Tag: Royal Court Theatre Upstairs

Drag-On by Emmanuel De Nasciemento & Local by Arzhang Pezhman, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 11 November 2000

This evening in the theatre was part of that year’s Royal Court “Exposure Young Writers 2000” programme. Janie and I were especially impressed by the second play we saw.

Dominic Cavendish agreed with our assessment, while being pretty impressed with all of it, including the pairing of plays we didn’t see.

Exposure Cavendish Telegraph Exposure Cavendish Telegraph 25 Oct 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Thackray in The Guardian was less sure about all of it:

Exposure Thackray Guardian Exposure Thackray Guardian 21 Oct 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Halliburton in the Standard pretty much agreed with us, liking both but especially liking Local.

Exposure Halliburton Standard Exposure Halliburton Standard 20 Oct 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We have subsequently seen a lot of plays on these subjects, but at that time the subject matter and style seemed, to us, very fresh and encouraging for British theatre.

Under The Blue Sky by David Eldridge, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 30 September 2000

In truth I remember little about this one. Terrific cast: Justin Salinger, Samantha Edmonds, Lisa Palfrey, Jonathan Cullen, Stanley Townsend and Sheila Hancock, directed by Rufus Norris.

It got neither plaudits nor roasting in my log, which probably means that we didn’t feel strongly about it either way.

Our friend, Michael Billington, really liked it:

Under Billington Guardian Under Billington Guardian 21 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Nicholas de Jongh gave it a dreaded Standard blob:

Under de Jongh Standard Under de Jongh Standard 20 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I’ll give the casting vote to Paul Taylor in the Independent, who really liked it.

Under Taylor Indy Under Taylor Indy 30 Sept 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Fever by Wallace Shawn, Cottesloe Theatre, 9 February 1991

I loved this wonderful monologue, written and performed by Wallace Shawn. At the time, in my log, I declared it to be:

Excellent.

Thirty years on, writing in late January 2021, I remember it vividly and now, in the time of Covid and dysfunctional politics, it seems so apposite and prescient.

This was the first time I saw Wallace Shawn and/or his work live. I had previously enjoyed his film work, not least My Dinner With Andre, so was thrilled to see him perform.

I saw this original, authoritative performance with Bobbie Scully. It was a National Theatre/Royal Court Theatre joint production. Why don’t they do this more often? Here is a link to the RNT archive record for it. It showed at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs and at the Cottesloe – we caught it at the latter.

Strangely, the text of the piece is in the public domain – I assume by design – so if you want to read the draw-droppingly still-relevant piece, it can be read here. Or if that link ever fails, try this scrape here.

Michael Coveney in The Observer loved it:

Coveney on FeverCoveney on Fever Sun, Jan 13, 1991 – 52 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Whereas Nicholas de Jongh in The Guardian hated it

Nicholas de Jongh on FeverNicholas de Jongh on Fever Fri, Jan 11, 1991 – 38 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Many years later I saw the piece again with Janie – Clare Higgins performed it at The Royal Court in 2009

The Fever by Wallace Shawn, Royal Court Theatre, 4 April 2009

If you click through the 2009 piece to Michael Billington’s review of that production, he confesses to having been smitten with the piece the first time. That tells us that Michael Billington goes to see stuff at the theatre even when it isn’t his turn to write the review. Now THAT’s a theatre enthusiast! Nicholas de Jongh – you’re outvoted!