subject matter very naturally had appeal for the USA so it is no surprise that it was also a hit there and also made into a film.

I was probably quite tired that evening, as the diary shows I spent a long day flying up to West Lothian the day before on business – that will have been Sky with Michael – a memorable working day.

I suspect that this was the last time I went to the theatre with Bobbie. We probably had a post theatre meal, perhaps at the RNT itself or perhaps somewhere like RSJs or the Archduke.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from the Observer:

Madness of George III, Michael CoveneyMadness of George III, Michael Coveney Sun, Nov 24, 1991 – 59 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s review from The Guardian:

Madness of George III, BillingtonMadness of George III, Billington Sat, Nov 30, 1991 – 25 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

“Clubbing” Up West, 13 March 1992, The Night Of The Iguana by Tennessee Williams, Lyttelton Theatre, 14 March 1992

Excellent

I wrote in my log and I remember this production as such too. In 1992 I was still going to this sort of production with Bobbie as long as she was available, which most often she was, despite her protests that mebooking stuff so far ahead meant she couldn’t/wouldn’t guarantee her availability.

Bobbie was there for this one.

I’m pretty sure I had seen Bobbie the night before as well. The diary simply says “clubbing” which, as I recall it, meant a West End evening with Bobbie and several of her law reporter friends.

I remember the evening of Friday 13 March 1992 clearly, because I almost lost my life earlier that day on the M11, driving out to see Schering, when a lorry shed its load of timber on the two-lane motorway ahead of me and I had nowhere to go (other than into a central reservation barrier to the right or into the vehicles to my left) so I slowed down as much as I could through the timber and then vehicularly limped to the hard shoulder to have my broken car and shaken me rescued.

I must have bored everyone shitless with my Friday 13th story that previous evening and for sure the events of the day and evening of 13th were small beer compared with the drama that unfolded at The Lyttelton on the Saturday Night.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I’ve always been partial to a bit of Tennessee Williams and this play/production is a good example of why Williams is worth watching.

There’s a good synopsis of the play on Wikipedia – here.

Frances Barber as Maxine, Alfred Molina as The Reverend Shannon, Eileen Atkins as Hannah…top cast. Richard Eyre in the director’s chair.

Richard Burton, Ava Gardner & Deborah Kerr starred in the Hollywood film version – films are different, but here is a clip:

Returning to the 1992 production, here is Kate Kellaway’s preview piece from the Observer:

Kate Kellaway Preview IguanaKate Kellaway Preview Iguana Sun, Feb 2, 1992 – 59 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Michael Coveney on IguanaMichael Coveney on Iguana Sun, Feb 9, 1992 – 60 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on IguanaBillington on Iguana Sat, Feb 8, 1992 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

It really was a cracking night of theatre.

Napoli Milionaria by Eduardo De Filippo, Lyttelton Theatre, 24 August 1991

I recorded the following about this one:

Very good. Performed in scouse accents if I remember correctly.

I suspect that the second note had something to do with a little Bobbie annoyance at the use of scouse accents to depict Neapolitans. Ian McKellen as scouser seemed a little strange to our ears too, but of course the bloke can act. Clare Higgins as his missus, Richard Eyre directing, fine supporting cast…what’s not to like?

I think we both enjoyed the show.

Here’s the Theatricalia entry for that production.

Intriguing-sounding character, Eduardo De Filippo.

Anyway, Michael Billington was most impressed in the Guardian:

Billington on NapoliBillington on Napoli Sat, Jun 29, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Billington said it reminded him of O’Casey at his best and I think Bobbie and I formed exactly that view without having seen Billington’s comment.

Michael Coveney in The Observer also liked it a lot:

Coveney on NapoliCoveney on Napoli Sun, Jun 30, 1991 – 48 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

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!

Dancing At Lughnasa by Brian Friel, Lyttelton Theatre, 22 December 1990

Wow.

I have strong memories of this one. Just one word in my log:

Superb.

It was a convoluted process getting to see it, as I was really suffering with my back knack when this production opened in London (October 1990; it had spent the spring and summer at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin).

Anyway, Bobbie and I sorted out some good tickets for just before Christmas and my goodness this one was worth seeing.

Excellent cast, including Brid Brennan, Stephen Dillane and Alec McCowen. In truth I don’t know Director Patrick Mason for anything else but he can come visit again.

I remember early the next year recommending it to a Dutch software developer, Gerard Mey, who was working on a project with me in London and asked me to recommend a show. I wondered if it was too challenging for someone who does not boast English as a first language. Gerard told me how much he enjoyed it, while admitting that he found some of the language difficult, but said that his head had been full of so many interesting thoughts and ideas since seeing it. That’s a recommendation in my book!

I’ll leave it to the experts to explain in their words just how good this show was.

Michael Billington spoke very highly of it in The Guardian

Billington on LughnasaBillington on Lughnasa Wed, Oct 17, 1990 – 38 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney gushed about it in The Observer when he saw it at the Abbey in the spring:

Coveney on LughnasaCoveney on Lughnasa Sun, May 6, 1990 – 57 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, Lyttelton Theatre, 15 September 1990

I’m very partial to Athol Fugard’s work, but thirty years on, I remember very little about this one. Even the log, which was only a few years after the event, says:

Little recollection, strangely.

I saw this with Bobbie Scully, who seemed keen to see Fugard with me back then. Janie also has a taste for his work.

Here is the Wikipedia entry for this play/production.

I think the problem for me/us was that it was a story that pre-dated Nelson Mandela’s release but we were seeing it very soon after that momentous event. In that sense it felt a bit like old news, although of course the injustices and arguments depicted were still (are still) relevant.

Michael Billington in the Guardian loved it:

Billington on My Children!Billington on My Children! Sat, Sep 8, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in The Observer was less sure, finding it, unusually for Fugard, overly sentimental.

Coveney on My Children!Coveney on My Children! Sun, Sep 9, 1990 – 50 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The Tragedy of Richard III by William Shakespeare, Lyttelton Theatre, 28 July 1990

Bobbie & I were both very keen to see this one – hence our appearance on the first Saturday after press night, booking the tickets long before.

We weren’t disappointed. My log reads:

Superb. The setting was 1930’s style and they made a movie based on this production.

Below is a link to a National Theatre clip:

While below is a clip from the 1995 movie:

Janie would have got less out of this than Bobbie and I did – she is not so keen on Shakespeare, Sir Ian McKellen nor Dame Maggie. (The latter was not in the National Theatre stage production – Susan Engel played Queen Margaret.)

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for that Richard Eyre stage production.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review. He also thought this production excellent:

Billington on Dick The ShitBillington on Dick The Shit Fri, Jul 27, 1990 – 31 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

In The Observer, Michael Coveney reviewed this Dick The Shit production and also the King Lear with which it was repping:

Coveney on Dick Shit & LearCoveney on Dick Shit & Lear Sun, Jul 29, 1990 – 51 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

While Kate Kellaway (also in the Observer) interviewed the two protagonists, Ian McKellen (Dick) & Brian Cox (Lear).

Kate Kellaway with Cox & McKellenKate Kellaway with Cox & McKellen Sun, Jul 29, 1990 – 51 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com