Mother Courage And Her Children by Bertolt Brecht, version by Hanif Kureishi, Cottesloe Theatre, 15 January 1994

Our first theatre visit of 1994 which, according to my log, we both thought was a very good production.

The Theatricalia entry for this production can be found here.

I cannot find any contemporaneous reviews on-line for this production…

…but there are some clippings, e.g. Michel Billington:

Billington On Mother CourageBillington On Mother Courage Wed, Dec 8, 1993 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

A smaller clipping also from Michael Coveney:

Coveney on Mother CourageCoveney on Mother Courage Sun, Dec 12, 1993 – 79 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Ellie Haddington played the lead role very well.

My log describes this as an “RNT Education Department Mobile Production”, so my guess is that it toured extensively beyond the Cottesloe. Good for it.

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

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!

My First Weekend At Clanricarde: Encountering Van Morrison, Single Spies by Alan Bennett, National Theatre, With Bobbie & Bridge At Pam & Michael’s Place, 3 & 4 December 1988

Saturday 3 December: Much sorting to do re flat – went to see Single Spies in eve – B came back to mine

My appointments diary informs me that my Zanussi washing machine was delivered to the flat that morning. I remember going for my first local shopping expedition after the machine arrived.

I am fairly sure that it was on that very first Saturday’s shopping spree that I found myself face-to-face with Van Morrison on the traffic island which divides the north from the south side of the Bayswater Road. We exchanged glances. I nodded, in as much of a “cool, nodding acquaintance” manner as I could muster.

Van-Morrison

I remember thinking that the Van encounter proved that I had really arrived in a hip, happening place – I was going to be rubbing shoulders with Van Morrison and people of that sort all the time from now on. Well, to some extent I suppose I have got to meet quite a lot of such media folk in the neighbourhood since, but that traffic island encounter with Van the Man was, sadly, a one-off. “No Van is an island”, I suppose.

Single Spies is actually two Alan Bennett plays: An Englishman Abroad and A Question Of Attribution. Both are about the Cambridge Spy Ring. The first of the two plays had been knocking around for a few years before this production – it is primarily about actress Coral Browne’s encounters with Guy Burgess. The second play was about Anthony Blunt’s role as art advisor to the Queen.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

According to the National Theatre’s historical notes, A Question of Attribution contained:

the first representation on the British stage of a living monarch, in a scene in which Sir Anthony Blunt has a discussion with ‘HMQ’.

Prunella Scales and Simon Callow played the leads in both plays. I think this was the first time I saw Prunella Scales on stage, although she had seen me ponce about in tights some 10 years earlier:

I thought the production (Single Spies, I mean, not Twelfth Night) was very good and said so in my notes. I’m pretty sure Bobbie liked the production too. I think we might have eaten at the National that evening – I can’t believe that I was geared up to cook yet at Clanricarde.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on Single SpiesBillington on Single Spies Sat, Dec 3, 1988 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:

Ratcliffe on SpiesRatcliffe on Spies Sun, Dec 4, 1988 – 44 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Sunday 4 December: Went to Pam & Michael’s in eve for dinner and bridge

I wonder who made the fourth for bridge that evening? It was before my irregular social group had emerged, so it wouldn’t have been Andrea on that occasion. I’ll guess it was a friend of Pam & Michael’s – perhaps one of the Setty/Gareh family or possibly it was Ralph Glasser. The diary is silent on such details – never mind.

I’ll have walked there and back, learning that Clanricarde Gardens to Pam & Michael’s place only takes around 15 minutes on foot. Cool.

Mountain Language by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 25 October 1988

Wow – this was a real experience in the theatre. Only a short piece – not even half an hour long – Bobbie and I will have both traipsed to the National after work, spending far more time traipsing than watching. But the memory of this piece lingers long in the memory.

Here is the Wikipedia entry about the play.

What a cast – see this Theatricalia entry for details. Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Tony Haygarth, Eileen Atkins…

…Pinter himself directing…

…Julian Wadham was also in it – I seem to recall that Bobbie was working with his sister at that time.

I rated it very good indeed in my log and I remember talking and thinking about the piece long after the curtain call.

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Billington on Mountain LanguageBillington on Mountain Language Sat, Oct 22, 1988 – 17 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:

Ratcliffe on Mountain LanguageRatcliffe on Mountain Language Sun, Oct 23, 1988 – 40 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

I subsequently saw the piece again, in a double bill with Ashes To Ashes at the Royal Court, with Janie second time around. It is a very strong piece and no doubt can still shock and make the audience realise how bad regimes exert their power in part through the suppression and abuse of language.

What an honour to have seen the first production of this important, though short, piece of drama.

A Place With The Pigs by Athol Fugard, Cottesloe Theatre, 20 February 1988

I rated this play/production superb in my log – I remember it well and fondly.

Jim Broadbent and Linda Bassett were both outstanding – I think this might have been the first time I saw either of them in the theatre and it was, I think, my first experience of seeing an Athol Fugard play performed. If so, it was the first of many in all three cases.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

No on-line reviews of the production we saw, of course, but there is an almost contemporaneous one from the Yale Rep in 1987, which you can read transcribed here.

Michael Billington didn’t much like it – below is his review clipped:

Billington On PigsBillington On Pigs Thu, Feb 18, 1988 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Ratcliffe didn’t much like it either – pearls before swine this play/production – Ratcliffe’s review clipped below

Ratcliffe On PigsRatcliffe On Pigs Sun, Feb 21, 1988 – 24 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

The play is about a Russian soldier hiding in a pig sty for many years after the war and possible recriminations for his desertion are over. No doubt it is meant to be a parable with relevance to the Afrikaner position in South Africa.

Frankly, I found it hard to engage too deeply with the parable at the time, but did think it was an interesting and entertaining play, especially in the hands of the talented cast.

Unusually for productions that please me so much, Fugard himself directed this one – I’m not keen on the idea of playwrights directing their own work and usually detect some untrammelled egotism in such productions, but I think Fugard might be an exception to the “don’t direct your own plays” rule of thumb.

Did Bobbie enjoy this one as much as I did? I think so, at the time, but whether it stuck so long in her memory as it did mine is a question I’ll have to ask her.