Tag: Paul Hennessy

Conversations After A Burial by Yasmina Reza, Almeida Theatre, 16 September 2000

I should describe this as “the weekend of the playwright Rezas”, shouldn’t I, having seen Reza de Wet’s play Crossings on the Friday…

Crossing by Reza de Wet, Riverside Studio 3, 15 September 2000

…we ventured to the Almeida for Yazmina Reza’s much anticipated follow up to Art…except it turned out to be an earlier play, not a subsequent one.

I wrote nothing in the log about this one, and sense that we weren’t overly impressed, but nor were we especially disappointed. I remember little about it other than it being a very high-end Almeida cast and production.

Paul Higgins, Amanda Root, Clare Holman, Claire Bloom, Matthew Marsh & David Calder were the cast. Howard Davies directed it. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Let’s see what the pundits had to say.

Susannah Clapp was not impressed, other than with Claire Bloom:

Burial Clapp Observer Burial Clapp Observer 17 Sept 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, John Gross in the Sunday Telegraph really liked it:

Burial Zinc Gross Sunday Telegraph Burial Zinc Gross Sunday Telegraph 17 Sept 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh also talks up Claire Bloom while damning the production with faint praise:

Burial de Jongh Standard Burial de Jongh Standard 13 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Casting vote to our friend Michael Billington, who liked its Chekhovian quality:

Burial Billington Guardian Burial Billington Guardian 13 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Showman by Thomas Bernhard, Almeida Theatre, 12 June 1993

Janie and I both thought this play/production was very good.

Alan Bates was a superb actor and was espececially suited to this role. The supporting cast were excellent under Jonathan Kent’s expert direction.

Below is Michael Billington’s judgment on the piece:

Billington On the ShowmanBillington On the Showman Wed, May 19, 1993 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney was also very keen on this play/production:

Michael Coveney On The ShowmanMichael Coveney On The Showman Sun, May 23, 1993 – 64 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Janie and I still say “my dear child” in the gnarley style that Alan Bates delivered that phrase in this production.

This was our first visit to the Almeida together and I have a feeling we ran into my NewsRevue friend Ivan Shakespeare on this occasion and indeed on more than one of our first few occasions at the Almeida. Ivan was a volunteer there and I think he did Saturday evenings whenever he could.