Tag: Questors Theatre

The Rehearsal by Jean Anouilh, Questors Theatre, 8 February 1997

My log suggests that I lost the programme and therefore all record of this event, but thanks to those wonderful people at The Questors Theatre who seem to archive absolutely everything, I have been able to retrieve the programme and all the details of the cast and creatives – click here for the Questors archive link.

Click here for the Questors programme, just in case it is no longer available through the above link.

I have always had a soft spot for Anouilh, ever since I saw his Antigone at Alleyn’s in my first year of secondary school.

I must admit, though, that lighter, lesser Anouilh has not dated as well as his more serious work. The Rehearsal falls into the “lighter work” category. It seems extraordinary today that this play fell foul of the British theatre censors until the 1960s.

Still, my vague recollection of this production was that it was quite eye-catching and held our attention.

The diary is silent on where we ate afterwards.

The deal with Pauline on Questors nights was that she did the theatre tickets, Janie did the interval drinks and I did the dinners. No sign of me putting a credit card down for a fancy meal that night, so I’m guessing that we had a modest dinner at Wine & Moussaka, which I recall us doing occasionally after the Questors.

The Journalists by Arnold Wesker, The Questors Theatre, 7 December 1996

My log for this one reads:

Programme (and hence all details) missing.

Production OK but cluttered – much like the play.

But all is not lost – it turns out that The Questors Theatre has one of the best theatrical archives of their own productions on the planet (who knew?), so everything you ever wanted to know about this production (or indeed any Questors production) and more besides, is preserved. Click here for The Journalists.

Just in case anything ever goes awry there, I have uploaded the scan of the programme to here.

I was reminded of this play and production many years later when Janie and I saw Ink at the Almeida.

Ink by James Graham, Almeida Theatre, 17 June 2017

Ink was not cluttered, although I did get spluttered…

…but that’s another story.

We no doubt took Pauline on to Noughts & Crosses, or possibly Lisa’s, or possibly Wine & Moussaka afterwards.

Pauline will have done the Questors tickets, which was very generous of her (she didn’t have to pay anything for two guest tickets), Janie will have done the interval drinks and I will have sported the dinner. Fair dinkum.

Biography by Max Frisch, Translated by Michael Bullock, The Questors Theatre, 20 May 1995

I was really excited at the opportunity to see this play, which had not been performed in England before. I’ve been a fan of Max Frisch’s writing ever since performing in Andorra when I was at Alleyn’s:

Andorra, 23, 24 & 25 February 1978

An unusual opportunity to see a premier at The Questor’s Theatre, with Janie & The Duchess (Janie’s mum).

I liked this production, rating it “good” in my log. I recall the play being quite tricky and probably a challenge too far for The Questor’s.

The conceit of the piece – a behavioural researcher is given the opportunity to return to any point in his life and change the decisions he made – is intriguing and “very Frisch”.

25 years on, I have ordered a copy of the book and shall no doubt enjoy reading it.

Returning to 1995, I am pretty sure that the arrangement will have been “the usual” – i.e. The Duchess supplied The Questor’s tickets, Janie bought the interval drinks and I will have paid for dinner at Wine and Moussaka. That arrangement was decreed to be “fair” by The Duchess; who were we humble little folk to disagree with that?

But what if I could return to 1995 and make such decisions over again…?

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, The Questors Theatre, 22 May 1993

Once bitten but seemingly not twice shy, here was another evening at the Questors with Pauline, Janie’s mum. Quite soon after the previous visit to see The Real Thing:

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, The Questors Theatre, 3 April 1993

On this occasion, I had been at a BDO Awayday on the Friday and overnight into the Saturday. This might have been the one after which Steve Taylor nearly lost his life in a car accident driving off to play cricket on the Saturday, but perhaps that was an earlier one.

I too was taking risks with my next day activities, but a different family of risks.

Anyway, according to Janie’s diary, she took work on the Saturday morning and gave blood that afternoon, before our evening engagement with her mum…

…that really is like giving blood twice in one day – not recommended.

Much like with The Real Thing, Janie and I got the opportunity, about seven years later, to see a tippy-top professional production of this fine play – in the case of All My Sons, one of Arthur Miller’s finest.

The Questors production was not at all bad, though.

No drinks at Pauline’s before this one – I think Pauline set into what became the regular pattern of “fairness”, which was:

  • Pauline did The Questors tickets
  • Janie paid for the drinks at The Questors
  • I paid for the restaurant meal afterwards.

I learnt some years later that, as a member of The Questors, Pauline got a certain number of free tickets for shows and I am pretty sure she calibrated her membership/invitations to ensure that she wasn’t actually paying for our tickets…ever.

Fair enough.

Janie’s diary reveals that we ate at Lisa’s after that particular show. Lisa served pretty good food on Pitshanger Lane, but my goodness did you get Lisa’s life story thrown in free of charge along with the food, especially if you were one of only a handful of late/after theatre tables.

Lisa’s was still there 20 years or so on, but now gone for good, I believe. Possibly just as well.

The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard, The Questors Theatre, 3 April 1993

It must have been dawning on me and Janie that our thing was the real thing…

…because this was a night at the theatre with Pauline; Janie’s mum.

According to Janie’s diary, we had drinks at Pauline’s place at 6:00 before going off to The Questors for a 7:45 show.

All I wrote in my diary was “Questors”.

A notice from a local paper – click here.

Janie and I felt motivated to see a professional production of The Real Thing a few years later at the Donmar Warehouse.I recall the play working much better, especially for Janie, second time around.

Still, I don’t think the evening went too badly. I’m pretty sure I treated the pair of them to dinner after show, but I do not recall where and both our diaries are silent on the matter.

It almost certainly would have been either Wine & Mousaka, Lisa’s or Noughts & Crosses in those days. I don’t know why, but I think it was Wine & Mousaka that first time.

We all lived to tell the tale.