Travel, Theatre, Music, Cricket, Tennis, Writing, Life
We quite liked this play, although I think we were more taken by the excellent production and cast than the play itself.
I think that means that we basically agreed with Michael Billington’s take on it – click here.
British Theatre Guide was luke warm – here.
London Theatre summarises the other, mixed reviews.
Our last show of the old millennium.
We rated the play/production “good”.
What was not to like? Maureen Lipman as Peggy Ramsey, with sound support from Tom Espiner, Selina Griffiths, Richard Platt and Crispin Redman, all ably directed by Robin Lefevre.
Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.
Yes, the show was a bit of a luvvy-fest but what else might you expect in the circumstances?
Susannah Clapp in The Observer preferred Mnemonic:
Mnemonic & Peggy Susannah Clapp 28 Nov 1999, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Our friend, Michael Billington really liked it:
Peggy Billington Guardian 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Paul Taylor in The Independent was entertained but thought that Maureen Lipman as Peggy was a case of miscastology…so at least Maureen got an ology I suppose and for sure she spent a lot of time during the play on the phone.
Peggy Taylor Independent 24 Nov 1999, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
In truth I remember little about this play/production. I logged it without comment, which doesn’t help.
Super cast and crew. Stephen Moore, Charlotte Cornwell, Gemma Jones and David Horovitch, directed by Robin Lefevre.
John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph gave it a modest review, which doesn’t help the memory much, 25 years later, other than making me feel better about the fact that I remember so little about it:
Disposing Gross S Telegraph 01 Aug 1999, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Michel Billington went into more detail in The Guardian and on balance liked it:
Disposing Billington Guardian 15 Jul 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Nick Curtis in The Standard went into detail explaining why he didn’t like the piece:
Disposing Curtis Standard 14 Jul 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
I think, on balance, we were more Curtis than Billington about this one.
Very good indeed. Thought provoking.
That’s what I wrote in my log at the time.
Janie booked this one, so I can report that we sat in seats D6, D7 & D8…and that she paid £20 a pop for this excellent evening at the theatre. I suppose £20 really was £20 back then. Still sounds like value.
The third ticket was for “The Duchess” (Janie’s mum).
Harold Pinter directed an excellent cast including Nicholas Woodeson, Harriet Walter & Angela Pleasence. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.
Our friend, Michael Billington, liked it in The Guardian:
Late Middle Guardian Billington 27 Mar 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Paul Taylor in The Indy also thought highly of this production:
Late Middle Taylor Indy 27 Mar 1999, Sat The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
We’ll have eaten at Don Fernando’s after theatre, because in those days, if we went to Richmond for theatre, that’s what we did afterwards. {Insert your own joke about “the late-dining middle classes” here].
We went on a Friday evening to see part of a preview run of this play/production, which went on to have a good long stint at the Aldwych and which had previously been tested at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (according to my notes) and/ot Theatre Royal Bath according to the Theatricalia entry.
Anyway…
…I have always been partial to a bit of Simon Gray and also partial to a bit of Alan Bates’s acting and Harold Pinter’s directing, so this was a “must see” for me and Janie – hence the Friday evening booking.
Below is a rare review of the actual Richmond performances from the Ealing & Acton Gazette:
Life Support Ealing & Acton Gazette Tim Harrison 20 Jun 1997, Fri Ealing and Acton Gazette (Ealing, London, England) Newspapers.com
Below is a charming interview piece from the Guardian about the genesis of this play:
Life Support Simon Gray Claire Amitstead Guardian 26 Jul 1997, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard didn’t much like the play when he saw it at The Aldwych:
Life Support de Jongh Standard 06 Aug 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Whereas Suzannah Clapp liked it more in The Observer:
Life Support Clapp Observer 10 Aug 1997, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
We voted it “good”, which is not great, but we did rate the piece and the performances highly enough.
This was a West End transfer from the Chichester Festival, which had been so well received that even we set aside our West-End show scepticism to see it in Theatreland.
We weren’t disappointed. This was a very good production of a very good play. It is basically about the denazification investigation of the German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler.
Michael Pennington & Daniel Massey played the lead roles, investigating officer major Arnold & Furtwängler respectively. Harold Pinter added yet more gravitas by directing it.
The Theatricalia entry for the play/production can be found here.
Michael Billlington really liked it when he saw it in Chichester that spring:
Billington taking Sides Tue, May 23, 1995 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Michael Coveney also liked it while comparing it with Absolute Hell:
Coveney on Taking Sides Sun, May 28, 1995 – 75 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Janie and I were very keen on Pinter and also very keen on Complicite, so we took the opportunity to see both on one Saturday during that crazy autumn during which Z/Yen was born.
According to my contemporary log:
Landscape is a short play, seen late afternoon/early evening before seeing “Out of a House Walked a Man”. Very good.
Ian Holm and Penelope Wilton. Top notch performers both,with great Pinter pedigrees too.
Here is the Theatricalia link on this production.
Wikipedia describes this short play thus.
Michael Coveney reviewed this production:
Coveney On Landscape Sun, Nov 27, 1994 – 84 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Here’s Michael Billington’s review:
Billington On Landscape Sat, Nov 26, 1994 – 30 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
A TV version of this production was broadcast on the BBC in 1995. Someone has upped it to YouTube here:
We were very taken with this piece.
Then on to see the Complicite piece:
Angels In America is a two part play. I can only talk about the first part, Millenium Approaches, which Janie and I both thought was very good indeed.
We were both due to see the second part, Perestroika, the next day, but I got a bout of the raging trots and was confined to my bed instead.
Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for Angels In America, which covers both parts.
What a cast! Daniel Craig, Susan Engel, Clare Holman, Stephen Dillane, Harry Towd…directed by Declan Donnellan too.
I insisted that Janie go alone to see Perestroika and she told me at the time that it was not as good as Millenium Approaches. But was she saying that just to be kind or was she saying that because she got less enjoyment without me or was she saying that because actually the first part is the better part?
Here is the Wikipedia entry for both.
No on-line reviews from the RNT production back then, sadly. Here is a New York Times transcript from 1993…
…and here is Michael Billington’s review from 1992:
Billington On Angels Kushner Sat, Jan 25, 1992 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
My log reads,
Don’t remember this one too well, which says something.
I have managed to find a synopsis, click here, but it doesn’t really help me much.
Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production. Still only a vague memory.
I don’t think we liked it.
I don’t think we walked out at half time. I suspect the performances from that top notch cast kept us going. But I don’t think we liked the play.
I’ve managed to find an on-line review for this one, in the Variety archive – click here.
Here is the Michael Billington clipping:
Billington On Wildest Dreams Thu, Dec 16, 1993 – 34 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Here’s Michael Coveney’s clipping:
Coveney On Wildest Dreams Sun, Dec 19, 1993 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
This was the Saturday before my life-changing first encounter with Janie at Kim & Micky’s party.
I went to see this play with Bobbie Scully. I remember it very well; both of us were very taken with it. It did prove to be a big hit, transferring and being produced again many times.
Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.
This original production really was a cracker. I think it pretty much made Jane Horrocks’s name; I don’t think she was all that well known before – perhaps she was known on the TV. Pete Postlethwaite and Alison Steadman were terrific.
I’m not sure what we did for food, but we tended to go to The Archduke or possibly RSJs after the show in those days.
No on-line reviews from those days, so you’ll just have to take my word for it – it was a cracking show. I rated the evening very good in my log, that’s for sure. Several reviews on-line for subsequent versions refer to the 1992 production – click here for the search term that brings those up.
Better yet, below is Michael Billigton’s Guardian review:
Billington on Little Voice Fri, Jun 19, 1992 – 36 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer preview, mostly about Alison Steadman:
Michael Coveney Preview’s Little Voice Sun, Jun 14, 1992 – 63 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Then the following week Coveney reviewed Little Voice:
Coveney reviews Little Voice Sun, Jun 21, 1992 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
