Tag: Michael Haslam

The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams, Olivier Theatre, 9 April 2007

A rare visit to the theatre on a Monday – this was Easter Monday.

Janie and I both love a bit of Tennessee Williams and we had only seen an amateur production of the Rose Tattoo before – at the Questors some 10 years earlier.

This was a top notch production at the National – no holds barred.

Zoe Wannamaker was exceptional.

Critics seemed to think the production and performances masked a less than brilliant play – I think I probably agree with that analysis – click here for a link to reviews.

Below is the trailer from the 1955 movie – very different style:

Sleep With Me by Hanif Kureishi, Cottesloe Theatre, 24 April 1999

We rated this piece very good. We saw it very early in the run – just a couple of days after press night so before reviews were out.

Excellent cast, including Jonathan Hyde, Sian Thomas, Peter Wight & Penny Downie – here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard really liked it:

Sleep Standard de JonghSleep Standard de Jongh 23 Apr 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, didn’t much like it:

Sleep Billington GuardianSleep Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1999, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, on the other hand, absolutely hated it:

Sleep Spencer TelegraphSleep Spencer Telegraph 26 Apr 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Good by CP Taylor, Donmar Warehouse, Followed By Dinner At Zafferano, 20 March 1999

By gosh, we seemed to be specialising in previews of Nazi stuff that month, having been to see Speer at the Almeida a couple of weeks earlier:

Speer by Esther Vilar, Almeida Theatre, 6 March 1999

My log comment for Good was less complimentary than that for Speer:

Didn’t quite do the business for us.

Great cast, with Charles Dance, Emelia Fox, Ian Gelder, John Ramm and several other stalwarts under the direction of Michael Grandage.

It might not have done the business for us, but it sure did for Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard:

Good Standard de JonghGood Standard de Jongh 24 Mar 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph shared our sentiments:

Good Spencer TelegraphGood Spencer Telegraph 25 Mar 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Anthony Holden in teh Observer also seemed equivocal in his praise:

Goood Holden ObserverGoood Holden Observer 28 Mar 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We ate at Zafferano after Good. Zaffs was very good indeed.

The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman, Lyttelton Theatre, 24 September 1994

Some rare long intervals between visits to theatre and concert hall that summer, all down to the dawning of my business Z/Yen, which took up ludicrous amounts of time including weekends.

So this was our first arty-evening since Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass at the same venue some six week’s before.

Broken Glass by Arthur Miller, Lyttelton Theatre, 13 August 1994

The Children’s Hour is a great play – Wikipedia describes it here.

The Lyttelton production we saw was very good. Super cast including Harriet Walter and Clare Higgins. Howard Davies directed it. Theatricalia sets out the cast and crew here.

No on-line reviews for the 1994 production that we saw…

…except I now have the odd clipping:

Billington On The Children's HourBillington On The Children’s Hour Sat, Sep 24, 1994 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this one from Michael Coveney:

Coveney On The Children's HourCoveney On The Children’s Hour Sun, Sep 25, 1994 – 81 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

But anyway you can take our word for it that this was a very good production.

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.