Tag: Simon Fraulo

What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton, Lyttelton Theatre, 27 May 1995

I rated this “good” but frankly I rated it higher than Janie did. I have always been partial to a bit of Joe Orton, while Janie finds the farce element of Orton’s plays not to her taste.

This production pushed my Orton boundaries somewhat as Phyllida Lloyd certainly accentuated the farce aspect.

Still, it was a fabulous cast, with John Alderton, Nicola Pagett, Debra Gillett, David Tennant and Richard Wilson to name but five. Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Michael Billington really liked it:

Billington on What the ButlerBillington on What the Butler Sat, Mar 4, 1995 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney also liked it:

Coveney on What the ButlerCoveney on What the Butler Sun, Mar 5, 1995 – 79 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Les Parents Terribles by Jean Cocteau, Lyttelton Theatre, 4 June 1994

In theory this National theatre production should have been amazing. Alan Howard, Frances de la Tour, Sheila Gish, a young as yet little known Jude Law…

…but my log reads, “not bad. Not the greatest either”. That means we didn’t like it all that much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

I think it was a little farce-like for our taste.

I cannot find any contemporaneous reviews for this one, so my vague memory will have to do…

..except that I do now have at least this Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Les ParentsBillington On Les Parents Sat, May 7, 1994 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

…and this Michael Coveney clipping…

Coveney On Les ParentsCoveney On Les Parents Sun, May 8, 1994 – 71 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Our indifference to this production did not stop it from getting a West End transfer, nor did it stop Jude Law from winning “Outstanding Newcomer” awards for his performance, making this production seminal for him, if not necessarily all that special for us.

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard, Lyttelton Theatre, 17 April 1993

I liked this play and production far more than Janie did. Where I liked the intellectual aspects of the content, Janie found them pretentious and at times confusing.

Wikipedia gives a decent synopsis of the play – here.

Janie has never much liked plays that jump backwards and forwards in time, although, coincidentally, we saw Emma Fielding in a similarly time-shifting play recently (autumn 2019) which Janie really liked.

Michael Coveney revewed it the day after we saw it:

Sun, Apr 18, 1993 – 57 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

I think that’s one-nil to Janie in the “confusing rather than clever” stakes.

Michael Billington liked it more, I think:

Wed, Apr 14, 1993 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com