Tag: Tim Hatley

Drawing The Line by Howard Brenton, Hampstead Theatre, 27 December 2013

When we saw Jacquie and Hils Briegal for Christmas, we discovered that we were all going to see this play on the same night as couple of days later, along with Brother-in-law/Uncle Bernard Jacobs.

Typically, Jacquie said that Janie and I should join the family at her place for some supper after the show which we did.

Frankly, the play was rather dull. It’s funny how Howard Brenton tends to either get it very right or very wrong for me. this one missed the mark.

Fascinating subject, the partition of India, but what an old-fashioned “tell don’t show” history play it was.

Click here for a link to the Hampstead resource on this production.

Below is a video trailer with cast interviews:

Below is an interview with Howard Brenton about it:

The show got mostly good reviews – click here for a search term that finds them – so Janie and I form a minority view in that regard.

I think we were the least impressed among the family too.

What the family readily agreed, though, was that Jacquie’s supper spread and the family natter was the highlight of the evening. Bernard was in especially good form that night. Sadly, he passed away just before new year 2018 – more or less exactly four years after this splendid gathering, which I’m sure he enjoyed, as did we.

Mrs Klein by Nicholas Wright, Almeida Theatre, 24 October 2009

We both really enjoyed this play/production about he psychoanalyst Melanie Klein.

I had seen the original production of this play at The Cottesloe back in 1988 and really liked it.

Janie and I are keen Almeida-istas;  I guessed that this would be yet another really good Almeida production and that the play would be to Janie’s taste. Add to that a superb cast – Clare Higgins and Nicola Walker are two of our favourites, plus Thea Sharrock (formerly at The Gate) directing…

…what could go wrong? Nothing. This was a great production and Janie did really like it.

As usual, there is an excellent Almeida resource about the play/production – click here – with information, pictures and reviews.

The reviews were nearly all very good and the very good ones are accessible in full from the above resource.

The Black Album by Hanif Kureishi, Cottesloe Theatre, 18 July 2009

We saw a preview of this new play/production, as oft we did at the Cottesloe.

There is a strong OfficialLondonTheatre.co.uk resource on this play/production – click here. It is basically a stage adaptation of Kureshi’s novel about anti-racism and radical Islam.

Tanya Franks was in it, which was one for the NewsRevue alumni “where are they now” department.

I don’t remember much about this play, which is not a great sign. Perhaps my mind was on the Ashes match unfolding at Lord’s that weekend, but more likely, if the reviews are anything to go by, this was not a classic.

Oh well.

Sleep With Me by Hanif Kureishi, Cottesloe Theatre, 24 April 1999

We rated this piece very good. We saw it very early in the run – just a couple of days after press night so before reviews were out.

Excellent cast, including Jonathan Hyde, Sian Thomas, Peter Wight & Penny Downie – here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Nicholas de Jongh in the Standard really liked it:

Sleep Standard de JonghSleep Standard de Jongh 23 Apr 1999, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, didn’t much like it:

Sleep Billington GuardianSleep Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1999, Fri The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer, on the other hand, absolutely hated it:

Sleep Spencer TelegraphSleep Spencer Telegraph 26 Apr 1999, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams, Comedy Theatre, 10 April 1999

We do like our Tennessee Williams, do Janie and I. This is a rarely performed play and I have always been fascinated by it.

Indeed, we must have been very keen to see this one, as we booked for the first Saturday of the West End run. We tend to avoid the West End these days.

We loved it. I wrote in my log:

Superb. One of the best so far this year.

Sheila Gish was predictably excellent, but we were also much taken with a young Rachel Weisz; I think this was the first time we saw her. There was more to the cast than those two – see tags in this piece – the Theatricalia entry unusually lacks them. 

We were wowed; not much else that we can say.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was also wowed

Suddenly Standard de JonghSuddenly Standard de Jongh 15 Apr 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But wait! Our friend, Michael Billington, didn’t like it:

Suddenly Guardian BillingtonSuddenly Guardian Billington 17 Apr 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We need a third opinion. Charles Spencer in the telegraph. Pretty darn positive:

Suddenly Telegraph SpencerSuddenly Telegraph Spencer 16 Apr 1999, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Goodnight Children Everywhere by Richard Nelson, The Other Place, 20 June 1998

Very good…

…was my conclusion on this one.

Janie and I were partial to a bit of Richard Nelson at that time – the RSC put on several of his works in the late 1990s.

We saw this one as part of an extraordinary whistle-stop long weekend which took in three plays at Stratford (this the third of them), a motorised hike to the Welsh Borders for lunch at The Walnut Tree before going on to Hay-On-Wye for some overnight- second-hand-book-buying on my part before stopping off for a long lunch at Raymond Blanc’s place (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons) in Oxfordshire and then home. Friday to Monday. The other bits have been written up separately from this piece – click here or below.

A Long Weekend In Stratford-Upon-Avon & Hay-On-Wye, Including Trips To The Walnut Tree & Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, 19 to 22 June 1998

I think we stayed in the Shakespeare for this trip. Janie booked it but only wrote down “Twelfth Night Room £115 per night” which I suspect in those days was a suite or certainly a superior room. I did the rest of the trip, including The Old Black Lion in Hay.

I guess the RSC was on a nostalgia-trip for its older audience at that time, with Talk Of the City at The Swan about the cloud of Nazism and this one at The Other Place set just after the Second World War.

Excellent cast, as you’d expect from the RSC. Catheryn Bradshaw, Sara Markland, Robin Weaver and Simon Scadifield to name but a few. Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Charles Spencer didn’t like the play, but it did pick up an Olivier award so what does he know?

Spencer Telegraph GoodnightSpencer Telegraph Goodnight 11 Dec 1997, Thu The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh absolutely hated the play. But it did pick up an Olivier Award so what does he know?

de Jongh Standard Goodnightde Jongh Standard Goodnight 10 Dec 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Richard Edmonds in The Birmingham Post loved it:

Birmingham Post Edmonds GoodnightBirmingham Post Edmonds Goodnight 12 Dec 1997, Fri The Birmingham Post (Birmingham, West Midlands, England) Newspapers.com

Talk Of the City by Stephen Poliakoff, Swan Theatre, 20 June 1998

Good, but not his best…

…was my log note for this one. “His” referring to Stephen Poliakoff, whose best I rate very highly.

Janie and I saw this one as part of an extraordinary whistle-stop long weekend which took in three plays at Stratford (this the second of the three), a motorised hike to the Welsh Borders for lunch at The Walnut Tree before going on to Hay-On-Wye for some overnight- second-hand-book-buying on my part before stopping off for a long lunch at Raymond Blanc’s place (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons) in Oxfordshire and then home. Friday to Monday. The other bits have been written up separately from this piece – click here or below.

A Long Weekend In Stratford-Upon-Avon & Hay-On-Wye, Including Trips To The Walnut Tree & Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, 19 to 22 June 1998

I think we stayed in the Shakespeare for this trip. Janie booked it but only wrote down “Twelfth Night Room £115 per night” which I suspect in those days was a suite or certainly a superior room. I did the rest of the trip, including The Old Black Lion in Hay.

As for Talk Of the City, Poliakoff directed this one himself, if I recall correctly, which I think might have been (and often is) a minor mistake – i.e. playwrights, even if superb directors, can usually do with an external eye as director on their own works.

Great cast, including David Westhead, John Normington, Sian Reeves and a young Dominic Rowan. Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry for this one.

Charles Spencer thought the play a muddle:

Spencer Telegraph TalkSpencer Telegraph Talk 01 May 1998, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh didn’t much like it either:

30 Apr 1998, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

The Maids by Jean Genet, Richmond Theatre, 13 September 1997

Had its moments.

That was my sole comment on the quality of this one in the log – I don’t think we were overly impressed despite the excellent cast. Niamh Cusack, Kerry Fox & Josette Simon, directed by John Crowley, initially at the Donmar Warehouse and then touring – we saw it at Richmond.

Previewed in the Standard thusly…

Maids Stringer Preview StandardMaids Stringer Preview Standard 11 Jun 1997, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I don’t think Nicholas de Jongh liked it much once it opened:

Maids de Jongh StandardMaids de Jongh Standard 26 Jun 1997, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

David Benedict in The Independent liked it:

Maids Benedict IndyMaids Benedict Indy 27 Jun 1997, Fri The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Kate Bassett in The Telegraph was less sure.

Maids Bassett TelegraphMaids Bassett Telegraph 27 Jun 1997, Fri The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I suspect we ate at Don Fernando’s again after this one. I also wrote:

No interval

…which might mean that we would have walked out had there been one.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, Olivier Theatre, 7 June 1997

We were tending to book RNT things in preview or very early in runs, so this was an unusually late visit to see this one – perhaps we couldn’t get the seats we wanted until later or perhaps we missed it in the first block of dates.

Anyway, we thought this was “very good”.

One of our favourite troupes, Théâtre de Complicité, was responsible for this one. Juliet Stevenson played the lead along with Simon McBurney who also directed. The Theatricalia entry can be found here.

This was the first of those “in the round” productions that the RNT did at The Olivier while it was being refurbished.

Nicholas de Jongh in The Standard was not too keen on it:

Caucasian de Jongh StandardCaucasian de Jongh Standard 22 Apr 1997, Tue Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Charles Spencer in the Telegraph imagined that his cordial loathing of this show would be a minority view:

Caucasian Spencer TelegraphCaucasian Spencer Telegraph 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Predictably, then, our friend Michael Billington loved it:

Caucasian Billington GuardianCaucasian Billington Guardian 23 Apr 1997, Wed The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

But Robert Butlet in The Independent didn’t much like it either:

Caucasian Butler IndyCaucasian Butler Indy 27 Apr 1997, Sun The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Oh well.

Stanley by Pam Gems, Cottesloe Theatre, 13 February 1996

My log and indeed my memory is unequivocal about this one:

Quite outstanding. One of the very, very best.

A rare visit to the theatre midweek, I’m guessing that our impending trip to Thailand & Vietnam restricted our choices of dates for this one. Such was our desire to see it, we booked a midweek evening to be sure of seeing the production.

Both Antony Sher and Deborah Warner were superb in their roles, as indeed was the whole supporting cast.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this play/production.

In truth, Stanley Spencer’s art is not really my bag, but his story is strange and peculiarly touching, certainly as told in this excellent play by Pam Gems.

Strangely, I cannot find a Guardian review for this one, but Michael Simons previewed it:

Michael Simons Previews StanleyMichael Simons Previews Stanley Mon, Jan 22, 1996 – 57 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor gave the play & production rich praise in The Independent.

Michael Coveney in The Observer agreed the play was excellent and enjoyed the production too:

Coveney On StanleyCoveney On Stanley Sun, Feb 4, 1996 – 68 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

It picked up awards and stuff, did Stanley. But there’s no praise higher than the Ged & Daisy accolade quoted at the top of this piece.