Tag: Richmond Theatre

The Memory Of Water by Shelagh Stephenson, Richmond Theatre, 28 November 1998

Very good.

That was our verdict. We like Shelagh Stephenson’s plays and this was a stellar cast including Samantha Bond, Julie Legrand, Alison Steadman and Julia Sawalha, directed by Terry Johnson.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the production.

Our Richmond preview came just after it previewed at several other places. The Cambridge Evening News reviewed it thusly:

Memory Singer CambridgeMemory Singer Cambridge 27 Oct 1998, Tue Cambridge Evening News (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England) Newspapers.com

It transferred to the West End with considerable success, if I remember correctly.

Equally Divided by Ronald Harwood, Richmond Theatre, 24 October 1998

We were on a Richmond kick that quarter, for some reason, with three visits to The Orange Tree and two visits to the Richmond Theatre. Coincidence really, I should imagine.

Janie liked it more than I did.

That is my log’s pithy conclusion.

Excellent cast, with Stephanie Cole, Stephanie Beacham, Benjamin Whitrow & Gerald Harper. Christopher Morahan directed it. A transfer from Bath, as was often the case at Richmond.

Here is the Theatricalia entry.

Here is Jody Lindbeck’s take on it in the local gazettes:

Equally GazetteEqually Gazette 23 Oct 1998, Fri Ealing and Acton Gazette (Ealing, London, England) Newspapers.com

Reading that review 25 years later, all I can think of is the wonderful Peter Cook quote: “I go to the theatre to be entertained. I don’t want to see plays about rape, sodomy and drug addiction – I can get all that at home.“

The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard & Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, Richmond Theatre, 11 April 1998

Whose brilliant idea was it to pair The Real Inspector Hound with Black Comedy? Well, if I’m not totally mistaken The Bear Pit at Alleyn’s School did so back in the mid 1970s. It worked well then (I shall write up The Bear Pit production in the fullness of time) and it worked well nearly 25 years later, in the late 1990s, too.

Superb evening…

…was my take on it in my log. How could it not be – what a cast! Desmond Barrit, David Tennant, Nichola McAuliffe, Sara Crowe, Anna Chancellor…and Greg Doran directing.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

We saw a preview at Richmond the week before the show opened at The Comedy Theatre.

Nicholas de Jongh voted it “good” in The Standard:

Real Inspector Black Comedy de Jongh StandardReal Inspector Black Comedy de Jongh Standard 23 Apr 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian was very keen on it:

Real Inspector Black Comedy Guardian BillingtonReal Inspector Black Comedy Guardian Billington 23 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While The Independent previewed the event the morning after our visit wondering, over three pages, whose brilliant idea it was to pair these two short plays? (The Bear Pit at Alleyn’s School. Do you arts journos know nothing?)

Hound Black Indy Butler 1 of 3Hound Black Indy Butler 1 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Hound Black Indy Butler 2 of 3Hound Black Indy Butler 2 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Hound Black Indy Butler 3 of 3Hound Black Indy Butler 3 of 3 12 Apr 1998, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Electra by Sophocles, Adapted By Frank McGuinness, Richmond Theatre, 9 October 1997

Blooming heck we were culture-vulturing that autumn. This was our third theatre visit in a week – on a Thursday evening, ahead of going to a food and wine fair the next day.

Worth it though. As I put it in my log:

Electric – excellent production. Worth moving ass on a Thursday for.

Fine cast and crew – captured on Theatricalia here.

Nick Curtis wrote very highly of it in the Standard, reviewing it at Chichester. (We saw it at Richmond, on its way from the West Country to the Donmar.)

Electra Curtis StandardElectra Curtis Standard 23 Sep 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Paul Taylor, while rating it, compared it less favourably with the Shaw/Warner version a decade or more earlier:

Electra Taylor IndyElectra Taylor Indy 24 Sep 1997, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Maids by Jean Genet, Richmond Theatre, 13 September 1997

Had its moments.

That was my sole comment on the quality of this one in the log – I don’t think we were overly impressed despite the excellent cast. Niamh Cusack, Kerry Fox & Josette Simon, directed by John Crowley, initially at the Donmar Warehouse and then touring – we saw it at Richmond.

Previewed in the Standard thusly…

Maids Stringer Preview StandardMaids Stringer Preview Standard 11 Jun 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I don’t think Nicholas de Jongh liked it much once it opened:

Maids de Jongh StandardMaids de Jongh Standard 26 Jun 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Benedict in The Independent liked it:

Maids Benedict IndyMaids Benedict Indy 27 Jun 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in The Telegraph was less sure.

Maids Bassett TelegraphMaids Bassett Telegraph 27 Jun 1997, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I suspect we ate at Don Fernando’s again after this one. I also wrote:

No interval

…which might mean that we would have walked out had there been one.

Suzanna Andler by Marguerite Duras, Richmond Theatre, 28 August 1997

No holds barred it seems for my contemporaneous verdict on this one:

Interminable – I can’t imagine how we ever got round to returning for the second half – but we did.

To add to the interminable nature of the evening, it seems we had Pauline, The Dowager Duchess of Castlebar (Janie’s mum) with us that evening. We went to Don Fernando’s (25 years on, now late lamented) for a meal after the show.

Julie Christie will have been the draw for this show, but clearly she and the cast were not enough to rescue the thing. Here is the Theatricalia entry for it. Super cast, actually, when you see the names Robert Hickson, Aden Gillett and Julie Legrand alongside that of Christie.

Here’s what the Leatherhead Advertiser said of it when it transferred on to Guildford:

04 Sep 1997, Thu Leatherhead Advertiser (Leatherhead, Surrey, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh had said similar stuff when it was at The Minerva:

Andler de Jongh StandardAndler de Jongh Standard 23 Jul 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

John Voss in The Sunday Telegraph had also described it in similar terms:

Andler Voss Sunday TelegraphAndler Voss Sunday Telegraph 27 Jul 1997, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Not the most successful evening we’ve ever had at the theatre…or at Don Fernando’s…or even with Pauline.

Life Support by Simon Gray, Richmond Theatre, 20 June 1997

We went on a Friday evening to see part of a preview run of this play/production, which went on to have a good long stint at the Aldwych and which had previously been tested at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford (according to my notes) and/ot Theatre Royal Bath according to the Theatricalia entry.

Anyway…

…I have always been partial to a bit of Simon Gray and also partial to a bit of Alan Bates’s acting and Harold Pinter’s directing, so this was a “must see” for me and Janie – hence the Friday evening booking.

Below is a rare review of the actual Richmond performances from the Ealing & Acton Gazette:

Life Support Ealing & Acton Gazette Tim HarrisonLife Support Ealing & Acton Gazette Tim Harrison 20 Jun 1997, Fri Ealing and Acton Gazette (Ealing, London, England) Newspapers.com

Below is a charming interview piece from the Guardian about the genesis of this play:

Life Support Simon Gray Claire Amitstead GuardianLife Support Simon Gray Claire Amitstead Guardian 26 Jul 1997, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard didn’t much like the play when he saw it at The Aldwych:

Life Support de Jongh StandardLife Support de Jongh Standard 06 Aug 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Suzannah Clapp liked it more in The Observer:

Life Support Clapp ObserverLife Support Clapp Observer 10 Aug 1997, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We voted it “good”, which is not great, but we did rate the piece and the performances highly enough.

Tolstoy by James Goldman, Richmond Theatre, 5 April 1996

I lost all record of this one, other than the diary notes. If I recall correctly, the programmes weren’t yet available as we saw a preview of this ill-fated play/production at The Richmond Theatre.

Janie made the arrangements and it seems we took The Duchess with us. So if the play was as tedious as the reviews and poor audiences suggest, we had quite an evening. No wonder I blotted it out of my mind.

Here is the Theatricalia entry, which on this occasion is my sole canonical source of “who was in it” type information – thanks for that.

Michael Billington in The Guardian (a friendly critic, not known for his damning reviews), describes the piece as a “piffling bio-play”.

Billington on TolstoyBillington on Tolstoy Wed, May 1, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent describes it as “a largely dire production” – click this link to read on-line.

Peter Preston wrote a biting obituary for the play/production when it closed due to poor audiences (see below):

Preston on TolstoyPreston on Tolstoy Sun, May 19, 1996 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

With the cast including F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Marsh and Gemma Jones, there should have been some salvation in the performances, but it clearly wasn’t a good play/production.

I suspect that The Duchess was not impressed and that it was our fault that the theatrical part of the evening did not meet her high expectations. I’m guessing we ate at Don Fernando’s in Richmond, as we hadn’t booked anything and that’s where we would go without a booking.