Tag: Michael Poole

The Lady In The Van by Alan Bennett, Queen’s Theatre, 4 February 2000

This play/production was hugely hyped and got rave reviews when it opened a few week’s before we attended. I think we applied for our tickets before the show opened, opting to wait until good seats were available. Even then, we needed to opt for a Friday rather than a Saturday to get what we wanted. Such was the pull of the West End, not least Maggie Smith…or rather “Dame Maggie”…in those days.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Here’s a gushing preview from The Telegraph, by way of example:

Dame Maggie Telegraph PreviewDame Maggie Telegraph Preview 03 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Despite Janie’s reservations about Dame Maggie, we were drawn in and actually rather enjoyed this production. The play is a little contrived and mawkish, but the performances, especially Dame Maggie’s, were excellent, as was the intriguing van-themed set.

Van Butler IndependentVan Butler Independent 12 Dec 1999, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer also loved it:

Van Spencer TelegraphVan Spencer Telegraph 09 Dec 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Some equivocation in Nicholas de Jongh’s Standard review, that reflects my thoughts on the play/production more than the utter gush reviews:

Van de Jongh Standard

Praise with some equivocation also from our friend Michael Billington in the Guardian:

Van Billington GuardianVan Billington Guardian 08 Dec 1999, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Looking back 25 years Janie and I are both glad we saw this one.

Overboard by Michael Vinaver, Orange Tree Theatre, 1 November 1997

Just me and Daisy this time at The Orange Tree – The Duchess was away on some sort of a bridge holiday IIRC.

Still, this play/production still seemed to last for ever. There is a seven hour version of the play – this just felt a bit like seven hours.

My log reads:

Somewhat rambling but has its moments.

The play is potentially enormously long (7 hours) – unsure of exact length of this production, but it seemed long although it was the short version.

Paul Taylor in The Independent independently reached a similar conclusion:

Overboard Taylor IndependentOverboard Taylor Independent 10 Oct 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph truly hated it:

Overboard Spencer TelegraphOverboard Spencer Telegraph 08 Oct 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, who is usually extremely kind to orange Tree stuff, seems to have omitted to review it. Speaks volumes.

Janie and I no doubt consoled ourselves with some Don Fernando grub afterwards.

The Gift Of The Gorgon by Peter Shaffer, The Pit, 12 December 1992

Janie and I saw a preview of this one and thought it was absoutely great. Janie has since formed an aversion to Dame Judy Dench…or perhaps Janie liked this one despite Judy.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from The Observer:

Gift of the Gorgon CoveneyGift of the Gorgon Coveney Sun, Dec 20, 1992 – 42 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michel Billington’s glowing review:

Gift Of teh Gorgon BillingtonGift Of teh Gorgon Billington Fri, Dec 18, 1992 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent was less keen – click here.