Tag: Paddy Cunneen

Antigone by Sophocles, The Old Vic, 28 October 1999

For some reason, stuff at The Old Vic rarely works for us and this production of Antigone was no exception. It had been bigged-up in the media on the back of a big name cast, headed up by Tara Fitzgerald alongside Jonathan Hyde, Anna Calder-Marshall, Zubin Varla and several others, under the skilled direction of (and adaption by) Declan Donnellan.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for that production.

Janie and I didn’t think that Tara Fitzgerald suited that part, or indeed possibly the stage, but what do we know?

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard gave it a blob:

Antigone Standard Old Vic Antigone Standard Old Vic 12 Oct 1999, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Paul Taylor in The Independent liked it a lot:

Antigone Taylor IndependentAntigone Taylor Independent 12 Oct 1999, Tue The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, in the Guardian, absolutely loved it:

Antigone Billington Guardian 1 of 2Antigone Billington Guardian 1 of 2 14 Oct 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Antigone Billington Guardian 2 of 2Antigone Billington Guardian 2 of 2 14 Oct 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

More often than not, if the critics are divided, we side with Billington (Guardian) over Spencer (Telegraph), but Charles Spencer panned this production (perhaps more vociferously than our view). I’ll let him have the last word:

Antigone Spencer TelegraphAntigone Spencer Telegraph 13 Oct 1999, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Blue Room by David Hare, (adapted from Arthur Schnitzler), Donmar Warehouse, 26 September 1998

By gosh there was a fuss in the UK press about this one, with theatre journalists falling over themselves to heap praise, in particular on Nicole Kidman, essentially for looking the part and being able to act.

We had tickets for the first Saturday, because back then, as members of the Donmar, that was the sort of thing we did, especially if someone as grand as David Hare was credited with writing a whole new version of a play.

The play, originally known as La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler, was highly controversial when it was written at the turn of the 20th century. There are 10 characters. David Hare’s version at Sam Mendes’s request at The Donmar (subsequently transferred to the Cort Theatre in New York) was not the first time the play was staged as a two-hander. It starred Iain Glen and Nicole Kidman.

Janie and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening, but probably for all the wrong reasons. My log comment speaks volumes:

Nice bodies, shame about the play.

Having been wowed by David Hare’s wonderful solo performance piece Via Dolorosa the week before…

Via Dolorosa by David Hare, Royal Court Theatre At The Duke Of York Theatre, 19 September 1998

…Janie and I found The Blue Room to be comparatively thin dramatic gruel.

Still, nice bodies as I (and the fawning journalists) said, plus a bizarre moment for me personally. Janie and I were sitting right at the front at one of the sides of the stage, as oft we did at the Donmar. As the stars took their final bow and departed the stage, Nicole Kidman seemed to look straight at me and wave at me with her fingers. One of Janie’s patients was in the audience that night and came up to us as we were leaving the theatre in a state of great excitement, because she had seen Nicole Kidman waving at me. The patient wondered whether I knew Nicole Kidman personally, to which my answer was, “not until this evening”.

25 years later, all I can say is that me and Nicole, we go back a long way.

Here are some of the fawning newspaper pieces. The Standard, seemingly without irony, devoted its Page 3 to the news & review. Frankly some of the language used in this Standard page would not be acceptable 25 years later:

Blue Room Standard Blue Room Standard 23 Sep 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph was blown away by Kidman’s bravura performance:

Blue Room Spencer TelegraphBlue Room Spencer Telegraph 23 Sep 1998, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

In the Guardian, there is a gushing piece in The Arts Diary which, like the other papers, probably would get heavily edited or spiked today, while our friend Michael Billington did the worthy thing and reviewed Our Country’s Good at The Young Vic instead. (Janie and I went to see that the following spring when it came back from its tour.)

Blue Room & Our Country's Good Guardian BillingtonBlue Room & Our Country’s Good Guardian Billington 19 Sep 1998, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill, Almeida Theatre, 18 April 1998

It had to be good for Janie to stay awake for best part of 4 hours

Thus spake my log.

It was very good. Kevin Spacey in the lead role. Excellent supporting cast, including Tim Pigott-Smith and Rupert Graves. Howard Davies directing.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it a lot in The Standard:

Iceman Standard de JonghIceman Standard de Jongh 15 Apr 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent, though positive, was less sure:

Iceman Independent TaylorIceman Independent Taylor 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, was very keen on it:

Iceman Guardian BillingtonIceman Guardian Billington 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Maids by Jean Genet, Richmond Theatre, 13 September 1997

Had its moments.

That was my sole comment on the quality of this one in the log – I don’t think we were overly impressed despite the excellent cast. Niamh Cusack, Kerry Fox & Josette Simon, directed by John Crowley, initially at the Donmar Warehouse and then touring – we saw it at Richmond.

Previewed in the Standard thusly…

Maids Stringer Preview StandardMaids Stringer Preview Standard 11 Jun 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I don’t think Nicholas de Jongh liked it much once it opened:

Maids de Jongh StandardMaids de Jongh Standard 26 Jun 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Benedict in The Independent liked it:

Maids Benedict IndyMaids Benedict Indy 27 Jun 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in The Telegraph was less sure.

Maids Bassett TelegraphMaids Bassett Telegraph 27 Jun 1997, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I suspect we ate at Don Fernando’s again after this one. I also wrote:

No interval

…which might mean that we would have walked out had there been one.

Othello by William Shakespeare, Cottesloe Theatre, 2 August 1997

I don’t think Othello & I get on.

I was underwhelmed when I saw this play for the first time, with Bobbie, in 1989.

Again, this time with Janie, we saw a stellar cast and the work of a fine director (Sam Mendes rather than Trevor Nunn).

My log says:

Sadly, Janie hated it and I had pulled my neck, so we bowed out gracefully at half time. (Well, Janie bowed, I couldn’t bow of course).

My neck condition was doubtless not improved by Janie’s manifest disquiet and the length of the play. Perhaps I had overdone it the previous weekend at Andrea’s BBQ party on the Saturday and Kim & Micky’s evening do the next day.

Apologies to the fine cast who had to do without us for the second half of that evening; Simon Russell Beale, David Harewood & Claire Skinner leading the pack. Trevor Peacock, Colin Tierney, Indira Varma and others supporting well no doubt. It’s either me, or the play, or me & the play…it’s not you, loves. The Theatricalia entry gives you chapter and verse on the cast and crew.

There was a hoo-ha in the press that summer about whether or not Othello could or should be played by a white actor. Having seen Willard White in 1989 and David Harewood in 1997, I was not really party to the phenomenon that Othello is usually played by a white actor and that the play is increasingly rarely performed because some people are uncomfortable about skin colour with regard to that part.

Janie and I saw a preview long before the press night of this production – indeed before most of that press hoo-ha kicked off, which made the hoo-ha seem even more weird to us.

Anyway, Charles Spencer seemed very impressed with the production once press night came around:

Othello Spencer TelegraphOthello Spencer Telegraph 18 Sep 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh seemed to quite like it in The Standard

Othello de Jongh StandardOthello de Jongh Standard 17 Sep 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington found it “brilliant” in the Guardian:

Othello Billington GuardianOthello Billington Guardian 18 Sep 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I am happy to concede that the critics were right and/but this simply isn’t a play for Janie and probably (even though i am far more partial to Shakespeare than she) not for me either. A pain in the neck is how I remember it.

Closer by Patrick Marber, Cottesloe Theatre, 31 May 1997

No equivocation from us nor the critics on this one. While my “very good” report on many pieces covers a range of satisfaction, for this one I wrote:

One of the very best…

…which is not something I wrote often. I very clearly recall Janie and I walking out after Closer saying “wow” to each other.

Patrick Marber himself directed it and we were skilful/fortunate to see the original cast at the Cottesloe as this production upscaled in the light of rave reviews, multiple awards and huge audiences. We saw Liza Walker, Clive Owen, Ciaran Hinds and Sally Dexter. Here is the Theatricalia entry.

Here are the pick of the reviews.

First up – Charles Spencer in the Telegraph raving about it:

Closer Spencer TelegraphCloser Spencer Telegraph 30 May 1997, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian described it as a triumph and a great play:

Closer Billington GuardianCloser Billington Guardian 31 May 1997, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Bennett in The Independent was perhaps a lone unequivocal voice, who saw it as essential viewing but dangerously autobiographical:

Closer Bennett IndependentCloser Bennett Independent 31 May 1997, Sat The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Yet Robert Butler the next day in the same paper was very excited about the play/production:

Closer Butler IndyCloser Butler Indy 01 Jun 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Janie and I both just so remember that “wow” feeling and still remember this as one of the very best plays/productions we have ever seen.

The Cripple Of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 February 1997

We were neither of us too sure about this play/production.

Granted, it was extremely well received. Granted, we recognised Martin McDonagh’s talent and said we’d like to see more of his work, which subsequently we have done.

But this particular play/production felt like a pastiche of a pre war Irish play to us and left us a bit cold.

Here is a link to the production’s Theatricalia entry.

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph shared some of our concerns:

Inishmaan Charles Spencer TelegraphInishmaan Charles Spencer Telegraph 09 Jan 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh similarly:

Inishmaan Nicholas de Jongh StandardInishmaan Nicholas de Jongh Standard 08 Jan 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Michael Billington praised the work highly while also signalling that he felt McDonagh could achieve yet greater things:

Inishmaan Billington GuardianInishmaan Billington Guardian 09 Jan 1997, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 May 1996

I’ve long been partial to a bit of Potter, as has Daisy.

I had seen the original TV film of this one and to some extent had my doubts about it, as I have never much enjoyed the conceit of adult actors playing the role of children.

Still, the chance to see a National production of a Potter won the day. Many members of this fine cast went on to bigger and bolder things. Steve Coogan, Nigel Lindsay, Debra Gillett, Geraldine Somerville. Patrick Marber directed it.

The Theatricalia entry for this play/production can be found here.

Michael Coveney in The Observer hated it:

Coveney on HillsCoveney on Hills Sun, May 5, 1996 – 65 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Whereas Michael Billington wrote highly of it, finding it more translatable from screen to stage than most Potter and describing it as “Potter at his best”:

Billington on HillsBillington on Hills Sat, May 4, 1996 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We were both ambivalent about it. It was clearly a fine production. It pleased me more than the TV version. But that “adults playing children” thing still didn’t really work for me.

Below is an excerpt from the original 1979 TV film:

Blue Remembered Hills _ Scene 1+2 from rob blake on Vimeo.

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 June 1994

We do like a bit of Pinter. I was especially keen to see this one. I’d never seen the play performed live; this 1994 production was the first London production since the West End production in the 1960s. But I had seen the wonderful 1980s TV version with Pinter himself as Goldberg.

I’d also previously seen excerpts from the play performed live; not least by my own school mates in the late 1970’s when Dan O’Neill was selected for the role of Goldberg ahead of me because he could do a much better Goldberg accent than me. I don’t bear grudges but I do retain a sense of unjust cultural appropriation to this day, not least because I still cannot do a Goldberg-style accent. I played Aston in The Caretaker instead, but I digress.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the version Janie and I saw in June 1994. My log says we thought it was very good. A young, then little-known Sam Mendes directed it. Bob Peck was Goldberg, Anton Lesser was Stanley. Dora Bryan and Trevor Peacock were Meg and Petey.

Here is a contemporaneous review from Irving Wardle in the Independent in 1994.

Below is the Michael Billington review:

Billington On The Birthday PartyBillington On The Birthday Party Sat, Mar 19, 1994 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s review:

Coveney On the Birthday PartyCoveney On the Birthday Party Sun, Mar 20, 1994 – 85 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

In truth, my memory for this play remains full of the wonderful BBC TV production from the 1980s…

…and Dan O’Neill’s Goldberg at school of course.

Angels in America – Millenium Approaches, Tony Kushner, Cottesloe Theatre, 8 April 1994

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 KushnerBillington On Angels Kushner Sat, Jan 25, 1992 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com