Tag: William Gaunt

Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones, Cottesloe Theatre, 4 August 2001

Image borrowed from Amazon where you can buy the play text.

We saw a preview of this one – I think the second preview.

Janie was super excited at the thought of it. She wrote “Simon Russell Beale & Diana Rigg” in her diary ahead of time. Our verdict:

Not as good as we’d hoped. Super set.

Here’s the Theatricalia entry for this star-studded affair.

Our friend, Michael Billington, had his doubts about it too:

Humble Guardian Billington Humble Guardian Billington 10 Aug 2001 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Rachel Halliburton in The Standard seemed more keen, but not wild about it.

Humble Halliburton Standard Humble Halliburton Standard 10 Aug 2001 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

While Kate Kellaway in The Observer loved it:

Humble Observer Kellaway Humble Observer Kellaway 12 Aug 2001 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Go figure.

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Cottesloe Theatre, 23 September 2000

The previous week we saw Yasmina Reza’s “Conversations…”, which Michael Billington described as Chekhovian…

Conversations After A Burial by Yasmina Reza, Almeida Theatre, 16 September 2000

Well if you thought that Reza’s work was Chekhovian, Michael, just wait until you see The Cherry Orchard.

Another Saturday night at the theatre which didn’t raise a comment in my log at the time. Perhaps we were overdoing at bit at that time.

Amazing cast: Maxine Peake, Roger Allam, Michael Bryant, Vanessa Redgrave, Eve Best, Corin Redgrave (yes, that was two Redgraves for the price of one), and many other fine acting folk, directed by Trevor Nunn.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it but didn’t gush:

Cherry de Jongh Standard Cherry de Jongh Standard 22 Sept 2000 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Michael Billington also rates it good without rating it great:

Cherry Billington Guardian Cherry Billington Guardian 23 Sept 2000 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Perhaps my null log entry was about right for this one.