Tag: RNT

Life x 3 by Yasmina Reza, Lyttelton Theatre, 2 December 2000

Janie and I rated this one in my log:

very good.

We also both remeber it quite well, 25 years later. That might have a fair bit to do with the superb cast: Mark Rylance, Harriet Walter, Imelda Staunton and Oliver Cotton. The production was directed by Matthew Warchus. We didn’t recogognise his name then but we certainly do now. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Yasmina Reza (as translated by Christopher Hampton) was all the rage in the English speaking world back then. This was our fourth go at one of hers – Art having been the piece that kicked off the Reza fashion…

Art by Yasmina Reza, Wyndham’s Theatre, 11 January 1997

…we’d even seen one of hers at The Almeida just 10 weeks earlier:

Conversations After A Burial by Yasmina Reza, Almeida Theatre, 16 September 2000

Anyway, apart from Art, with thought Life x 3 to be the most interesting and memorable of Reza’s works.

Again we went to a preview, so we were ahead of the critics. What did they think? Here’s Charles Spencer who seemed pretty impressed with it, at least as entertainment if not as profound drama:

Life Spencer Telegraph Life Spencer Telegraph 11 Dec 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett wrote an interesting profile-cum-review with some equivocation about this piece and Reza-ism generally:

Life Bassett Indy Life Bassett Indy 10 Dec 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not at all sure about this piece:

Life Billington Guardian Life Billington Guardian 8 Dec 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh was impressed, while spotting something a bit Ayckbournish about the piece, which I remember thinking/saying myself at the time:

Life de Jongh Standard Life de Jongh Standard 8 Dec 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Remembrance Of Things Past by Marcel Proust, adapted by Harold Pinter & Di Trevis, Cottesloe Theatre, 17 November 2000

We were such groupies in those days – we leapt in early and went to see the opening night (i.e. the first preview) of this one, on a Friday.

So keen were we to make sure that we were psychologically and spiritually ready for the experience, we both took that Friday off work. OK, maybe we had some other things to do that day, such as try to jostle Gavin along into finishing the long overdue work in Clanricarde Gardens.

Anyway, this piece is about Proust’s Remembrance, not my rambling memories. The conceit of this production was a film script that Harold Pinter had written in the 1970s, adapting Proust’s epic into screenplay. That movie had never been made. Di Trevis liked the screenplay and helped further adapt it into a three-hour play, which she then directed.

Fabulous cast – including Duncan Bell, Sebastian Harcombe, Julie Legrand, Diana Hardcastle, David Rintoul and a young Indira Varma.

There was a buzz in the theatre world about this one ahead of time and I think it buzzed on for some time. It certainly transferred to the Olivier, but I think that had always been planned in to the deal.

We loved the Cottesloe (now Dorfman) and were very keen to see this one early.

I remember being very impressed by it. Janie thought it a bit long…

…try reading Proust, love…

…and/but I suspect that our preview ran longer than the scheduled three hours as some material was probably cut between previews and press night.

Some of the press gushed. Here’s Nicholas de Jongh:

Remembrance de Jongh Standard Remembrance de Jongh Standard 24 Nov 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor was not so sure – liking much but disliking the freeze frames:

Remembrance Taylor Indy Remembrance Taylor Indy 24 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dominic Cavendish positively found the whole thing mediocre – which is faint praise indeed:

Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph Remembrance Cavendish Telegraph 27 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington was balanced, mostly positive about it.

Remembrance Billington Guardian Remembrance Billington Guardian 25 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I must admit, I’ve made do with having seen this production and reading some passages in translation. The full one-and-a-quarter-million pages of the novel will have to wait – almost certainly for another life.

Thanks Harold, thanks Di.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 November 2000

It was a bit of a Shakespeare week for us, that week. From Ivan Shakespeare at the Canal Cafe on the Sunday…

A Night For Ivan, (A Random Act Of Kindness & Tribute To The Works Of Ivan Shakespeare), Canal Café Theatre, 29 October 2000

…to one of the Bard’s most famous plays at The National on the Saturday.

Janie isn’t naturally drawn to Shakespeare, but she had never seen Hamlet before and Simon Russell Beale in the eponymous role was a big draw.

I had seen Hamlet before…and at the National before. I had a rare sighting of Daniel Day Lewis in the role before he famously withdrew early in the run to be replaced by Ian Charleson.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Olivier Theatre, 18 March 1989

Anyway, The National obviously felt the urge to have another go at Hamlet less than 12 years later, with Simon Russell Beale, Peter McEnery, Sara Kestleman and Denis Quilley to name but a few.

Janie remembers being impressed by the acting, but still not really relating to or engaging with Shakespeare. I remember feeling that I had probably previously seen the best production of Hamlet I was ever going to see, despite thinking that this was pretty darned good; especially Simon Russell Beale’s performance.

Very good indeed.

That’s what I wrote in my log.

But you don’t want to listen to us. Here are some reviews. First up – Nicholas de Jongh, who also liked Simon Russell Beale more than he liked the production

Hamlet de Jongh Standard Hamlet de Jongh Standard 6 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Similarly, our friend Michael Billington applauds SRB’s performance and John Caird’s directing of it, but feels that the production strips out the big picture political aspects of the play:

Hamlet Billington Guardian Hamlet Billington Guardian 6 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, similarly, applauds the performances but finds the production too stripped back for his taste:

Hamlet Spencer Telegraph Hamlet Spencer Telegraph 7 Sept 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Janie noted in her diary that the play ran for 3 hours and fifteen minutes, so I’ll guess that she was grateful for John Caird’s cuts of the political elements – goodness knows how long the play would have taken in John Caird’s hands if we’d also had the Fortinbras sub-plot to deal with.

Still, to summarise the critics – they warmed to the production almost exclusively because of Simon Russell Beale’s quality. I’m surprised that no-one gave their review the headline, “Saved By the Beale”. They missed a trick there.

Further Than The Furthest Thing by Zinnie Harris, Cottesloe Theatre, 7 October 2000

Janie and I gave this one a single word review in my log:

Superb.

A very memorable evening in the theatre. Set on and about the people of the remote island of Tristan da Cunha, we were both captivated by this play and production.

The cast: Paola Dionisotti, Gary McInnes, Kevin McMonagle, Darrell D’Silva, Arlene Cockburn and Greg Knowles were all superb, with Paola Dionisotti being the stand out performer. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

We saw a London preview, although the production was a transfer from Edinburgh.

Nicholas de Jongh was pretty pleased with it, rating it very good:

Further de Jongh Standard Further de Jongh Standard 11 Oct 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The production had played in Edinburgh at the Traverse a couple of months earlier – most of the national papers’ reviews were from Edinburgh.

Here’s Charles Spencer gushing about it:

Further Spencer Telegraph Further Spencer Telegraph 8 Aug 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in the Independent also spoke highly:

Further Taylor Indy Further Taylor Indy 19 Aug 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

A few of the reviews, including this anonymous one from The Guardian, suggest that the play was too long – but clearly Janie and I were sufficiently captivated, as long plays rarely got “superb” ratings form us:

Further Guardian Further Guardian 8 Aug 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Cottesloe Theatre, 23 September 2000

The previous week we saw Yasmina Reza’s “Conversations…”, which Michael Billington described as Chekhovian…

Conversations After A Burial by Yasmina Reza, Almeida Theatre, 16 September 2000

Well if you thought that Reza’s work was Chekhovian, Michael, just wait until you see The Cherry Orchard.

Another Saturday night at the theatre which didn’t raise a comment in my log at the time. Perhaps we were overdoing at bit at that time.

Amazing cast: Maxine Peake, Roger Allam, Michael Bryant, Vanessa Redgrave, Eve Best, Corin Redgrave (yes, that was two Redgraves for the price of one), and many other fine acting folk, directed by Trevor Nunn.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it but didn’t gush:

Cherry de Jongh Standard Cherry de Jongh Standard 22 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington also rates it good without rating it great:

Cherry Billington Guardian Cherry Billington Guardian 23 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Perhaps my null log entry was about right for this one.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller, Cottesloe Theatre, 5 August 2000

I gave this production a one word review in my log:

Marvellous.

I remember that Janie and I had awaited this one eagerly. I remember that Ben Daniels was especially good in it, as were James Hazeldine, Paul Ritter, Julie Walters and Catherine McCormack. Howard Davies directing – and indeed the Cottesloe, now Dorfman as a location – were consistently good back then.

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph had to set aside his antipathy towards Arthur Miller because he thought this production so good:

Sons Spencer Telegraph

Article from 10 Jul 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Susannah Clapp loved the play and the production:

Sons Clapp Observer

Article from 9 Jul 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England)

Patrick Marmion in The Standard issued a rare “outstanding” mark:

Sons Marmion Standard

Article from 7 Jul 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

John Gross, like his mate Charles Spencer, liked the production more than the play:

Sons & Samaritan Gross Sunday Telegraph

Article from 16 Jul 2000 Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

A rare and unexpected downbeat note comes from our friend, Michael Billington, who didn’t like the choice of play, nor did he like the production.

Sons Billington Guardian

Article from 8 Jul 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

I guess you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Blue / Orange by Joe Penhall, Cottesloe Theatre, 1 May 2000

This was one of our “oh wow!” visits to the theatre.

Superb,

was all I write in the log, but I knew I wouldn’t need to write much down because the evening was so memorable.

It was a bank holiday Monday and Mum’s birthday. “How did you get away with that?”, I hear you readers cry.

My diary notes that we went to Mum & Dad for bank holiday lunch before going on to the RNT for Blue / Orange. Simple enough.

This is a great play, which was masterfully performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor (our first sighting of him), Andrew Lincoln and Bill Nighy. Roger Michell directed. Theatricalia tells all here.

Paul Taylor was impressed. “Gripping”, he says:

Blue / Orange Taylor IndyBlue / Orange Taylor Indy 14 Apr 2000, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard also rated it highly.

Blue / Orange de Jongh StandardBlue / Orange de Jongh Standard 14 Apr 2000, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph hated the play:

Blue / Orange Spencer TelegraphBlue / Orange Spencer Telegraph 17 Apr 2000, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend, Michael Billington, had a downer on the National at that time – it took me a dozen or so more years to acquire a similar view. Still, Michael B approved of this one:

Blue / Orange Billington GuardianBlue / Orange Billington Guardian 19 Apr 2000, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani & Winston Ntshona, Lyttelton Theatre, 5 February 2000

Janie and I rated this one very highly…

Really good

…says my log.

I had been a fan of Athol Fugard for many years by then and was very keen to see his long-time associates, John Kani & Winston Ntshona, perform. A set up that can lead to disappointment, but in this instance my enthusiasm was fully justified.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph loved it:

Island Spencer TelegraphIsland Spencer Telegraph 28 Jan 2000, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard also rated it very highly:

Island de Jongh StandardIsland de Jongh Standard 27 Jan 2000, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington gave it a rare full five stars, so he must have really loved it:

Island Billington GuardianIsland Billington Guardian 27 Jan 2000, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

One of those special nights at the theatre, for us, this was.

Battle Royal by Nick Stafford, Lyttelton Theatre, 11 December 1999

Our verdict on this one:

Had its moments.

That is not a rave review.

This production was awash with star names; Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Gemma Jones, Suzanne Burden, Brendan Coyle, Matthew Macfadyen…

…directed by Howard Davies.

Here is the Theatricalia link for this play/production.

The production and talent on show was all very high quality – I don’t think the play did it for us.

It didn’t seem to please all the critics either. Nick Curtis in the Standard gave it the dreaded blob:

Battle Curtis StandardBattle Curtis Standard 10 Dec 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor, in the Independent, also panned it.

Battle Taylor IndependentBattle Taylor Independent 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

On the other hand, Charles Spencer in the Telegraph rather liked it:

Battle Spencer TelegraphBattle Spencer Telegraph 10 Dec 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But our charitable friend, Michael Billington, awarded it a rare mediocre two stars:

Battle Billington GuardianBattle Billington Guardian 11 Dec 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Remember This by Stephen Poliakoff, Lyttelton Theatre, 9 October 1999

My log reads:

I got more out of this one than Janie did. Not SP’s best.

We saw a preview – the press night was about a week later.

Stanley Townsend is always good news and he didn’t disappoint as the charismatic lead. Good support too from Geraldine Somerville and others, directed by Ron Daniels. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

It was the play that lacked coherence. Janie couldn’t see past the fragile conceits of the play.

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, seems to have shared our reservations. He says that the plot “has more holes than a second-hand colander”…

…(does a new colander have fewer holes than a second-hand one, Michael?)…

Remember Guardian BillingtonRemember Guardian Billington 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh seems to have hated it. “Ponderous” is not a desirable adjective if you are Poliakoff:

Remember Standard de JonghRemember Standard de Jongh 18 Oct 1999, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in the Telegraph described it as “chronically dull”:

Remember Telegraph BassettRemember Telegraph Bassett 18 Oct 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

OK, OK, I’ve got the point. A rare dud from Poliakoff, the master.