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We quite liked this play, although I think we were more taken by the excellent production and cast than the play itself.
I think that means that we basically agreed with Michael Billington’s take on it – click here.
British Theatre Guide was luke warm – here.
London Theatre summarises the other, mixed reviews.
Not especially memorable, this one…
…I noted in my log.
Janie and I were very keen on The Orange Tree at that time and on the whole the plays and the productions were excellent. James Saunders is not the easiest playwright, though.
Here is a link to the Bodies page on the James Saunders website.
We saw a revival of the piece, which had been an early effort at the Orange Tree back in the 1970s. Sam Walters had directed the original version; Dominic Hill directed our revival – no doubt mentored by Sam at that time. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for the version we saw.
Here is the review from the Independent.
Bodies Adrian Turpin Independent 25 Sep 1996, Wed The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Here is Nick Curtis’s review from The standard:
Bodies Nick Curtis Standard 03 Sep 1996, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
I rated this two-hander with Tim Pigott-Smith & Victoria Hamilton as superb at the time, so it must have been quite special.
I cannot find much about it on the web, but this page from the James Saunders website helps, with a good description of the piece and some nice quotes from the notices. If anything ever happens to that site, I have scraped the page to here.
So this turned out to be James Saunders’ last play and I think the only one of his that was premiered in the new Orange Tree Theatre by Sam Walters (several of the earlier ones had premiered above the pub).
It must have been this play that made me seek out James Saunders’ work subsequently, but in truth his earlier work, especially the absurdist pieces, were far less to my taste than this gripping, psychological two-hander.
Michael Billington reviewed it and really liked it. I say that with some surprise, as for some reason the James Saunders’ website doesn’t have a quote from Billington.
Billington on Retreat Wed, May 17, 1995 – 33 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
I’m so glad Janie and I saw this. I wonder whether it is due a revival; I’d need to re-read it but I sense it is in many ways timeless.
Consternation! Consternation!!
The log says:
I quite liked it, but Janie and The Duchess hated it.
The Duchess is Janie’s mum, Pauline. You don’t mess with Pauline. If she hates a play, it is a hateful play. End of.
What was I thinking?
I recall it was a bit of an absurdist, farcical piece – Havel’s like that.
Not much to find about it on-line. No Theatricalia. No reviews…
…except for this newspaper clipping:
I believe I placated The Duchess by taking her and Janie to Don Fernando for a decent meal afterwards.
Temporary ceasefire, not armistice.
