Another Friday, another theatre visit. This time we had even booked for the Saturday, but switched to the Friday to accommodate Caroline Freeman’s engagement party on the Saturday.
Janie and I rated this Hedda Gabler as “good”.
Janie and I had seen a mediocre (or, in Janie’s words, “OMG it was dreadful”) Hedda in Holland Park a few year’s earlier…
Even after this 1999 Hedda, I still didn’t feel that Janie had seen a good enough version, so we did it all again at The Almeida a few year’s later.
Anyway, this one was a West End preview with Francesca Annis as Hedda and other West End names such as Peter Bowles and Nyree Dawn Porter in tow. Frank McGuiness directed it.
This one started in Plymouth a week or so before we saw it in Richmond. Here is Leon Winston’s review from the Herald Express:
Hedda Winston Herald 23 Nov 1999, Tue Herald Express (Torquay, Devon, England) Newspapers.com
This production didn’t seem to make much sense to Charles Spencer in The Telegraph:
Hedda Spencer Telegraph 02 Dec 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Becky Gaunt in The Feltham Chronicle liked it but felt short-changed by Frank McGuiness’s scaled-back version.
Hedda Gaunt Feltham 02 Dec 1999, Thu The Feltham Chronicle (Hounslow, London, England) Newspapers.com