Tag: Terry Smith

Ancient Lights by Shelagh Stephenson, Hampstead Theatre, 23 December 2000

Janie and I rated this one:

Very good indeed…

…yet it fails to register in my usual lookup places (Wikipedia, Theatricalia) on lists of Shelagh Stephenson’s work.

It looks as though Janie booked this one almost as an afterthought. Perhaps she thought we’d have no time before the Christmas madness and then felt ready and at a loose end just ahead of the Saturday. She’s written:

A9 & 10, £40.35 Joanna Pearce playing Bea.

Perhaps a client recommended it to her.

Let’s see what the critics said. Our friend, Michael Billington, liked it despite its flaws:

Ancient Billington Guardian Ancient Billington Guardian 7 Dec 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh gave it the dreaded Standard blob as its rating:

Ancient de Jongh Standard Ancient de Jongh Standard 7 Dec 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But then again, Charles Spencer really liked it:

Ancient Spencer Telegraph Ancient Spencer Telegraph 8 Dec 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I must say the scenario looks like the sort of play we would actively avoid now, so my guess is that it is well writ and was very well acted by an excellent cast, not least Dermot Crowley & Joanne Pearce.

Dolly West’s Kitchen by Frank McGuiness, Abbey Theatre Dublin at The Old Vic, 29 July 2000

I remember thinking this play and production was rather good, although I wrote nothing positive or negative about the experience in my log. We’re both partial to Frank McGuiness and the Abbey Theatre Dublin as an ensemble rarely lets us down.

Perhaps I was too exhausted to write a comment after a week of total culture-vulturing – three museums/galleries, two concerts, two plays and a heck of a lot of work in-between.

Here’s the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

Nicholas de Jongh wrote highly of it in The Standard:

Dolly de Jongh Standard

Article from 18 May 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England)

Paul Taylor also wrote highly of it in The Independent:

Dolly Taylor Independent

Article from 18 May 2000 The Independent (London, Greater London, England)

Charles Spencer positively raved about it in The Telegraph:

Dolly Spencer Telegraph

Article from 27 May 2000 The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England)

Lyn Gardiner in The Guardian similarly heaped the praise:

Dolly Gardiner Guardian

Article from 19 May 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England)

In short – this play/production was a good ‘un. Surprising it has never been revived.

Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally, Pleasance Theatre, 29 October 1999

An unprecedented hat trick of evenings at the theatre concluded with this piece. Little did we know when we booked it that this to be a highly controversial play.

Here’s a newspaper clipping from the following day:

Corpus Christi FatwaCorpus Christi Fatwa 30 Oct 1999, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Perhaps we should have known, as apparently it had been hugely controversial when first produced in the USA a couple of years earlier.

In truth, we didn’t think all that much of the play and production.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard liked it:

corpus de Jongh Standardcorpus de Jongh Standard 29 Oct 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

No-one else seems to have reviewed it. The other papers seemed obsessed with news of the play’s controversy rather than the play itself, which is a a shame.

I recall that we rather liked the Pleasance Theatre but not its location.

We had been traipsing around that day, having been to the City for a do (neither of us can remember) and then a stop off to see some oriental art at the British Museum before The Pleasance. Would we have the energy for all that 25 years later? Would we have the energy for a hat-trick of evenings at the theatre?