Tag: Richard Sisson

The Lady In The Van by Alan Bennett, Queen’s Theatre, 4 February 2000

This play/production was hugely hyped and got rave reviews when it opened a few week’s before we attended. I think we applied for our tickets before the show opened, opting to wait until good seats were available. Even then, we needed to opt for a Friday rather than a Saturday to get what we wanted. Such was the pull of the West End, not least Maggie Smith…or rather “Dame Maggie”…in those days.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Here’s a gushing preview from The Telegraph, by way of example:

Dame Maggie Telegraph PreviewDame Maggie Telegraph Preview 03 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Despite Janie’s reservations about Dame Maggie, we were drawn in and actually rather enjoyed this production. The play is a little contrived and mawkish, but the performances, especially Dame Maggie’s, were excellent, as was the intriguing van-themed set.

Van Butler IndependentVan Butler Independent 12 Dec 1999, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer also loved it:

Van Spencer TelegraphVan Spencer Telegraph 09 Dec 1999, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Some equivocation in Nicholas de Jongh’s Standard review, that reflects my thoughts on the play/production more than the utter gush reviews:

Van de Jongh Standard

Praise with some equivocation also from our friend Michael Billington in the Guardian:

Van Billington GuardianVan Billington Guardian 08 Dec 1999, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Looking back 25 years Janie and I are both glad we saw this one.

Goodnight Children Everywhere by Richard Nelson, The Other Place, 20 June 1998

Very good…

…was my conclusion on this one.

Janie and I were partial to a bit of Richard Nelson at that time – the RSC put on several of his works in the late 1990s.

We saw this one as part of an extraordinary whistle-stop long weekend which took in three plays at Stratford (this the third of them), a motorised hike to the Welsh Borders for lunch at The Walnut Tree before going on to Hay-On-Wye for some overnight- second-hand-book-buying on my part before stopping off for a long lunch at Raymond Blanc’s place (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons) in Oxfordshire and then home. Friday to Monday. The other bits have been written up separately from this piece – click here or below.

A Long Weekend In Stratford-Upon-Avon & Hay-On-Wye, Including Trips To The Walnut Tree & Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, 19 to 22 June 1998

I think we stayed in the Shakespeare for this trip. Janie booked it but only wrote down “Twelfth Night Room £115 per night” which I suspect in those days was a suite or certainly a superior room. I did the rest of the trip, including The Old Black Lion in Hay.

I guess the RSC was on a nostalgia-trip for its older audience at that time, with Talk Of the City at The Swan about the cloud of Nazism and this one at The Other Place set just after the Second World War.

Excellent cast, as you’d expect from the RSC. Catheryn Bradshaw, Sara Markland, Robin Weaver and Simon Scadifield to name but a few. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Charles Spencer didn’t like the play, but it did pick up an Olivier award so what does he know?

Spencer Telegraph GoodnightSpencer Telegraph Goodnight 11 Dec 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh absolutely hated the play. But it did pick up an Olivier Award so what does he know?

de Jongh Standard Goodnightde Jongh Standard Goodnight 10 Dec 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Richard Edmonds in The Birmingham Post loved it:

Birmingham Post Edmonds GoodnightBirmingham Post Edmonds Goodnight 12 Dec 1997, Fri The Birmingham Post (Birmingham, West Midlands, England) Newspapers.com