Tag: Siân Brooke

Reasons To Be Pretty by Neil LaBute, Almeida Theatre, 17 December 2011

We are very keen on Neil LaBute plays and the Almeida has (or had) made a bit of a specialism in them over the years.

While not quite his razor-sharp best, we thought this was a very good play and production.

Here is a link to the Almeida resource on this play/production.

The acting was excellent – all four performances top notch.

It was very well received by the critics on the whole – click here for a link through to the reviews.

Below is the trailer for the production we saw:

I remember us both really dreading the shlep to the Almeida just before Christmas and then both being so glad that we went.

We subsequently (four/five years later) saw a companion piece for it at the Hampstead, Reasons To Be Happy…

Reasons To Be Happy by Neil Labute, Hampstead Theatre, 8 April 2016

…which we didn’t think was anything like as good.

My City by Stephen Poliakoff, Almeida Theatre, 24 September 2011

Janie and I are partial to a bit of Poliakoff on the stage, which is all too rare these days, so we were had been very much looking forward to this one.

Super cast too – and at the Almeida.

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

Tracey Ullman has tremendous stage presence. The conceit of the play – an old primary schoolteacher wandering around London telling stories about the place – sounds great.

Yet, in truth, this play was not quite top drawer Poliakoff in our eyes. It was revisiting many of his themes and styles, but perhaps without hitting the heights that earlier works hit. Perhaps it is the familiarity that detracts from the sense of excitement.

We had a very enjoyable evening at the theatre, but concluded that Poliakoff is probably, now, doing his best work for TV rather than for stage.

I think the reviews pretty much concurred with our views. Here is a link to a search term that should find most if not all of those reviews.

 

 

Ecstasy by Mike Leigh, Hampstead Theatre, 18 March 2011

Oh dear.

Janie said she didn’t feel 100% when she turned up at the flat, but I didn’t think too much of it, not even when she ate little at Harry Morgan’s before the show.

But about 40 minutes into the first half, she said to me, “I don’t feel well, I have to go to the cloakroom…you stay here”.  So I sat out the first half, not really able to concentrate and dashed out as soon as I could, to find Janie sipping water and attentive staff letting me know that she seemed OK.

It was early in the run and Mike Leigh was there that evening. He kindly came up to us to ask if Janie was OK; I think he was relieved when he learned that she was merely poorly rather than someone who had walked out in shock or horror.

The play is strong stuff and it was a full-on production, but Janie is not the “fit of vapours at the sound of expletives” type.

The staff said we could of course go back in during scene breaks in Act Two if we wished, and/or watch the second act on the screen they use to monitor the show from outside, but frankly we simply wanted to wait until Janie felt well enough to go home and then go home.

I bought a copy of the play text so I could read and find out what happened afterwards.

Here is a link to a search term that finds the almost universally excellent reviews.

It is a real shame that we more or less missed out on it. Still, it could have been much worse. Janie’s indisposition turned out to be slight and temporary – we were back to the theatre the next night.

Wanderlust by Nick Payne, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 25 September 2010

I’m pretty sure this is the first Nick Payne play we saw. I remember little about it, other than the fact that the play was pretty full on about sex and that, despite its unsubtleties, we came away with the impression that we wanted to see more of this writer, which indeed we did.

Here is a link to the Royal Court resource on the play/production.

The usual praise for the Royal Court’s production qualities whether upstairs or downstairs. Super cast too.

Here is a search term that will find you the reviews and stuff if you want a deeper dive.