Tag: Trevor Martin

Nan, John Masefield, Orange Tree Theatre, 5 May 2007

Very Orange Tree, this one.

Written in the Edwardian era.  Set 100 years or so before that.

Janie is usually unenthusiastic about these period pieces, but we have been supporters of the Orange Tree for a long time and tend to get withdrawal symptoms if we reject all of the period stuff.

Mostly Orange Tree regulars in the cast.  Auriol Smith directing, Sam Walters hovering around like an expectant father (we were there very early in the run).

Here’s the Orange Tree Archive to tell you all about it – click here.  Didn’t realise the archive went back this far – pleasant surprise to find this.  Even some headlines from the reviews – well done Orange Tree.

It was a very good production, this.  One of the better ones there.  Kate McGuiness was especially good in the lead.

Michael Billington was generous with his praise, but he does have a soft spot for the Orange Tree – click here.

 

The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Barbican Theatre, 14 September 1991

Stellar cast for this RSC production of the great Chekhov play. Alfred Burke, Simon Russell Beale, Amanda Root, John Carlisle, Susan Fleetwood, Roger Allam…to name but a few. In the capable hands of Terry Hands.

The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

Bobbie and I both enjoyed this production a lot.

I hadn’t realised that this production was Terry Hands’s swansong for the RSC, but Nicholas de Jongh made much of that fact while praising the production in The Guardian:

De Jongh on SeagullDe Jongh on Seagull Sat, Jul 13, 1991 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 17 November 1990

I went up to Stratford with Moose (Mara Frank) where we saw this wonderful production of Much Ado. My log, I think mistakenly, suggests that we also saw Troilus And Cressida on that trip, but I suspect that I saw a preview of Troilus on my tod in April when in the Midlands for other reasons, perhaps procuring the programme when returning to Stratford with Moose and thus confusing myself a few years later.

Anyway…

…this was a great show. Susan Fleetwood as Beatrice, Roger Allam as Benedick, John Carlisle as Don Pedro, a fine supporting ensemble and the very capable hands of Bill Alexander directing.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Michael Billington in The Guardian enthused…sort of:

Billington on Much AdoBillington on Much Ado Thu, Apr 12, 1990 – 26 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Coveney in the Observer hated it. But what did he know?

Coveney on Much AdoCoveney on Much Ado Sun, Apr 15, 1990 – 56 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com