Tag: Rick Fisher

Betrayal by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 3 April 1999

Very good.

Our verdict in the log back then.

This was a major revival of Pinter’s classic, directed by Trevor Nunn with a cracking cast including Imogen Stubbs, Douglas Hodge, Anthony Calf and several other fine actors.

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

Unusually, we got to this one late – it had been running at the National for a while, since November 1998, by the time we saw it, towards the end of its run.

Charles Spencer had given it a rave review in The Telegraph:

Betrayal Telegraph SpencerBetrayal Telegraph Spencer 26 Nov 1998, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, confessed that he hadn’t “got” this play first time around but got it through this production:

Betrayal Guardian BillingtonBetrayal Guardian Billington 25 Nov 1998, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard also liked it:

Betrayal de Jongh StandardBetrayal de Jongh Standard 25 Nov 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Via Dolorosa by David Hare, Royal Court Theatre At The Duke Of York Theatre, 19 September 1998

Janie and I thought this piece and performance was simply superb. In fact, I wrote:

Superb!!

…in my log and I am not normally the double-exclamation-mark type.

This was David Hare’s brave dive into performing a one-man-show on one of the thorniest topics he might possibly choose – the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Talk about high risk, but we thought Hare pulled off a blinder with this piece/performance.

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard loved it:

Dolorosa de Jongh StandardDolorosa de Jongh Standard 09 Sep 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer also gives the piece high regard:

Dolorosa Spencer TelegraphDolorosa Spencer Telegraph 09 Sep 1998, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Irving Wardle guesting in The Sunday Telegraph also spoke very highly of the piece:

Dolorosa Sunday Telegraph Wardle Dolorosa Sunday Telegraph Wardle 13 Sep 1998, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The only slight equivocation came from the Guardian, which chose to have a diplomatic correspondent review the piece rather than a theatre critic:

Dolorosa Black GuardianDolorosa Black Guardian 12 Sep 1998, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Old Neighbourhood by David Mamet, Royal Court Theatre at the Duke Of York’s Theatre, 11 July 1998

All I wrote in my log was:

No interval.

That suggests that we didn’t get a great deal out of this one, unusually for Mamet. Possibly we just felt that we’d seen a lot of material like this before.

Was it three short plays or one play with three somewhat disconnected scene?. I wrote down

The Disappearance of the Jews, Jolly and Deeny.

Splendid cast: Linal Haft, Colin Stinton, Zoe Wanamaker, Vincent Marzello and Diana Quick, directed by Patrick Marber.

Nicholas de Jongh really liked it:

de Jongh, Standard, Mametde Jongh, Standard, Mamet 24 Jun 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington also liked it a lot:

Billington Guardian MametBillington Guardian Mamet 24 Jun 1998, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph was less sure:

Spencer Telegraph MametSpencer Telegraph Mamet 25 Jun 1998, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Kellaway’s interview with Patrick Marber is very interesting:

Kellaway Observer Marber InterviewKellaway Observer Marber Interview 14 Jun 1998, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Reading these reviews and the interview, I think I should, 25 years later, re-read the play(s) and see what I think of them now.

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.

Blinded By The Sun by Stephen Poliakoff, Cottesloe Theatre, 31 August 1996

I wrote in my log:

Yes, we saw it before it opened. Yes, it was very good.

Press night was early the following week.

I was always partial to a bit of Poliakoff, so this will have felt like a bit of a birthday treat, opening at that time of year.

In fact, we had been due to go to the Proms on my actual birthday that year, but “Proms 7:30” is scribbled out in my diary for the preceding Wednesday. Not sure what went wrong there – probably we simply failed to get tickets (Claudio Abbado & The Berlin Phil doing Brahms – very popular).

But I digress.

Stellar cast for this one – as was the way back then with Poliakoff at the National or the RSC: Douglas Hodge and Frances de la Tour the biggest names; Graham Crowden & Hermione Norris also standout performers. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

This is Lyn Gardner’s review from The Guardian:

Blinded Lyn Gardner GuardianBlinded Lyn Gardner Guardian 04 Sep 1996, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Blinded Coveney ObserverBlinded Coveney Observer 08 Sep 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also liked it a lot:

Blinded Paul Taylor IndyBlinded Paul Taylor Indy 05 Sep 1996, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Designated Mourner, Wallace Shawn, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 June 1996

What an amazing piece of theatre this was.  The late great Mike Nichols, better known as a director of course, acted brilliantly, with Miranda Richardson and David de Keyser, all wonderful.

David Hare, better known as a playwright but also a talented director, did a grand job with the piece.

Wallace Shawn, perhaps better known as an actor than as a playwright, although also a very talented playwright, wrote it.  Not his best known; indeed possibly not his best piece, but, an excellent play.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Despite all that role rotation, it came off superbly well for us.

Janie and I recognised the unmistakable back of Wallace Shawn’s head just in front of us that night.  A few years later, we chatted with Wallace Shawn at the Almeida when he turned up to see Miranda Richardson in Aunt Dan and Lemon; he waxed lyrical about how wonderful he thinks she is, seemed genuinely self-effacing about his writing and genuinely delighted that we had been inspired to seek out his plays by seeing this piece and of course My Dinner With Andre, one of my favourite films ever.

Wikipedia explains the plot – click here.

Bit early in the life of the web for on-line reviews, but I found this rather informative thing – click here.

Michael Billington was very taken with the play and production in the Guardian:

Billington on MournerBillington on Mourner Thu, Apr 25, 1996 – 2 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney seemed less sure but still speaks well of it:

Coveney on MournerCoveney on Mourner Sun, Apr 28, 1996 – 65 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We were really taken with it; discussing the issues for the rest of the weekend and beyond.

What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton, Lyttelton Theatre, 27 May 1995

I rated this “good” but frankly I rated it higher than Janie did. I have always been partial to a bit of Joe Orton, while Janie finds the farce element of Orton’s plays not to her taste.

This production pushed my Orton boundaries somewhat as Phyllida Lloyd certainly accentuated the farce aspect.

Still, it was a fabulous cast, with John Alderton, Nicola Pagett, Debra Gillett, David Tennant and Richard Wilson to name but five. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Michael Billington really liked it:

Billington on What the ButlerBillington on What the Butler Sat, Mar 4, 1995 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney also liked it:

Coveney on What the ButlerCoveney on What the Butler Sun, Mar 5, 1995 – 79 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Hysteria by Terry Johnson, Royal Court Theatre, 29 October 1993

This was a very interesting play about a meeting between Sigmund Freud and Salvador Dali. We both really enjoyed it.

Here is the Wikipedia entry for the play.

Here is the Theatricalia entry.

Super cast, with Henry Goodman as Freud, Tim Potter as Dali. Phyllida Lloyd directed this production, which was the premier.

The play has oft been revived since.

Here is Michael Billington’s review from the Guardian:

Billington on HysteriaBillington on Hysteria Mon, Sep 6, 1993 – 25 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Coveney’s review – not so keen:

Coveney on HysteriaCoveney on Hysteria Sun, Sep 12, 1993 – 49 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We rounded off our evening with Chinese food from The Park Inn. Quite right too.

The diary suggests that we planned to have Marianne and Anil over for dinner the next evening, the Saturday, but Anil doesn’t get beyond a question mark and Janie is sure she has never met him, so my guess is that the whole idea fell though.

Moonlight by Harold Pinter, Almeida Theatre, 23 October 1993

Yes, yes, yes! We thought this was a really, really good night at the theatre.

I’d long been a Pinter fan. Janie wasn’t really familiar with his work, but Janie made the running for this night at the Almeida, booking us the front row seats we craved for that place (still do) and jotting down all the details. 90 minutes without an interval. Seats A7 & A8.

This play/production was our first sighting of Pinter together.

I think we ran into Ivan Shakespeare again that night; volunteering for the Almeida selling programmes.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Here is the Wikipedia entry, which shows who did what etc. What a cast it was too. Claire Skinner, Ian Holm, Anna Massey, Michael Sheen, Douglas Hodge, Jill Johnson and Edward de Souza – directed by David Leveaux.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review:

Michael Coveney MoonlightMichael Coveney Moonlight Sun, Sep 12, 1993 – 49 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Billington’s review was on the front page of the Guradian – how often does that happen? Along with a luvvie-fest piece (I’m glad we weren’t there that night and a continuation on Page 18.

Billington MoonlightBillington Moonlight Wed, Sep 8, 1993 – 1 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Billington continued on Page 18:

Billington Moonlight ContinuedBillington Moonlight Continued Wed, Sep 8, 1993 – 18 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Also in the Guardian, an Anna Massey interview about Moonlight. Anna Massey went on to become one of Janie’s regular clients, but Janie didn’t yet know her when we saw Moonlight.

Anna Massey MoonlightAnna Massey Moonlight Thu, Sep 9, 1993 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We stayed at mine by the looks of it. I think I probably cooked, given the short play and my having been in the West End on the Friday.

Anyway, it was a fabulous, memorable night at the theatre.

The Gift Of The Gorgon by Peter Shaffer, The Pit, 12 December 1992

Janie and I saw a preview of this one and thought it was absoutely great. Janie has since formed an aversion to Dame Judy Dench…or perhaps Janie liked this one despite Judy.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from The Observer:

Gift of the Gorgon CoveneyGift of the Gorgon Coveney Sun, Dec 20, 1992 – 42 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michel Billington’s glowing review:

Gift Of teh Gorgon BillingtonGift Of teh Gorgon Billington Fri, Dec 18, 1992 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent was less keen – click here.