Tag: Rachel Dickson

The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, Donmar Warehouse, 6 October 2001

Superb.

Our single word verdict sums up how we felt about this production.

Top notch cast: Penelope Wilton, David Calder, and Matthew Marsh; ably supported by Alibe Parsons, Christian Dixon, Brid Brennan, Edward Hughes, Michael Hadley, Anna Maxwell Martin, and Peter Guinness. Directed by Marianne Elliott. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Charles Spencer, while admitting that this is not his sort of play, spoke very highly of the production:

Foxes Spencer Telegraph Foxes Spencer Telegraph 12 Oct 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh also gave it a very good review:

Foxes de Jongh Standard Foxes de Jongh Standard 11 Oct 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington also liked it a lot.

Foxes Billington Guardian Foxes Billington Guardian 11 Oct 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

You see? Superb. That’s what I said.

Platonov by Anton Chekov, Almeida At Kings Cross, 1 September 2001

This was a very good production with a top notch cast, performed in that pop-up coach station of a theatre that the Almeida used while the main theatre was getting its major revamp. I’m pretty sure we saw a preview.

Helen McCrory and Aidan Gillen led the way, ably supported by solid performers such as Adrian Scarborough and Jodhi May, directed by Jonathan Kent – one of his last productions at The Almeida.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

This is not the greatest Chekhov play – it is an early play that shows traces of the brilliance to come. Chekhov recycled some of the best bits of this one into his later, now classic plays. This production was based on an adaptation by David Hare.

It was a very good evening at the theatre, as I remember it, albeit rather a bum-numbing long one.

Nicholas de Jongh spoke highly of the production in The Standard:

Platonov de Jongh Standard Platonov de Jongh Standard 12 Sept 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington also wrote highly of it:

Platonov Billington Guardian Platonov Billington Guardian 13 Sept 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in The Telegraph was less sure:

Platonov Spencer Telegraph Platonov Spencer Telegraph 13 Sept 2001 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Five Kinds Of Silence by Shelagh Stephenson, Lyric Hammersmith, 24 June 2000

No comment on this one in my log. Not necessarily a bad thing but also not necessarily a good thing.

Fabulous cast – including Tim Pigott-Smith, Lizzy McInnerny, Gina McKee & Linda Bassett. Ian Brown directed. But in truth I remember little about this one – even after looking at some of the reviews.

Paul Taylor was impressed:

Five Kinds Taylor Independent

Article from 3 Jun 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Michael Billington was less impressed:

Five Kinds Billington Guardian

Article from 5 Jun 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

Nicholas de Jongh was also somewhat underwhelmed by the play:

Five Kinds de Jongh Standard

Article from 5 Jun 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Janie and I went to a gastro pub restaurant, The Chiswick, afterwards.