Tag: Paul Shelley

What The Heart Feels by Stephen Bill, Orange Tree Theatre, 11 October 1996

The programme for this one went missing, so we have to reconstruct cast and creatives as best we can from on-line archives reviews and stuff.

Stephen Bill wrote it. The Doolee description reads:

“…a group of friends attempt to build an arts centre in the Midlands.”

The production was previewed in The Evening Standard:

What The Heart Feels, Standard PreviewWhat The Heart Feels, Standard Preview 11 Oct 1996, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kim Bunce wrote it up thus in The Independent:

What The Heart Feels Kim Bunce ObserverWhat The Heart Feels Kim Bunce Observer 10 Nov 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Michael Billington, an Orange Tree fan, wrote the following:

What The Heart Feels Billington GuardianWhat The Heart Feels Billington Guardian 19 Oct 1996, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I think we quite liked this play/production. In truth I only vaguely remember it from the descriptions.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Olivier Theatre, 30 June 1990

I rated this production very good and I remember it surprisingly well.

Howard Davies directed this one and gathered an excellent cast. Tom Wilkinson as John Proctor, Zoe Wanamaker as Elizabeth Proctor, Clare Holman as Abigail, plus a top notch RNT ensemble, as was the way at that time.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Nicholas de Jongh’s review from The Guardian:

de Jongh on The Cruciblede Jongh on The Crucible Sat, Jun 2, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

This production must have been very good, because it is quite a long play and I had “done my back” pretty dramatically the week before. Thus started a period when my back would tell me whether or not I was fully engaged in a theatrical production. For this one, I only recall the superb drama; I don’t recall the pain!

The Secret Rapture by David Hare, Lyttelton Theatre, 11 February 1989

Superb cast and crew, as listed on Theatricalia – click here.

No on-line reviews of the late 1980’s production we saw, of course, but here is a Michael Billington job on a revival some 15 years later.

Below is a clipping of Michael Billington’s review of the original production we saw:

Billington on Secret RaptureBillington on Secret Rapture Thu, Oct 6, 1988 – 25 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:

Ratcliffe on RaptureRatcliffe on Rapture Sun, Oct 9, 1988 – 43 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

David Hare plays have a tendency to irritate me, especially those plays that seem to come at moral and/or political issues with some preachy certainty – even if I agree with Hare’s position, which often I do.

I recall The Secret Rapture having enough moral dilemma and ambiguity about Thatcherism to keep the thought and concentration going throughout the play and for some time afterwards too.

A synopsis can be found by clicking here.

They made a movie of this play a few years later…mostly different cast…

…I don’t really recognise the play I saw from this trailer at all:

In short, I remember thinking the play/production that we saw was very good. I went with Bobbie.

I’m not sure what we did afterwards; perhaps we ate out or perhaps I prepared some food for afterwards, as I was in the mode to do that in those early days at Clanricarde Gardens.