The Physicists by Friedrich Durrenmatt, Donmar Warehouse, 9 June 2012

What a palaver.

I was really keen to see this rarely-performed play, having absolutely loved reading it “back in the day”. Further, it was a cracking good cast, Josie Rourke directing – unquestionably one for us.

So we booked it, way in advance – as soon as tickets became available to members…

…for 2 June – which turned out to be the date of Charlotte and Chris’s wedding.

My bad? Janie’s bad? For both of us, presumably it was so obvious that the first weekend in June was the youngsters’ wedding weekend that we were both far too polite to book out the date in our diaries. I’ll write up the wedding in the fullness of time.

For The Physicists, of course, it was “impossible” for mere ordinary members like us to swap our tickets by the time we spotted our error…

…but it was not impossible for one of Janie’s high falutin’ clients who had some sort of corporate or “patron” membership to arrange a switcheroo for us. Thank you, anonymous high-falutin’ client – we were truly grateful to you – I’m sure Janie also found ways of thanking you gift-wise, foot-wise, etc.

With the benefit of hindsight, of course, perhaps we would have been better off without this one.

What a mess.

All style. All star-quality. No substance.

Perhaps it has dated badly. Perhaps it was adapted in a way that simply didn’t work for us.

This was the culmination of an especially disappointing week of special treats for me, given the unprecedented lack of cricket at Edgbaston on the preceding days:

Long To Rain Over Us, England v West Indies, Edgbaston, Days One and Two, 7 & 8 June 2012

Oh dear.

Here is a link to the excellent downloadable “Study Guide” pack from the Donmar on this production.

Here is the trailer for The Physicists:

Here is a link to reviews and such – mostly less than special.

Filumena by Eduardo De Filippo, Almeida Theatre, 7 April 2012

I seem to recall that this piece charmed me more than it did Daisy. Eduardo De Filippo is never going to be her type of playwright, even when Tanya Ronder writes a spicy version of this uber-Neapolitan play.

Here is a link to the Almeida resource on this one.

A fine production. Samantha Spiro was excellent as the eponymous lead, along with a good supporting cast.

Below is the trailer:

Also an interesting interview with Michael Attenborough about the play:

…but ultimately the play could only achieve so much – I think most of the critics, like Janie, were underwhelmed by the play but they also – like me – found the production charming and worthwhile – click here for a search term to find the reviews.

 

 

There Came A Gypsy Riding by Frank McGuinness, Almeida Theatre, 13 January 2007

Janie and I are very keen on Frank McGuiness’s plays and this one is a good example of why that is so.

It sounds like the scenario for so many Irish plays – a family gathers to celebrate a birthday in a remote cottage in the West of Ireland…just take my word for it that this one is/was special.

Click here for the Almeida resource on this play/production.

Wonderful cast, superbly directed and produced – this is what the Almeida does best.

This link – click here – finds the reviews and stuff – mostly excellent ones.

I recall that we felt our year of theatre going was properly up and running after seeing this one.

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

The Herbal Bed by Peter Whelan, The Other Place, 20 September 1996

I described this play/production as:

…magical…

…in my log.

Janie and I took a short break in Stratford, starting, I think, on the Wednesday afternoon. Details in my diary are scant and Janie’s 1996 has gone walkies (perhaps only temporarily).

I am pretty sure we stayed at The Shakespeare, as was our wont at that time. I mentioned in our 1994 visit:

we stayed at The Shakespeare Hotel that time; I think for the second and possibly the last time. We found the room a bit pokey…

…but on reflection I think this 1996 visit was also the Shakespeare and quite possibly the last visit to that hotel.

As for the play/production, we absolutely loved it. The cast included several people who went on to great things, not least Joseph Fiennes, David Tennant, Stephen Boxer, Teresa Banham and director Michael Attenborough. Here is the Theatricalia entry for the play/production.

One memorable thing about the night we visited was the excitement around the presence of HRH The Prince Of Wales and Camilla (subsequently Duchess of Cornwall). The Other Place isn’t really that sort of place, so the royal attendance was more than a bit of a surprise.

The play/production was very well received, for good reasons.

Here is Michael Billington’s take:

Herbal Bed Billington GuardianHerbal Bed Billington Guardian 24 May 1996, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is a preview from The Evening Standard:

Herbal Bed Standard PreviewHerbal Bed Standard Preview 22 May 1996, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Here is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Herbal Bed Coveney ObserverHerbal Bed Coveney Observer 26 May 1996, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

See, I told you. Magical.

Pentecost by David Edgar, The Other Place, 4 November 1994

In amongst the heave of getting Z/Yen started that autumn, Janie and I did make the time for a solitary long weekend in Stratford-Upon-Avon, during which we saw three plays.

Not exactly a rest cure…

…said Janie, when I latterly (c25 years later, October 2019) showed her the evidence of that weekend.

The evidence shows that we stayed at The Shakespeare Hotel that time; I think for the second and possibly the last time. We found the room a bit pokey.

Anyway, we saw this David Edgar play on the Friday evening and thought it superb. I’ve always been a fan of Edgar’s plays and this is a good example of his work.

Wikipedia is not all that forthcoming about the play – click here – but I learn that we saw the premier and that it won an Evening Standard Award the following year on transfer to The Young Vic.

Theatricalia sets out the cast and crew here.

I’ve managed to find a contemporaneous review of this one on-line – Paul Taylor from the Independent – click here…

…scraped to here just in case the above link goes down.

Here’s a Michael Billington clipping:

Billingtpn On PentecostBillingtpn On Pentecost Fri, Oct 28, 1994 – 40 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Billington On Pentecost Part TwoBillington On Pentecost Part Two Fri, Oct 28, 1994 – 41 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s take:

Coveney On PentecostCoveney On Pentecost Sun, Oct 30, 1994 – 79 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Anyway, we loved this play/production, that’s for sure. The notion of art and culture fusing/transferring both from west to east and from east to west is more or less received wisdom now, but the debate in the play, especially while the southern slavic region of Europe was still in turmoil, felt very topical and of the moment in 1994.

Did we eat in Fatty Arbuckle’s that evening? Quite possibly, but unless more evidence turns up we’ll not know for sure.