I didn’t make any notes in my log about this one and frankly I only remember this production vaguely. I liked aspects of the play but found it rather long and wordy for its slight plot. So far, so Eugene O’Neill. I also remember wondering whether this was one of those O’Neill plays that needs an exceptional cast to pull it off.
Let’s see what the real critics said at the time.
Ah, the only formal review I can find easily is in the Standard. Rachel Halliburton liked the play more than the acting, I sense:
In truth, 25 years later, I remember little about this evening and/or these plays.
Unusual for us to go to the theatre on a Thursday evening, so something must have inspired us to do that. Possibly the secure knowledge that after my Washington trip the week before, Passover at my parent’s place the preceding weekend, and dinner with Anthea and Mitchell arranged for the next day, this would be our only chance to see this production. I’ll write some more about the Washington trip and those other events elsewhere, when the time feels right.
Still, something else must have inspired us to choose this twinning of short plays by writers we hadn’t heard of, with cast and creatives we also hadn’t heard of.
Theatricalia can’t help me with this one.
To the rescue, Mark Cook with this preview in The Guardian.
…informed by the fact that Janie and I were constantly unavailable on Saturdays because we were going to the theatre.
Why don’t we all go and see…
…I can almost hear Kim suggesting to Janie.
Why not? I can imagine all of us agreeing to this with ease. This production soon became one of the hottest tickets in town, not least because model and celebrity Kelly Brook was playing the role of a pole/table dancer. Janie sorted out the tickets – presumably ahead of the reviews and brouhaha, £16.50 x 4 according to her diary…
…plus some very specific timings to get all of us from The Riverside to the Thai Bistro for supper after the show…
…as if we would need the heat of Tom Yum after the hot totty on show at The Riverside.
But who would have possibly imagined, at that time, that Janie would, a mere 17 years later, decide to give pole dancing a go herself, with considerable (albeit, mercifully, private) success.
Anna Christie Halliburton Standard 13 Aug 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
