The Physicists by Friedrich Durrenmatt, Donmar Warehouse, 9 June 2012

What a palaver.

I was really keen to see this rarely-performed play, having absolutely loved reading it “back in the day”. Further, it was a cracking good cast, Josie Rourke directing – unquestionably one for us.

So we booked it, way in advance – as soon as tickets became available to members…

…for 2 June – which turned out to be the date of Charlotte and Chris’s wedding.

My bad? Janie’s bad? For both of us, presumably it was so obvious that the first weekend in June was the youngsters’ wedding weekend that we were both far too polite to book out the date in our diaries. I’ll write up the wedding in the fullness of time.

For The Physicists, of course, it was “impossible” for mere ordinary members like us to swap our tickets by the time we spotted our error…

…but it was not impossible for one of Janie’s high falutin’ clients who had some sort of corporate or “patron” membership to arrange a switcheroo for us. Thank you, anonymous high-falutin’ client – we were truly grateful to you – I’m sure Janie also found ways of thanking you gift-wise, foot-wise, etc.

With the benefit of hindsight, of course, perhaps we would have been better off without this one.

What a mess.

All style. All star-quality. No substance.

Perhaps it has dated badly. Perhaps it was adapted in a way that simply didn’t work for us.

This was the culmination of an especially disappointing week of special treats for me, given the unprecedented lack of cricket at Edgbaston on the preceding days:

Long To Rain Over Us, England v West Indies, Edgbaston, Days One and Two, 7 & 8 June 2012

Oh dear.

Here is a link to the excellent downloadable “Study Guide” pack from the Donmar on this production.

Here is the trailer for The Physicists:

Here is a link to reviews and such – mostly less than special.

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, Royal Court Theatre, 4 September 2010

I was really taken with this play and production by the excellent Bruce Norris, about racial tension in a Chicago neighbourhood across the generations. It is witty and thought provoking in equal measure, tackling difficult topics with clarity and sensitivity.

Superb cast and this style of play marries well with Dominic Cooke’s style of direction.

Janie liked it too, but was a little less impressed than me.

Here is the Royal Court resource on this play/production.

It got rave reviews, west end transfer, revivals and all sorts – deservedly so. So you need to look through the reviews in the following link – click here – with care and choose the ones dated around September 2010 to see reviews of the actual production we saw – but you might want to look at reviews generally – in which case dip away with reckless abandon.

The Female Of The Species by Joanna Murray-Smith, Vaudeville Theatre, 12 July 2008

We don’t much go for West End productions, but this one does read like a Cottesloe, Royal Court or Hampstead type production, despite landing in the West End straight from its original Australian production.

The play is a comedy, loosely based on a real incident in which Germaine Greer was breifly kidnapped by a deranged “fan”.

Thank you, Official London Theatre, for all the details about the production – click here.

Janie and I saw this on the Saturday of the Lord’s test, with Lord’s tickets in our hand for the Sunday and with me having been at Lord’s on the Friday, enjoying a long weekend…

…Eileen Atkins, Anna Maxwell Martin, directed by Roger Michell…what could possibly go wrong?

Not a lot, really. It was funny, yet also quite forgettable. Only by skimming the above OLT synopsis and the reviews that follow does it start to come back to me. A bit like the test match really, seems like I was having that sort of weekend:

Still, it was worth seeing and for sure a notch or three above the usual West End comedies.

Wildest Dreams by Alan Ayckbourn, The Pit, 26 February 1994

My log reads,

Don’t remember this one too well, which says something.

I have managed to find a synopsis, click here, but it doesn’t really help me much.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production. Still only a vague memory.

I don’t think we liked it.

I don’t think we walked out at half time. I suspect the performances from that top notch cast kept us going. But I don’t think we liked the play.

I’ve managed to find an on-line review for this one, in the Variety archive – click here.

Here is the Michael Billington clipping:

Billington On Wildest DreamsBillington On Wildest Dreams Thu, Dec 16, 1993 – 34 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Here’s Michael Coveney’s clipping:

Coveney On Wildest DreamsCoveney On Wildest Dreams Sun, Dec 19, 1993 – 58 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com