Tag: Stephen Moore

The Hothouse by Harold Pinter, Lyttelton Theatre, 28 July 2007

We really enjoyed this play and production. It is a rare example of a Pinter comedy, which he wrote during his heyday in the mid 1950s but I don’t think it got produced until a fair bit later.

Being Pinter, the line between comedy and tense psychodrama is a thin one. Indeed, plays like The Caretaker, The Birthday Party and The Dumb Waiter are sinister yet have plenty of humour in them. The Hothouse has plenty of humour yet is sinister; it is set in an anonymous government run mental institution. Say no more.

This was a superb cast and production. Stephen Moore, Finbar Lynch, Leo Bill and Lia Williams the standouts. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry. For once, the awkward depth/shape of the Lyttelton stage could be used to good effect for an institutional look.

It was pretty well received by the critics on the whole:

Disposing Of The Body by Hugh Whitemore, Hampstead Theatre, 14 August 1999

In truth I remember little about this play/production. I logged it without comment, which doesn’t help.

Super cast and crew. Stephen Moore, Charlotte Cornwell, Gemma Jones and David Horovitch, directed by Robin Lefevre.

John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph gave it a modest review, which doesn’t help the memory much, 25 years later, other than making me feel better about the fact that I remember so little about it:

Disposing Gross S TelegraphDisposing Gross S Telegraph 01 Aug 1999, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michel Billington went into more detail in The Guardian and on balance liked it:

Disposing Billington GuardianDisposing Billington Guardian 15 Jul 1999, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nick Curtis in The Standard went into detail explaining why he didn’t like the piece:

Disposing Curtis StandardDisposing Curtis Standard 14 Jul 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I think, on balance, we were more Curtis than Billington about this one.

An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, Olivier Theatre, 20 September 1997

Very good.

That was my vote…or should I say our vote?…on this excellent production of this oft-revived play.

I had seen it “back in the day” with Bobbie and Ashley Michaels…:

Went To See An Enemy Of The People by Henrik Ibsen (Arthur Miller Adaptation), With Bobbie & Ashley, Young Vic, 9 November 1988

The National production in 1997 was more “classic” Christopher Hampton adaptation with an exceptional cast including Sir Ian, Penny Downie, Stephen Moore, Lucy Whybrow and many others, directed by Trevor Nunn. The Theatricalia entry lists them all.

Nicholas de Jongh seemed quite taken with it…just “quite”:

Enemy de Jongh StandardEnemy de Jongh Standard 22 Sep 1997, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend Michael Billington found it a bit too “classic” for his taste:

Enemy Billington GuardianEnemy Billington Guardian 22 Sep 1997, Mon The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, like the others, made much of the fact that this was Trevor Nunn’s inaugural piece for the RNT. While not damning it, he does use the word “flash”:

Enemy Spencer TelegraphEnemy Spencer Telegraph 22 Sep 1997, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com