Tag: Rupert Graves

The Caretaker by Harold Pinter, Comedy Theatre, 10 November 2000

We booked this preview, leaping in ahead of the reviews, for a Friday evening, at the start of a big weekend of “show-going” for us. We were all booked up for Saturdays and I would have been very keen indeed to see this.

Rupert Graves as Mick, Douglas Hodge as Aston, Michael Gambon as Davies, directed by Patrick Marber, in a 40th anniversary production. Wow. Here’s the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I had seen the play before – on a school trip in 1977 at The Greenwich Theatre, with Max Wall playing Davies, Anthony Higgins playing Mick and Peter Guinness as Aston. I’ll write that up in the fulness of time. Meanwhile, here’s the Theatricalia entry for that production.

Undocumented (although it will be Ogblogged at some point) is my own performance as Aston for AO-level drama at School in 1979.

But returning to 2000, let’s have a look at how Janie and I got on at The Comedy Theatre – now renamed the Pinter Theatre, as it happens.

Nicholas de Jongh wrote very highly of it, wondering only about Gambon not quite ringing true:

Caretaker de Jongh Standard Caretaker de Jongh Standard 16 Nov 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Dominic Cavendish also seems to have cognitive dissonance in the matter of the Gambon performance:

Caretaker Cavendish Telegraph Caretaker Cavendish Telegraph 17 Nov 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington gave this one a rare five stars. Say no more:

Caretaker Billington Guardian Caretaker Billington Guardian 16 Nov 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp also gushed…

Caretaker Clapp Observer Caretaker Clapp Observer 19 Nov 2000 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor agreed.

Caretaker Taylor Indy Caretaker Taylor Indy 16 Nov 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

You get the idea. I did the right thing booking a preview on a Friday. You wouldn’t have been able to get a ticket for love nor money once the reviews came out.

Janie’s diary tells me that we were in Row C. Mine tells me that I parted company with £60, which I suppose was sort-of real money back then.

Oh, but worth it. I will return to the topic of Gambon’s drifty accents when i write up my own Pinter acting experience from 1979. Watch that space.

The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill, Almeida Theatre, 18 April 1998

It had to be good for Janie to stay awake for best part of 4 hours

Thus spake my log.

It was very good. Kevin Spacey in the lead role. Excellent supporting cast, including Tim Pigott-Smith and Rupert Graves. Howard Davies directing.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it a lot in The Standard:

Iceman Standard de JonghIceman Standard de Jongh 15 Apr 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent, though positive, was less sure:

Iceman Independent TaylorIceman Independent Taylor 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, was very keen on it:

Iceman Guardian BillingtonIceman Guardian Billington 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Tis Pity She’s A Whore by John Ford, Olivier Theatre, 16 April 1988

A superb run of seeing amazing productions started to break down just a little with this one.

Again a Saturday evening, again with Bobbie. My log says the production was good. It also says:

Suzan Sylvester was indisposed that day, so we saw Michelle Evans understudy the lead

Tis pity that, as I think Suzan Sylvester must have been a very good Annabella opposite Rupert Graves as Giovanni. I do remember Bobbie and I feeling that the understudy did well, though.

My friend Michael Simkins was also in it, as Soranzo. Coincidental at the time of writing, in early 2019, as we saw Michael at the Hampstead Downstairs just a couple of weeks ago:

Eden by Hannah Patterson, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 16 February 2019

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Alan Ayckbourn directed the production – there is some additional information about it on his site – click here.

It’s not a happy story and matters unsurprisingly…spoiler alert…do not end well for the protagonists. The Wikipedia entry gives a good synopsis.

In those days I think we were quite partial to some Jacobean blood and gore. It’s only latterly that I’ve gone all snowflake.

Below is Michael Radcliffe’s review from The Observer:

Tis Pity RadcliffeTis Pity Radcliffe Sun, Mar 6, 1988 – 40 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Billington in The Guardian found this production “too tasteful”:

Tis Pity BillimgtonTis Pity Billimgton Sat, Mar 5, 1988 – 16 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com