Patsy Rodenberg – Page 2 – Ian Louis Harris

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Cottesloe Theatre, 5 August 2000

I gave this production a one word review in my log:

Marvellous.

I remember that Janie and I had awaited this one eagerly. I remember that Ben Daniels was especially good in it, as were James Hazeldine, Paul Ritter, Julie Walters and Catherine McCormack. Howard Davies directing – and indeed the Cottesloe, now Dorfman as a location – were consistently good back then.

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph had to set aside his antipathy towards Arthur Miller because he thought this production so good:

Sons Spencer Telegraph
Article from 10 Jul 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Susannah Clapp loved the play and the production:

Sons Clapp Observer
Article from 9 Jul 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Patrick Marmion in The Standard issued a rare “outstanding” mark:

Sons Marmion Standard
Article from 7 Jul 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

John Gross, like his mate Charles Spencer, liked the production more than the play:

Sons & Samaritan Gross Sunday Telegraph
Article from 16 Jul 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

A rare and unexpected downbeat note comes from our friend, Michael Billington, who didn’t like the choice of play, nor did he like the production.

Sons Billington Guardian
Article from 8 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

I guess you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

The Country by Martin Crimp, Royal Court Theatre, 10 June 2000

Janie and I were very taken with this creepy three-hander at the Royal Court. I remember us agreeing that it was Pinteresque at the time – without the influence of reviews I hasten to add.

I think this was our first sighting of a Martin Crimp play and for sure we were intrigued enough to seek out his work several times subsequently.

Owen Teale, Juliet Stevenson and Indira Varma, directed by Katie Mitchell. All people who had impressed us before and/or since.

My friend Michael Billington in the Guardian shared our fascination with this piece and also saw the Pinter parallels:

Billington on Crimp’s The Country 17 May 2000, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph, on the other hand, adjudged the play “pastiche Pinter”, while applauding the acting and the production:

Spencer on Crimp’s The Country 18 May 2000, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Clearly the photographers thought that Juliet Stevenson jiggling car keys in Owen Teale’s face was the memorable image of the production.

Richard II by William Shakespeare, Almeida at Gainsborough, 20 May 2000

We were still at the stage that I thought Janie might just be converted on to Shakespeare, so I booked a couple of Bard productions that spring: Ralph Fiennes playing the title role in this one and Tony Sher playing the title role in the Scottish one.

The idea didn’t really work on Janie – especially Richard II, which she found long and dull, despite a great cast and very solid production.

If I remember correctly, Gainsborough was a pop up theatre on the site of a disused film studio in Hoxton. This was one of the Almeida’s homes for a while, during which time the theatre was being poshed-up a bit.

Ralph Fiennes was a nodding acquaintance of mine back then – one of several actors who frequented Lambton Place in those days. This I disclose in the interests of openness and transparency, not that nodding acquaintanceship might affect my judgment.

I thought this production was very good, but I have always had my doubts about Richard II as a play. It is one that I “studied” at school, as a precursor to Henry IV Part one being my ‘O’ Level text. If Michael Lempriere couldn’t make it interesting for me, even Ralph, Jonathan Kent directing and an excellent supporting cast were going to struggle.

Paul Taylor in The Independent liked it but was a little underwhelmed:

Richard Taylor Independent 13 Apr 2000, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was more impressed by the set than anything else:

Richard de Jongh Standard 13 Apr 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Even Charles Spencer in The Telegraph described it as “far from electrifying” and “dull”:

Richard Spencer Telegraph 14 Apr 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Not our greatest weekend of theatre, 19/20 May 2000. But you cannot win them all.

Blue / Orange by Joe Penhall, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 May 2000

This was one of our “oh wow!” visits to the theatre.

Superb,

was all I write in the log, but I knew I wouldn’t need to write much down because the evening was so memorable.

It was a bank holiday Monday and Mum’s birthday. “How did you get away with that?”, I hear you readers cry.

My diary notes that we went to Mum & Dad for bank holiday lunch before going on to the RNT for Blue / Orange. Simple enough.

This is a great play, which was masterfully performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor (our first sighting of him), Andrew Lincoln and Bill Nighy. Roger Michell directed. Theatricalia tells all here.

Paul Taylor was impressed. “Gripping”, he says:

Blue / Orange Taylor Indy 14 Apr 2000, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard also rated it highly.

Blue / Orange de Jongh Standard 14 Apr 2000, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph hated the play:

Blue / Orange Spencer Telegraph 17 Apr 2000, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend, Michael Billington, had a downer on the National at that time – it took me a dozen or so more years to acquire a similar view. Still, Michael B approved of this one:

Blue / Orange Billington Guardian 19 Apr 2000, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, Royal Court Theatre, 10 March 2000

Janie and I had been blown away by The Weir, the previous year…

The Weir by Conor McPherson, Duke of York’s Theatre, 2 January 1999

…and were very keen to see Conor McPherson’s next one.

Further, as members who had been loyal through the years of “exile” while The Royal Court was being redone, we were invited that Friday afternoon to a “guided tour” of the revamped building. Janie and I were both motivated to take a Friday afternoon off work and “go see” before the show.

It was on that tour that Janie and I spotted the little nook seat in a recess of the stairway just before you get to the upstairs bar…latterly the library. We took a shine to that nook and for many years took great pleasure in having a pre-show or interval drink in there.

As for Dublin Carol, we really liked it and it cemented our view that Conor McPherson was a writer to watch. It didn’t quite pack the punch of The Weir, but that play was always going to be a tough act to follow.

Brian Cox played the lead in Dublin Carol, with great charisma. Andrew Scott, & Bronagh Gallagher were also excellent in support. Ian Rickson directed.

I’m not sure what the critics made of it at the time…let’s find out.

I’d forgotten this bit, but because of delays to the finishing of The Royal Court, Dublin Carol previewed at The Old Vic for a while. Susannah Clapp reviewed it, with great enthusiasm, there…

Dublin Carol Clapp Observer 23 Jan 2000, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…as did Michael Billington in The Guardian…

Dublin Carol, Billington Guardian 22 Jan 2000, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But most of the subsequent reviews seemed to want to talk about the grand opening of the newly refurbished Royal Court than the play/production that graced it, doing McPherson, Cox et. al. no favours. Please note, the grand opening was two or three weeks before the hoi polloi tour that we enjoyed in March.

Royal Court Independent 18 Feb 2000, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Royal Court Standard 23 Feb 2000, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

At least Charles Spencer had the good grace to laud both the Champagne-swilling opening and the production:

Dublin Carol Spencer Telegraph 24 Feb 2000, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Battle Royal by Nick Stafford, Lyttelton Theatre, 11 December 1999

Our verdict on this one:

Had its moments.

That is not a rave review.

This production was awash with star names; Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Gemma Jones, Suzanne Burden, Brendan Coyle, Matthew Macfadyen…

…directed by Howard Davies.

Here is the Theatricalia link for this play/production.

The production and talent on show was all very high quality – I don’t think the play did it for us.

It didn’t seem to please all the critics either. Nick Curtis in the Standard gave it the dreaded blob:

Battle Curtis Standard 10 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor, in the Independent, also panned it.

Battle Taylor Independent 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Charles Spencer in the Telegraph rather liked it:

Battle Spencer Telegraph 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But our charitable friend, Michael Billington, awarded it a rare mediocre two stars:

Battle Billington Guardian 11 Dec 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Remember This by Stephen Poliakoff, Lyttelton Theatre, 9 October 1999

My log reads:

I got more out of this one than Janie did. Not SP’s best.

We saw a preview – the press night was about a week later.

Stanley Townsend is always good news and he didn’t disappoint as the charismatic lead. Good support too from Geraldine Somerville and others, directed by Ron Daniels. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

It was the play that lacked coherence. Janie couldn’t see past the fragile conceits of the play.

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, seems to have shared our reservations. He says that the plot “has more holes than a second-hand colander”…

…(does a new colander have fewer holes than a second-hand one, Michael?)…

Remember Guardian Billington 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh seems to have hated it. “Ponderous” is not a desirable adjective if you are Poliakoff:

Remember Standard de Jongh 18 Oct 1999, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in the Telegraph described it as “chronically dull”:

Remember Telegraph Bassett 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

OK, OK, I’ve got the point. A rare dud from Poliakoff, the master.

Demons & Dybbuks by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Method & Madness At The Young Vic, 18 September 1999

The log reminds me that we ran into Rob Pay, Susan Pay & Jay Jaffe at that show. In those days, Rob & Susan lived very near to my place, but my place was a building site that autumn and I was staying with Janie in Ealing at that time.

As for the play, I recall that Mike Alfred’s Method & Madness project was a bit Complicité-like, without quite the oomph (and certainly not the longevity) of Complicité.

The piece was basically adaptations (by Mike Alfreds) of a few Isaac Basevis Singer short stories.

Nick Curtis in The Standard was not very impressed:

Dybbuks Standard Curtis 02 Sep 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor was more charitable in The Independent:

Dybbuks Independent Taylor 02 Sep 1999, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The diary suggests that it was a long/late-finishing show, so I suspect that we picked up shawarmas after this show on the way home. The diary also tells me that we went to Gary [Davison]’s birthday lunch the next day. The diary is silent on where we went but in those days Gary tended to hold that event at Lemonia in Primrose Hill.

Rose by Martin Sherman, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 May 1999

Janie and I remember being really impressed by Olympia Dukakis’s performance in this one woman play, while finding the play itself “a bit much”.

To be fair, we were a bit numb that weekend – we had attended Jenny Jamilly’s funeral the day before and were possibly not in the mood for high drama. Let alone uber-Jewish high drama, nach.

We saw a preview late May although the play didn’t receive its press night until some four weeks later.

The critics seem to have sided with us viz the performance and the play. Here’s Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard: