Tag: Norman Wilkinson

Quatermaine’s Terms by Simon Gray, The Questors Studio, 23 May 1998

We went to this with Pauline “The Duchess”, who will have sported the theatre tickets (which she got free), which she saw as fair exchange for Janie to buy the drinks and me to buy dinner afterwards.

We went to Gilbey’s for that dinner. Gilbey’s was a small chain run by honourable people, if the companies house dissolution records (which is all I can find on-line) are to be believed.

As for Quatermaine’s Terms, I remember reading and liking this Simon Gray play a lot, so was keen to see a production of it. As always, The Questors did a competent job and that theatre company is especially to be commended for its on-line archive, which has preserved everything you could possibly want to know about that production (and quite possibly more besides).

Biography by Max Frisch, Translated by Michael Bullock, The Questors Theatre, 20 May 1995

I was really excited at the opportunity to see this play, which had not been performed in England before. I’ve been a fan of Max Frisch’s writing ever since performing in Andorra when I was at Alleyn’s:

Andorra, 23, 24 & 25 February 1978

An unusual opportunity to see a premier at The Questor’s Theatre, with Janie & The Duchess (Janie’s mum).

I liked this production, rating it “good” in my log. I recall the play being quite tricky and probably a challenge too far for The Questor’s.

The conceit of the piece – a behavioural researcher is given the opportunity to return to any point in his life and change the decisions he made – is intriguing and “very Frisch”.

25 years on, I have ordered a copy of the book and shall no doubt enjoy reading it.

Returning to 1995, I am pretty sure that the arrangement will have been “the usual” – i.e. The Duchess supplied The Questor’s tickets, Janie bought the interval drinks and I will have paid for dinner at Wine and Moussaka. That arrangement was decreed to be “fair” by The Duchess; who were we humble little folk to disagree with that?

But what if I could return to 1995 and make such decisions over again…?