Tag: Matthew Richardson

#aiww: The Arrest Of Ai Weiwei by Howard Brenton, Hampstead Theatre, 26 April 2013

Janie and I both loved this piece/production.

I’m not a great lover of Howard Brenton’s work; the best of it is terrific (e.g. Pravda, which he wrote jointly with David Hare), while some of his plays seem to me to be gratuitously violent, ponderous or both. But this one is excellent.

Here is a link to the Hampstead resource on this play/production.

A fabulous piece of design, trying to utilise Ai Weiwei principles without overdoing it, the set was eye-catching throughout.

A large cast, all good, led by Benedict Wong who was superb as Ai Weiwei – the fact that he really looks the part helps but would not have been sufficient – he is also a very good actor. James MacDonald is a very reliable director too.

Parenthetically, Benedict Wong SO looks the part that Janie mistook him for Ai Weiwei himself at the theatre a couple of years later – click here or below:

You For Me For You by Mia Chung, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 9 January 2016

This link – click here – takes you to a short BBC interview with Howard Brenton about the piece.

Below is a short vid showing the making of the urns for this production:

Here is a link to reviews etc for this play/production- mostly deservedly excellent.

Remember This by Stephen Poliakoff, Lyttelton Theatre, 9 October 1999

My log reads:

I got more out of this one than Janie did. Not SP’s best.

We saw a preview – the press night was about a week later.

Stanley Townsend is always good news and he didn’t disappoint as the charismatic lead. Good support too from Geraldine Somerville and others, directed by Ron Daniels. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

It was the play that lacked coherence. Janie couldn’t see past the fragile conceits of the play.

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, seems to have shared our reservations. He says that the plot “has more holes than a second-hand colander”…

…(does a new colander have fewer holes than a second-hand one, Michael?)…

Remember Guardian BillingtonRemember Guardian Billington 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh seems to have hated it. “Ponderous” is not a desirable adjective if you are Poliakoff:

Remember Standard de JonghRemember Standard de Jongh 18 Oct 1999, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in the Telegraph described it as “chronically dull”:

Remember Telegraph BassettRemember Telegraph Bassett 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

OK, OK, I’ve got the point. A rare dud from Poliakoff, the master.