Tag: Samantha Bond

Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies, Hampstead Theatre, 30 June 2001

Just in case a triple bill at The Royal Court Theatre the night before wasn’t enough theatre for us…

Mountain Language & Ashes To Ashes by Harold Pinter, & Alive From Palestine by Al Kasaba Theatre Group, Royal Court Theatre, 29 June 2001

…and just in case having several dinners with friends, including Brendan and Fi the week before wasn’t sufficient…

Several Midweek Evenings Out In Late June 2001

…we ran into Brendan and Fi when we went to see Dinner With Friends at the Hampstead.

This was still the old Portakabin Hampstead Theatre of course and I remember Brendan and Fi being a bit surprised by its shabbyness.

This play was quite amusing, I seem to recall, in a quintessentially Hampstead Theatre, middle-class comedy way.

Patrick Marmion in The Standard gave it a good review:

Dinner Standard Marmion Dinner Standard Marmion 29 Jun 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, was not quite so sure:

Dinner Guardian Billington Dinner Guardian Billington 5 Jul 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Susannah Clapp in the Observer mostly hated it. Oh well.

Dinner Observer Clapp Dinner Observer Clapp 1 Jul 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Memory Of Water by Shelagh Stephenson, Richmond Theatre, 28 November 1998

Very good.

That was our verdict. We like Shelagh Stephenson’s plays and this was a stellar cast including Samantha Bond, Julie Legrand, Alison Steadman and Julia Sawalha, directed by Terry Johnson.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for the production.

Our Richmond preview came just after it previewed at several other places. The Cambridge Evening News reviewed it thusly:

Memory Singer CambridgeMemory Singer Cambridge 27 Oct 1998, Tue Cambridge Evening News (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England) Newspapers.com

It transferred to the West End with considerable success, if I remember correctly.

Amy’s View by David Hare, Lyttelton Theatre, 23 August 1997

Superb.

That was my one word verdict on my log about this one.

Richard Eyre directing Samantha Bond, Eoin McCarthy, Ronald Pickup, Dame Judi and other excellent members of the cast – here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Our friend Michael Billington didn’t like it much:

Amy's Billington GuardianAmy’s Billington Guardian 23 Jun 1997, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Paul Taylor in the Indy quite liked it:

Amy's Taylor IndyAmy’s Taylor Indy 21 Jun 1997, Sat The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph found it anti-climactic…

Amy Spencer TelegraphAmy Spencer Telegraph 21 Jun 1997, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

…and Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard found it old-fashioned.

Amy's de Jongh StandardAmy’s de Jongh Standard 23 Jun 1997, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

So, only me and Janie rating it highly when it first came out then – but Amy’s View transferred to the West End and Broadway picking up Tony nominations and a New York Drama Critic’s award.