The End Of History… by Jack Thorne, Royal Court Theatre, 29 June 2019

The play takes place over two decades, starting in 1997 soon after the Blair government took power. It is a chamber play about a nuclear family, the parents being firmly of the left.

The Royal Court resource for this play/production can be found here.

We saw a preview of this play/production and were both really taken with it.

It is hard to explain why this play is so good. It’s just beautifully well written. All of the characters are flawed and yet likeable. We wanted to know what was going to happen to all of them.

The acting is top notch. Lesley Sharp has been a favourite of mine for several decades. David Morrisey is also always good value. Indeed all of the cast were fine actors and well suited to their roles.

No gimmicks – it’s simply a super production of a very interesting new play.

Formal reviews, once they come out, will be available through this link.

If you get the chance to go see it…go see it.

Meanwhile, the drama of our evening was only just beginning when the curtain call was taken. We’d agreed to go on to Jo and Sheyda’s cyber party in Tottenham – another story for another blog piece – except that we decided to change into our gear at the Royal Court.

Having checked with the staff, we ascertained that none of the loos are designated by gender any more; they are designated as “urinals and cubicals” or “cubicals only”, so we would be welcome to change in the outer area of the cubicles one.

But when Janie and I went through the “cubicals only” door together, several women in that area started hissy-fitting. How very unwoke and cis-gendered that incident was.

Still, we retired to the relatively pokey but safer space of the disabled toilet to transform ourselves into cyber-folk:

The End Of History…Hertory…Theytory?

No Quarter by Polly Stenham, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 12 January 2013

This one was a real disappointment to us.

We had absolutely loved That Face, Polly Stenham’s first play:

That Face, Polly Stenham, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 19 May 2007

We even quite liked Tusk Tusk, her second – although we felt she hadn’t really moved on, we allowed for that “awkward second piece” syndrome:

Tusk Tusk by Polly Stenham, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 28 March 2009

Now, after nearly four more years, her third, No Quarter. Here is the Royal Court resource for this piece.

Again an upper-middle class drawing room drama – even less promising than the second.

We were at a preview. There was Polly, socialising with her friends and relations, who were there to make sure that the preview was well received by the audience…

…it all seemed aa shame and a waste of talent to us. Perhaps Polly was honing her skills for a TV writing career that will be far more lucrative than the stage…and perhaps to that end she is succeeding.

Here is a link to a search term that finds the (mostly indifferent) reviews.

Indifference summed it up for us too. It was entertaining, there were good lines and vignettes in it. If this had been a young writer’s first play we would have oozed about a promising writer. But this piece was a waste of Polly Stenham’s talent and the talent on show with cast and crew too.

A pity.

Six Degrees Of Separation, John Guare, The Old Vic, 16 January 2010

Around the time that we booked this play, I was writing the chapter of The Price of Fish, coincidentally Chapter Six, that explains the “shrinking world” theory known as six degrees of separation.

In theory, this play is all about that concept. In practice, I struggled at times to link this social comedy with the theory.

Without the futile search for intellectual insight, it was a reasonably fun evening at the theatre but a rather lightweight one. A super cast for this revival, but I’m not sure this play is worthy of a revival within 20 years, even though the world has/had changed between times.

Here is a link to The Old Vic resource on the production.

Here is a link to a search term that finds plenty of reviews, mostly indifferent ones. The consensus seemed to be that the production was excellent but the play somewhat lacking. Although neither Janie nor I had seen the play first time around, we thought that assessment was right.