Tag: Nickolas Grace

Mahler’s Conversion by Ronald Harwood, Aldwych Theatre, 22 September 2001

Oh dear.

I was usually really partial to a bit of Tony Sher, but all I wrote in my log for this one was:

Dire.

I’m also partial to a bit of Mahler, so the subject matter should have pleased me. I suspect that Janie and I were like minded on this, as I tend to record a difference of opinion.

I must declare that we saw a preview, but I find it hard to believe that “dire” was rescued between preview and press night.

Let’s see what the experts thought.

Here’s the Guardian’s review of reviews. Not great, as I believe the system for this is out of 10:

Mahler Review of Reviews Guardian Mahler Review of Reviews Guardian 13 Oct 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

A rare two stars only from our friend Michael Billington:

Mahler Billington Guardian Mahler Billington Guardian 3 Oct 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer also didn’t like it:

4 Oct 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard gave it the dreaded blob.

3 Oct 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My preview assessment – “dire” – seems to have summed it up in few but effective word(s).

Life Support by Simon Gray, Richmond Theatre, 20 June 1997

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 HarrisonLife 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 GuardianLife 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 StandardLife 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 ObserverLife 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.