The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other by Peter Handke in a new translation by Meredith Oakes

Susan Brown: Jessie Burton: Pip Carter: Paul Chesterton
: Lisa Dillon: Callum Dixon: Noma Dumezweni: Susan Engel
: Susannah Fielding: Mark Hadfield: Amy Hall: Daniel Hawksford
: Tom Hickey: Richard Hope: Mairead McKinley: Nick Malinowski
: Shereen Martineau: Justine Mitchell: Daniel Poyser: Adrian Schiller
: Amit Shah: Sara Stewart: Giles Terera: Jason Thorpe: Harry Towb
: Simon Wilson: Sarah Woodward

Director: James Macdonald
Set Designer: Hildegard Bechtler

Seen during it's UK premiere run at the Lyttelton E15 on standby (at new increased price!)
Celebs in the audience: Anthony Calf and Paul Gambacini - but not together!

This might have been called "The nigh-on couple of hours we knew very little of each other" as there were a few characters who had direct relationshps but I have not yet read the notes from the programme to discover the full inspiration for this piece.

I am going to start putting the NT links in my blog because they have videos and info that can better explain the production......."Twenty-seven actors, 450 characters and no dialogue: a play without words by the great experimental figure of European theatre, Peter Handke."

You could hardly ask for a more diverse audience and yet the balance was similar to the plays for young people that I saw at the weekend.

From the moment the first few actors hit the stage there was concentrated interaction from the audience. This is the least self-conscience display of mime-craft you are likely to find. Some performances were so subtle that they gained more laughs than the overtly comedic.

I didn't understand the first scattering of petals and perhaps there was no purpose to them other than to give the man purpose. The mirror dress sequence was hilarious and very clever with Jason Thorpe stealing much of the show. The pantomine cat, trailing after Dick Wittington and the two different birds were fleeting moments of joy. I would also like to give a special mention to Tom Hickey and lovely to see Harry Towb on the stage again. There were slow queues and rushed jogs, lovers and hookers, the wounded and broken hearted.

No matter how much Sara Stewart tries to dress down she always has an almost overly polished appearance and a walk that would stop traffic. Susan Brown is the wonderful actress without vanity and I would dearly love to see her work more often. I can't believe she doesn't get the offers and I seem to remember she's a friend of Patsy Pollock so perhaps she just chooses to work out of London and below my radar.

The Miracle by Lin Coghlan

Ron: Ruby Bentall
Peter 'Chewy' Zapadski: Ian Bonar
Mrs Sheenan: Clare Burt
Lanky Girl: Nicole Charles
Trousers: Gregg Chillin
Zelda: Rebecca Cooper
Mr Rodgers: Sam Crane
Angela Brickman: Claire Foy
PC703: Troy Glasgow
Header Hammond: Jack Gordon
Lanky Girl: Claire Lams
Lorenzo Hammond: Henry Lloyd Hughes
Miss Lowry: Petra Letang
Billy Hammond: Ryan Sampson
Mrs Ginger/Lanky Girl: Kellie Shirley
Barry O'Donnell: Benjamin Smith
Ginger: Paul Thornley

Directed by Paul Miller
Designed by Simon Daw

At the Cottesloe in it's first run E23
Celeb in the audience: Sinead Cussack & children(which is quite sweet since dad was next door in the Lyttelton)

If you really pressed me, I'd say this was the weakest piece of the day but it was still powerful. It felt a little like the last one in the 24 Hour Plays but benefitted from more time to develop.

The young woman who played the amazing motor-mouth in DNA took on the role of Veronica (Ron) who believed she had a religious experience that left her with special powers. Her friend Zelda, played by Rebecca Cooper (and reminded me of the Tarbuck family) had the rather clunky task of narrating the events and I think that was where this play fell away somewhat. Ron felt that she could help a variety of problems and with good intentions she influenced the weaker, more vulnerable members of her community. This eventually fell apart with echos of The Crucible but the progression was not as well formed as the other plays. Perhaps it was just one play too many and I finally understood why most performances on have the two productions in an one evening.

I want to make a mention of Claire Lams too. She had the only white-girl role in Baby Girl and a very strong character in DNA. She had something of a chorus role in Miracle but slipped easily between all three. Ryan and Ian were also strong in Miracle.

All three of these productions used beautifully produced video images and stills projected over a vast screen at the back and above the stage. Considerable thought had been put into these and given the nature of having to change scenes so quickly, it worked beautifully.

Miracle had the added touch of completely drenching the stage because catalyst for the divine intervention was a flooded river bank.
I am so glad that I saw all of these. A wonderfully enriching day.

DNA by Dennis Kelly

Lea: Ruby Bentall
Brian: Ian Bonar
Mark: Gregg Chillin
Phil: Sam Crane
Jan: Claire Foy
Richard: Troy Glasgow
John Tate: Jack Gordon
Cathy: Claire Lams
A Boy: Ryan Sampson
Danny: Benjamin Smith
Lou - Nicole Charles

Directed by Paul Miller
Designed by Simon Daw

At the Cottesloe in it's first run E23
Celeb in the audience: Sinead Cussack & children(which is quite sweet since dad was next door in the Lyttelton)

From one of the co-writers of Pulling, this is a witting, slightly twisted, fast moving joy of a play and the cast will always remember this moment in their early career.

Now is a good time to mention that the audience were fantastic. There was a real spirit of the entire room staying with these plays from start to finish and the curtain calls were quite frankly, bawdy!

We acertain that a friend has died and whilst he was not murdered, his death was clearly caused by a bit of irresponsible behaviour.

The two most delicious characters are a motor-mouth in the shape of Lea and a quiet, pragmatically cold genius called Phil. The young actors who played these roles were staggering. Phil (Sam Crane) spent the majority of his time eating from what seemed to be an endless supply of snack food from a blue plastic carrier. He was able to maintain speechless action for several minutes at a time while Lea (Ruby Bentall) rattled on, holding both sides of the conversation.

This large circle of friends all feel responsible but all react in a different way. They look to Phil (who some of them don't know at all) for his wise solution at which point he makes his first big speech. His solution is elaborate and delivered with chess board precision. This amazing young actor maintains exactly the same demeanor for an hour which makes him deliciously sinister. Other characters of note are Brian, played by Ian Bonar who I remember from some readings he has done and those huge blue cow eyes. Danny, played by Benjamin Smith is constantly worrying about how this might affect his chances of entering a career in dentistry which forms a very amusing cameo. There is a beautiful young girl, Claire Foy playing Mark's girlfriend Jan who has a delicate touch. Ryan Sampson makes a late but pivotal entry to great effect.

I can't praise this production more highly. The writing is a gift and all these youngsters grasp it and treat it with great precision.

Baby Girl by Roy Williams

Jose: Nicole Charles
Richie: Troy Glasgow
Yvette: Claire Lams
Samantha: Petra Letang
Kelle: Candassaie Liburd
Danielle: Apaiketuya Marchant
Nathan: Winston Sarpong
Josie - Nicole Charles


Directed by Paul Miller
Designed by Simon Daw

At the Cottesloe in it's first run E23
Celeb in the audience: Sinead Cussack

Roy writes such wonderfulpieces for teenagers but the very nature of them can fall apart when the cast is not up to scratch. This cast was amazing with particular mention for Candassaie Liburd.

A 13 year old girl, Kelle tells her 26 year old Mum that she is pregnant. It happened because of peer pressure about being a virgin. The father's brother, Richie is the local stud and has fathered several children before reaching the age of 18 but senses a meaningful relationship developing with Josie but is cautious about progressing it. When he finally takes the plunge, Kelle's Mum has managed to discover the father's identity but confronts Richie in an effort to find his brother thereby exposing the family weakness.

A perfectly simple construction of a complicated situation that is well resolved.

I was amused by an interaction between Kelle and her mother Samantha which revolved around Wentworth Miller. An interesting choice of actor to include but all the more funny because I was going to meet a friend of a friend who was a big fan of his. I notice that the original text cited a different actor.

Please have a look at the little film on the NT website

Never So Good by Howard Brenton

Young Harry Crookshank : Ben Addis
Smithson : Jonathan Battersby
Anthony Eden : Anthony Calf
Young Harold Macmillan : Pip Carter
Nellie Macmillan : Anna Carteret
Dorothy Macmillan : Anna Chancellor
Selwyn Lloyd : Peter Forbes
Dwight D. Eisenhower : Clive Francis
Ronald Knox : Tim Frances
Bob Boothby : Robert Glenister
Neville Chamberlain : Terrence Hardiman
Ensemble : Sarah Head
Harold Macmillan : Jeremy Irons
Ensemble : Sioned Jones
Ensemble : Anne Kavanagh
Sgt. Robinson : Nicholas Lumley
Winston Churchill : Ian McNeice
Ensemble : Charlotte Melia
Ensemble : Roger Ringrose
Ensemble : Janet Spencer-Turner
Older Harry Crookshank : Terence Wilton
Ensemble : Claire Winsper
Ensemble : Rupert Young

Directed by Howard Davies
Designed by Vikki Mortimer

See during it's debut run at the Lyttelton Theatre on the day after press night, with post-show discussion including Howard Brenton & Jeremy Irons K11(which was better than anticiapted)
Notables in the theatre: Roger Allam, Mark Kermode and that NNR fella who always has to look at his notes while talking and pretending to not look at his notes - name dismissed from memory

Like JF Kennedy, Macmillan lived his life in constant pain acquired from his heroics in The Great War. We needed to know how dramatic this was. We needed to know about his dalliance with another boy when he was at Eton but for some reason the first 30 minutes of this play seemed to drift a little. Then Anna Chancellor lit up the stage and proceedings stepped up from then on.

In the way that only Howard Brenton can manage we have a tender portrayal of a clever man. Every scene displays his loyalty, integrity and pragmatism whilst showing the heart of the man.

I found the audience around me rather embarrassing and didn't know why they laughed at some lines. There was wit there but I found it in different places. I loathed the musical interludes, not for their content but for they way they were handled and was further angered when I heard some woman say they were the only good bits.

It's my own problem, I know but it turned my stomach when Jeremy Irons kissed Anna but I was salved when she had a go with lovely Robert Glenister. Sadly, he only has one vaguely meaty scene. They needed to cast an actor of his calibre but I felt he was underused. He wore a fat suit that helped him to adopt a stance that reminded me of my father. Anthony Calf was glorious and I could watch him forever. He probably gave the strongest performance. I couldn't really hear Mr Irons half the time and I think the arena was too big for him but young Pip Carter was a real stage actor.

There was a huge bang at the end of the second act and fortunately, I had been resting my eyes at the time because I felt a surge of warmth on my face as you do when you approach a bonfire.

The Sea by Edward Bond

Willy Carson - Harry Lloyd
Evens - David Burke
Hatch - David Haig
Louise Rafi - Eileen Atkins
Jessica Tilehouse - Marcia Warren
Hollarcut - Russell Tovey
Thompson - Jem Wall
Carter - John Branwell
Myfanwy Price - Selina Griffiths
Jilly - Emma Noakes
Rachel - Sarah Annis
Vicar - William Chubb
Rose Jones - Mariah Gale
Davis - Philippa Urquhart

Directed by Jonathan Ken
Designed by Paul Brown

At the Haymarket Theatre Royal - J7

more later

Scarborough - Fiona Evans

Lauren - Holly Atkins
Daz - Jack O'Connell
Aiden - Daniel Mays
Beth - Rebecca Ryan

Directed by Deborah Bruce
Designed by Jo Newberry

Bagged two different perches for each half. First one was on the pillar right next to the bedside table and then on the sideboard by the door.
Actor in the audience: BIFA nominated, Stephen Graham and can I also add Actor in the Bar but not a member of this cast: Benedict Cumberbatch?

My understanding is that the original format was just the first half with Lauren and Daz, performed in an hotel room in Edinburgh. I can't help wondering how they got around certain by-laws if they actually charged people to come and see it but that is of no matter. Really good play and brave work by all the actors involved. This is where they should have staged My Child IMO but we only had 50 people in the audience so I guess the cash wouldn't have worked out.

A special experience but I wonder if I would bother to see this if it was staged in a more regular format.

It was wonderful to see the same idea approached from each gender's point of view and the actors were using virtually identical lines but expressing them in such different ways. There were complete black-outs to denote new acts and during the first half, the black out played Imogen Heap's Hide & Seek almost in it's entirety. It was wonderful to listen to that in the complete darkness but knowing the room was full of 50 odd people!

Artefacts by Mike Bartlett

Kelly - Lizzy Watts
Susan - Karen Ascoe
Ibrahim - Peter Polycarpou
Faisa - Mouna Albakry
Raya - Amy Hamdoon

Directed by James Grieve and designed by Lucy Osborne

seen during it's premiere run at The Bush. Unreserved seating gave us wonderful seating.

A really powerful play with a great role for the energetic young Lizzy Watts. A play for our time on what seems to be Mike's usual theme of broken and extended families and the interaction between all parties involved. This time, a single mother finally tells her daughter that her father is from Iraq. It transpires that her father has a wife and another daughter in Iraq and is the curator of the national museum. It's really a sounding board for another view on the state of this decimated country.

Interesting to see Peter Polycarpou in a role where he isn't singing. You can read more here.

The delay in the start time gave us a great chance to read all the testimonials from people wanting to save the Arts Council grant.

A Prayer for my Daughter by Thomas Babe

Kelly - Matthew - Marsh
Jack - Corey Johnson
Jimmy - Colin Morgan
Sean - Sean Chapman

Directed by Dominic Hill
Designed by Giles Cadle

Seen during it's run at the Young Vic. Started off in the middle of the second row but it was too close and too cramped so I moved the more spacious 10th row. Loved seeing it from two different perspectives and loved seeing Peter McDonald in the audience

Some very diverse performances here and a totally cohesive cast. I'm not absolutely sure that this play arrives successfully at it's final destination or whether the journey there is a well formed as it should be but the dialogue is great and certainly good enough to hold the attention.

It was a piece of luck that I moved back to a row with some discernible legroom because, lovely though Mr Morgan might be, I'm not sure I would have wanted to be quite that close when he was proving his lack of substance concealment. He couldn't conceal his weapon and he would put Harry Potter and Alfie Allen to shame for his sustain alone. There were a load of students who were all asked to sit over one side and to their sorrow, he never turned around for them and I don't blame him.

I've enjoyed seeing Matthew Marsh twice lately and I shall watch out for him in future. He has a slight tick thing he does but he really can carry a fully motored speech.

The staging was like Landscape With Weapon where the action take place between two banks of audience. I hated that for LWW because it was such a bright, reflective stage that I was constantly aware of the other people. It makes it very hard to lose yourself in the performance when you can see your fellow punters. In tonight's play, the problem wasn't so bad because it was a dim set in a very dim theatre. As we entered, regular visitors were asked to sit over the far side and the near side was reserved for students and freebies. I felt that much of the action was played in favour of the far side (my side) so I may have had a totally different take on the piece if I had seen it on another night in a different seat.

Another bonus is that the evening went like clockwork. Left home in my car after Connie Time and parked in my secret freebie space behind Leicester Square. Jenny Seagrove parked right in front of me with her little lap-dog on her way to Absurd Person Singular. Nipped over to the half price booth and got my ticket for £13 and since it's unreserved seating, it didn't matter that I was so late in the day. Jumped back in the car and parked almost outside the Young Vic. Perfect.

Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw

Lady Britomart Undershaft - Clare Higgins
Stephen Undershaft - John Heffernan
Morrison - Derek Howard
Barbara Undershaft - Hayley Atwell
Sarah Undershaft - Jessica Gunning
Charles Lomax - Tom Andrews
Adolphus Cusins - Paul Ready
Andrew Undershaft - Simon RUssell Beale
Rummy Mitchens - Stephanie Jacob
Snobby Price - Paul Anderson
Jenny Hill - Katharine Burford
Peter Shirley - Patrick Drury
Bill Walker - Ian Burfield
Mrs Baines - Maggie McCarthy
Bilton - Martin Chamberlain
Ensemble/Understudies - Alasdair Craig
Keiran Flynn
Barbara Kirby
Pamela Merrick
Richard Shanks
Lizzie Winkler

Directed by Nick Hytner
Designed by Tom Pye

See on the night before the press did at the Olivier. You can see some reviews here

I saw Nick Hytner but that's not really remarkable given the circumstances




Wonderful set, wonderful performances and a great piece of writing.

The Lover/The Collection by Harold Pinter

The Lover
Richard - Richard Coyle
Sarah - Gina McKee
John - Charlie Cox

The Collection
Harry - Timothy West
James - Richard Coyle
Stella - Gina McKee
Bill - Charlie Cox

Directed by Jamie Lloyd
Designed by Soutra Glimour

seen on the What's On Stage outing night to the Comedy Theatre with my sister. We were the most famous people in the audience! Seat F20

Gorgeous production. All the performances were outstanding and apparently this is young Charlie Cox's professional stage debut. He glided through like an old hand but clearly benefited for the combined experience of the rest of the cast.

The Lover is delicious in it's ambiguity and the actors carried that through so cleverly. The Collection was not quite as well formed IMO but still a treat to watch. The kitten was rubbish but the bongos from The Lover made up for that!

The after show Q & A with the cast was interesting but we were quite taken aback that the host seemed quite niaive about the craft. It's possible he was dumbing down for the audience but I'm not so sure. The only people in the audience who 'asked questions' were either asleep during the performance and the start of the Q & A or just turned up to listen to the sound of thier own voice grandstanding about some spurious connection the perceived they had with the play or the cast.

La Cage aux Folles by Jerry Jerman and Harvey Fierstein

Georges - Philips Quast
Francis - Sebastian Torkia
Jacob - Jason ennycooke
Albin - Douglas Hodge
Jean-Michel - Neil McDermott
Anne - Alicia Davies
Jacqueline - Tara Hugo
M Renaud - Iain Mitchell
Mme Renaud - Una Stubbs
Etienne - Philip Riley
Colette - Kay Murphy
Tabarro = Mark Insco
Edouard Dindon - Iain Mitchell
Mme Dindon - Una Stubbs
'Les Cagelles'
Chantal - Nolan Frederick
Hanna - Nicholas Cunningham
Mercedes - Spencer Stafford
Bitelle - Kay Murphy
Angelique - Mark Johnson Richardson
Phaedra - Steven Cleverley sranding in for Lee Ellis

Directed by Terry Johnson
Designed by David Farley

seen in the tiny space at the Menier Chocolate Factory where I bypassed the tables and chairs at the front for a seat in the second tier of the unreserved seating.


A completely magical night out. From the ambient perfume they were pumping into the room to the improbably ambitious set for such a small place

I'm not a musicals person but you can't bring Douglas Hodge onto the stage without my wanting to take a peek. Staging this at the Menier was another huge pull though I don't really like the worry of scrapping over a good seat as they are unreserved.

In front of the first row of the raked seating they had left just enough room for some cabaret style tables and chairs. I think there were about 5 of them. I was unsure if a couple of the people taking those seats had already agreed to take the brunt of interaction.

Where do I start? As we feverishly tried to be first through the door as soon as they were unshackled we were transported through a short tunnel clad in fabric and fairy lights. So pretty and you immediately knew you were in for an experiential evening.

Introduced by Georges, Les Cagelles did some wonderful routines and we had to wait quite a while before sampling the delights of Douglas in beautiful not-quite-elegant drag.

A sweet pantomime of a story and it must have been such shame that the cast were too poorly to make this the Christmas sensation it should have been.

I guess if you don't like performances in your lap, you would hate this but don't avoid it just because you don't like music based shows because few of the songs are contrived and most of them are set piece routines within the night club scenes.

The Homecoming by Harold Pinter

Max - Kenneth Cranham
Lenny - Nigel Lindsay
Sam - Anthony O'Donnell
Joey - Danny Dyer
Teddy - Neil Dudgeon
Ruth - Jenny Jules

Directed by Michael Attenborough
Designed by Jonathan Fensom

This production seen on a last minute return at the Almeida seat A9

I have seen several productions of this piece and it seems different every time. I loved all of the cast though the weakest link was Jenny Jules. That's a shame because Pinter's women are so interesting and powerful. I felt this opportunity was somewhat lost tonight. I don't remember what I have seen Anthony O'Donnell doing before but he was wonderful as the uncle. Ken was gloriously grotesque and the sons were so diverse and well formed. They all worked so well together.

Ring Round the Moon by Jean Anouith & adapted by Christopher Fry

Emily Bruni - Lady India
Fiona Button - Isabelle
Joanna David - Capulat
Elisabeth Dermot Walsh - Diana
Peter Eyre - Joshua
JJ Feild - Hugo/Frederic
Andrew Havill - Patrice
Belinda Lang - Mother
Leigh Lawson - Messerschmann
John Ramm - Romainville
Angela Thorne - Madam Desmortes

Directed by Sean Mathias
Designed by Colin Richmond & Mark Henderson

Seen on it's press night at The Playhouse in seat A9

It would be pointless to mention all the actors in the audience. All of the cast had at least one relative there!

The atmosphere and performances on a press night are not totally representative of how it would be under other circumstances but I was not in such a hurry to see this so when a virtually free ticket popped up, I grabbed it.

The plot is a familiar format but I found the way it was presented was messy and incoherent. The audience needed to be grabbed from the start but the first 30 minutes where so clunky in their exposition that I struggled to keep my eyes open. Should I lay the blame at the feet of the late Mr Fry or Mr Mathias? It is to everyone's credit to say that I was able to re-engage for the second act as we got into the real plot and the actors were able to display their real purpose.

I thought Angela Thorne and Peter Eyre were fine. I want to add Leigh Lawson to that list but he is so gorgeous that I cannot trust my objectivity. I found the accent thing a little patronising but perhaps they are aiming at the populist audience.

The set really bothered me to the point of distraction. We were persistently asked to believe we were in the domain of wealthy people but this gazebo or whatever had a sort of laboured dilapidation. It was nicely minimal but incongruent lighting presumably installed to inform the audience of the time of day were pointedly badly maintained and a ridiculous cross member right over the centre arch was left at a jaunty angle. I was convinced this was some terrible error which would be rectified in the interval but I am informed that this is a feature of the set design.

I wasn't expecting an overly culturally fulfilling experience but this was sadly mediocre for my taste. Audience watching was fun though!

Oh -I have one last comment and I know it is probably trite but I was amused at the way JJ Feild curtain called both of his characters. Nicely done albeit rather silly.

Happy Now? by Lucinda Coxon

Michael - Stanley Townsend
Kitty - Olivia Williams
Johnny - Jonathan Cullen
Miles - Dominic Rowan
Bea - Emily Joyce
Carl - Stuart McQuarrie
June - Anne Reid

Directed by Thea Sharrock
Designed by Joanthan Fensom

Seen during it's premiere run at the Cottesloe. B 24

I made a terrible mistake with the tickets because we were in the front row and the stage was about 18 inches higher than normal to accomodate a turntable.

I adore Stanely Townsend. I suppose it's his cheeky voice and bear of a body. There is something very relaxed about watching him (and I hated that awful tv series he did last year). He comes onto the stage and made me grin for the duration of his seduction. I kept my hands cupped in case I needed to catch one of his eyes but I do love him.

The cast were fabulous. With the exception of Jonathan Cullen (who I couldn't place) I have enjoyed everyone else on stage before and they seem very much at home there.

A fabulous piece of writing to challenge Polly Stenham. I am going to see the Lucinda and Thea discuss the piece tonight so I may write more later.

The South Bank Show Awards.

Interviews with the winners are at the ITV site

The full list of winners:
Film: This Is England (Warp Films)
Comedy: Gavin And Stacey (BBC Three)

TV Drama: The Mark Of Cain (Channel 4)

Theatre: Saint Joan (National Theatre)

Pop: Arctic Monkeys for Favourite Worst Nightmare

Literature: Mohsin Hamid for The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Classical Music: Traced Overhead: The Musical World Of Thomas Adès (at the Barbican)

Visual Arts:Andy Goldsworthy at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Opera: The Turn Of The Screw (English National Opera)

Dance: Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company (at Sadler's Wells)

Arts Council England - decibel Award: Daljit Nagra for Look We Have Coming To Dover!

The Times Breakthrough Award: Jennifer Pike

Outstanding Achievement Award: J.K. Rowling

Critic's Circle Awards

A couple of reports about the Critics Circle Awards which seem worth a mention.

BEST NEW PLAY - A Disappearing Number by Simon McBurney and Complicite
(Award presented to Complicite’s Judith Dimant by The Times’ Benedict Nightingale)

The Peter Hepple Award for BEST MUSICAL - Hairspray
(Award presented to Leanne Jones and choreographer Jerry Mitchell by the Independent’s Paul Taylor)

BEST ACTOR - Charles Dance for Shadowlands
(Award presented to Dance by the Mail on Sunday’s Georgina Brown)

BEST ACTRESS - Anne-Marie Duff for Saint Joan
(Award presented to Duff by the Evening Standard’s Nicholas de Jongh)

The John and Wendy Trewin Award for BEST SHAKESPEAREAN PERFORMANCE - Chiwetel Ejiofor for Othello and Patrick Stewart for Macbeth
(Awards presented to Ejiofor and Stewart by, respectively, the Sunday Times’ John Peter and Time Out’s Jane Edwardes)

BEST DIRECTOR - Rupert Goold for Macbeth
(Award presented to Goold by the Guardian’s Michael Billington)

BEST DESIGNER - Rae Smith and the Handspring Puppet Company for War Horse
(Award presented to Tom Morris, War Horse co-director and associate director at the National Theatre, by the Daily Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish)

MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT - Polly Stenham for That Face
(Award presented to Stenham by Metro’s Claire Allfree)

The Jack Tinker Award for MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER - Leanne Jones for Hairspray
(Award presented to Jones by Ian Shuttleworth of the Financial Times and Theatre Record)

The Vertical Hour by David Hare

Dennis - Joseph Kloska
Oliver - Anton Lesser
Terri- Wunmi Mosaku
Philip - Tom Riley
Nadia - Indira Varma

Directed by Jeremy Herrin
Designed by Mike Britton

seen during it's UK premiere run at the Royal Court Theatre downstairs.

Actor in the audience:- Danny Lee Wynter returned to his former employers tonight and sat in the very front (and neck punishing) row.

There are some interesting textures to this production and I am going to link both The Guardian and The Times for their thoughtful insights and comparison to the Broadway premiere run. As it happens, the first review I read was from The Telegraph and I thought I'd clicked on the wrong play.

I have adored seeing Bill Nighy on the stage but as Anton Lesser revealed more and more of his character, I could not help thinking this role was much better played by an actor whom we had hitherto not considered a lothario or, forgive me Anton, particularly heart-throb material.

David Hare is a master of articulating a debate close to his heart with objectivity and intense intimate drama. I like to think that Indira Varma's elegant but personable beauty was also better cast than Julianne Moore (who I adore in less aggressive roles).

I can't stop thinking about this play. Yes, as always Hare gave great meat to his feelings on the crime of war but I enjoyed picking over the vegetables too. His political batonage seemed merely some text upon which to develop the relationship and character arcs. There were a couple of clunky moments but I'm uneasy with perfection!

In case you're wondering, Nadia says something like - In combat medicine, there's this moment after a disaster or a shooting, called the vertical hour, when you can actually be of some use.

Another line had my shoulders vibrating for several seconds! I will need to read the text to remind myself of which line that might have been.

Off the Endz! By Bola Agbaje

Boy - Jacob Anderson
Sharon - Zawe Ashton
Boy - Tito Fagbenle
Jerome - Daniel Green
Keisha - Chi Kolo
Kojo - Nathaniel Martello-WHite
David - Ashley Walters

Directed by Dominic Cooke during the Royal Court Upstairs Rough Cuts season

Very sharp bit of writing, well produced (for a reading).

We follow the lives of Kojo and David. Both from the same estate but with a different take on life and what the future means to them. David is in and out of prison blaming anyone but himself. Kojo works it out and succeeds in forming a life with a job and a girlfriend that works with a bit of hard graft......until David messes it up.

Talking Dirty edited by Clare Lizzimore

Man - John Marquez
Mother/Proprietor - Susan McGoun
Martha Warren? - Nina Sosanya
Caroline - Charity Wakefield

Rehearsed reading directed by Clare Lizzimore who assembled & edited these soundbytes together
during the Rough Cuts season at the Royal Court

Hmmm - well, I didn't like The Girlfriend Experience by Alecky Blythe in last Summer's Rough Cuts. It's not that I don't like using soundbyte's like that because I really loved Gambling by Matt Hartley last week.

As with The Girlfriend Experience, Talking Dirty was a collection of lines gleaned from interviews and in this case it was with cleaning woman. At least the performances were easier to watch in this one - in fact the cast were wonderful given how dull the subject matter was. It didn't really say anything that made me want to listen. The only thing that made me concentrate was my respect for the actors. Word must have got around because this was the only one I've been to that had several empty seats.

Ah well - I guess I would rather have seen the dull one first but at least it was short. Half the audience were grumpy on entry because they didn't want us to stay in our seats while they moved a few props onto the floor so we all had to troop out and downstairs again. Stupid, affected and quite possibly and unnecessary fire risk

This time, they didn't ask us for feedback.

The Running Machine by Joe Harbot

Hannah - Claudie Blakley
Ben - Tom Brooke
Mrs Wynters - Amelia Bullmore
Michael - Paul Copley
Receptionist - Lorna Gayle
Paul Brown - Richard O'Callaghan
Mr Barnes - Matthew Pidgeon
Mr Cooke - Barnaby Power
Alan - Reece Shearsmith
Bill - Al Weaver
Mr Warren - Peter Wight

Rehearsed reading directed and narrated by Jeremy Herrin during the Rough Cuts season at the Royal Court

Really well written piece about a quango office brought to it's knees by a mis-handled EEC directive. Funny and brilliantly performed with one exception!

Ignition1 in the Rough Cuts season at the Royal Court Upstairs

in association with Tristan Bates Theatre, three pieces written within seven days and specifically for the actors taking part.
Written by D C Moore

Woman - Christine Entwisle
Man - Paul Ritter

directed by DC Moore

This hit the ground running and was tight and funny from start to finish.
Woman with a cheery disposition recounts the minutiae of the minutes leading up to her discovery of a murdered homeless man. Her performance is interjected with a similar account from the man who eventually turns out to be her friend and he meets her in the park where she discovered the body. This is obviously more about the journey than the destination and is wonderfully put together with great performances

Written by Polly Stenham

Clare - Clare Higgins
Bill - Bill Patterson

Directed by Dominic Cooke

Clare works in advertising and takes a Big Issue seller home with her. She has several lines of coke and talks non-stop with the odd mono-syllabic interjection from Bill, in his attempt to get her to pay for a Big Issue so he can get back out there.
It transpires that Clare regards Bill as a good luck charm but only when he's wearing his red hat. An interesting exchange questioning which of our characters is the more hopeless and lost than the other. Great performances but not as intensely engaging stuff as the DC Moore.

Written by Michael Bhim

Joe - Cary Crankson
Dane - Clifford Samuel
Shane - Nathaniel Martello-White

Directed by Richard Wilson

Three fellas in a car prepare to harm Dane's girlfriend for her infidelity. All three guys have a different agenda and only one of them really wants to do any harm. It seemed to be the shorter piece but it was still dynamic.

Several young actors were in the audience but I could only put a name to Harry Treadaway.

Thrown by Mike Bartlett in the Rough Cuts season at the Royal

Jules/Steph - Sally Hawkins
David - Burn Gorman
TV License Man/Injured Man/Policeman/Philip - Robert Glenister

Directed by Mike Bartlett and I must also list the truly wonderful musicians who were Rhiannon Armstrong, Nick Gill, David O'Brien and Nicole Robson.

Simply staged during the Rough Cuts season at the Royal Court Upstairs
Dominic Cooke and Sacha Wares were in the audience and so they should be!

If this production ever forms itself into a fully formed production my notes here will be massive spoilers. In words worthy of Paul Prior himself, it doesn't become what the audience are led to believe it set out to be. Mike Bartlett has turned the harsh reality of Alzheimer's on it's head and Burn's performance as the sufferer was marvelous. We see him getting ready for a date and being accused of various things he doesn't remember. We see concerned friends and family (who he believes to be complicated internet identity thieves and police etc) at the end of their tether but it's not until the last five minutes of this 30 minute piece that we learn this apparently victimised young man is actually in his seventies. We know that sufferers often view themselves as their younger selves which is why they confuse their children with their siblings etc but this very carefully written play puts that right on a plate and serves up a chilling punch of exactly what that reality might be.

I mentioned Burn's performance because he orchestrates the entire piece. Sally and Robert feed his scenes with whatever he needs but they do a wonderful job. The last time I saw Sally was indeed with Robert in The Winterlling(unless you count her trying to kiss Rupert Penry Jones on telly) and I really wish I could see more of her. She has a way with her that I'll bet Mike Bartlett also sees in Lia Williams. Wonderful tough fragility. How do they do it? Robert took on several different characters effortlessly and convincingly. Is it damning to describe him as a thoroughly reliable actor. He had a grey-to-almost-white bit of a beardy effort which I found rather attractive but brought gravitas and compassion to his roles.

The Lion's Mouth by Alexandra Wood in the Rough Cuts season

Mum - Belinda Sinclair
Dad - Ron Cook
Ben - Adam Gillen
Annie - Antonia Campbell Hughes
Point(Tatooist) - Tom Fisher
Mike(Student) - Shane Zaza
Pipe Cleaner vendor - Katie Males
Ben's friends - Gemma Lawrence, Bunmi Mojekwu

Directed by Sacha Wares and designed by Miriam Beuther because this was a 'semi-staged performance' apparently.

Seen upstairs in the Royal Court during their Rough Cuts season

Quote: Buses have stopped. Florists have run out of flowers. Body bags are filling up. Inside, a family struggle to cope with their rising panic.

==============================================

I struggled to get all those cast names down but Google and the imdb put faces to some of the younger names and let's all watch out for Adam Gillen. I knew Antonia from her wonderful scenes in Lead Balloon and she brought the same wonderful lack of energy to this piece. Perfect casting. I think this was a comment on the end of the world but I could be wrong.

Everyone is living in fear of impeding disaster but some worry more than others. No matter because the end result is the same. Very interesting that the females are far less neurotic about it than the males.

Currently running at 50 minutes or so meaning we had over an hour to wait in the bar for the next piece. Did catch RIchard Eyer in the downstairs audience. Who would have thought he'd go for a cheap Monday night ticket? Times must be hard!

Gambling - By Matt Hartley

Tom - Tom Brooke
Sean - Sean Campion
Liz - Liz Crowther
Chris - Christine Entwisle

Rehearsed Reading directed by Raz Shaw for the Rough Cuts season in the Royal Court Upstairs.

Dominic was in the audience again and so was Samuel West and Alan Coran's daughter.....argh and that woman who did The Play's the Thing with Sonia and Neil.

Well, in marked contrast to Tuesday's reading, I had no difficulty in remembering the character names but we were given even less paperwork this time than on Tuesday. In fact we were handed a betting slip with a hard fact about compulsive gambling. As you can see, despite the lack of cast list, a quick glance at the website furnished me with both cast and characters.

We took our seats the the strains of a wonderful beat and the performers will already on stage, Chris moving, trance-like. By the time we had settled, the entire cast were dancing in their own space but in a strangely connected way. Even at this early stage you could see the individual personality type without yet knowing what they all had in common. This was so much more than a reading. Chris had a long monologue right at the start and had one sheet of paper in her hand for that but only one other chunk of text was read from a script (by Tom) and the rest was totally off book, as it were. The aforementioned entry from Chris was gloriously interrupted by the rest of the cast spouting their anxieties and justifications. Our cheeky Irishman had a wonderful line that went something like: It's like when you're watching the match and then it's half-time and you think 'Woah!' where did THAT go? The first time he said it we loved his energy but when he repeated it at various intervals the audience were highly amused.

One the back wall there were pages from those conference flip chart things. There were 20 odd points listed with a character name by them and that was about all the prompting the cast had. Tom did one of his slugs out of order but it was not really a progressive arc (unless I missed that) so it didn't matter. There were some wonderful combative exchanges and one really clever but simple section where two cast members (Liz & Sean)just repeated (in THEIR character) whatever Chris said. Virtually the entire piece was set to music and the cast mimed various gambling activities (most often slot machines) which were choreographed to great effect.

All this intensity only lasted for 30 minutes but they were so well used. A triumph in concept and performance. I think the structure might benefit from a little more work but it's something very exciting in the making.

The Astonished Heart by Noel Coward

Christian Faber - Alex Jennings
Barbara Faber - Kate Duchene
Leonora Vail - Nancy Carroll
Tim Verney - Jonah Russell
Susan Birch - Frances Jeater
Sir Reginald French.Ernest - Mark Elstob

Directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace for a rehearsed reading/platform performance at the Lyttleton Theatre

I didn't spot anyone special in the audience but there was enough inappropriate laughter to make me wonder whether some of the Present Laughter cast were hanging around

I am used to seeing a group of people sitting on plastic chairs to do a rehearsed reading but this is the National Theatre and they already had a Coward set in place so the chairs and sofas were draped and comfy. There were doors and steps and it was a very different experience. The writing is unquestionably taught and Alex Jennings was entrancing in the role.

The cast was made up from part Present Laughter, part Women of Troy but to the best of my knowledge neither Mark Elstob or Nancy Carroll are currently in a production. I should also point out that Women Of Troy's Michael Gould was doing the rehearsed reading at the Royal Court at 7pm this same night and his WoT co-star Anastasia Hille's loyalty was to him (and Paul Hilton) rather than Kate and Jonah.

Back to the NT and this reading was so gorgeous you could almost smell the process. There was something very exciting and fresh about it. There was a tiny bit of odd behaviour in the audience including some of them thinking the piece had finished at a very dramatic moment which made the next emotional scene a little awkward to slide into. It really confused and seemed to almost anger or unnerve Kate. I must say I was amused by a couple of scenes where Alex was kissing Nancy passionately while searching his script for the next lines. So exciting and to think I will miss next week's in favour of Polly Stenham and Clare Higgins at the RC. Such bitter sweet choices I have to make.

Regeneration by Gbolahan Obisesan

Katrina - Lindsey Coulson
Toni - Ashley Madekwe
Nicholas - Justin Salinger
Dad - Wil Johnson
...we had no programme and I've forgotten the character names.....
Toni's friend - Riz Ahmed
Rag - Toby Wharton
Tag - Sid Mitchell

Rehearsed Reading
Directed by Debbie Tucker Green

First night of Rough Cuts season in the Royal Court Upstairs.

Got my usual seat and I seemed to be one of the few mere mortals in the audience. Too many to mention but worth saying RC faves were Dominic Cooke (of course), Roy Williams and Richard Wilson

Really entertaining piece with non-stop, overlapping dialogue. Katrina is pregnant with Nicholas's child and already has a daughter, Antonia from a deserted black father. 'Toni' refuses to call her Mum and sees her father behind his back. Nicholas is a lazy drug dealer who fancies his chances with Toni. Toni has a buddy she stack shelves with and he has a soft spot for her.

A couple of young kids will try anything to get the cash to pay for drugs from Nicholas.

This is really funny and really poignant. I liked the direction and the actors were utterly superb with no lightweights at all. I wish I could remember the young lads names. It was something like Rough and Tumble but they were funnier and more pertinent than that. It might come to me.

Women of Troy by Euripides translated by Don Taylor

Hescuba - Kate Duchene
Cassandra - Sinead Matthews
Adromache - Anastasia Hille
Talthybius - Michael Gould
Sinon - Johnah Russell
Menelaus - Stephen Kennedy
Helen - Susie Trayling
Chrysander - Mark Holgate

Hippe - Rachel Clarke
Illeana - Pandora Colin
Macaria - Laura Elphinstone
Thalia - Beth Fitzgerald
Rhea - Helena Lymbery
Polycaste - Penelope McGhie
Rhoda - Charlotte Roach

Directed by Katie Mitchell
Designed by Bunny Christie

In this production's premiere run at the Lyttleton - F 9

This felt like a Katie Mitchell collaboration project with so many of the wonderful elements from Waves but without the fascinating camera work. The Lyttleton is my least favourite space at the National but once it a while it is just perfect for the job in hand and this is one such instance. The entire space was used so well and whilst I had really hoped for the camera close-up tricks, there was probably so much else going on the stage, it would have complicated things. Had they been forced to stage this in the Cottesloe, it would have worked though.

After yesterday's humour, I could not have found a bigger contrast and it made me question my memory of the events between the Greeks and the Trojans. Wonderful performances from Kate, Sinead, Anastasia and all the fellas. Staged as though all the women of Troy had been interrupted during the most exotic ball having the ladies in the most delicious evening dresses. Something of a mono-chrome set worked well the heighten the claustrophobia of their incarceration as they await their fate. Gorgeous but not much fun.

I've just realised that I cannot remember the last time I went to the theatre on my own at the last minute and didn't shimmy myself into a seat better suited to my needs than the one of the face of the ticket. Nobody gets hurt and I am much happier.

Dealer's Choice by Patrick Marber

Mugsy - Stephen Wight
Sweeney - Ross Boatman
Stephen - Malcolm Sinclair
Frankie - Jay Simpson
Carl - Samuel Barnett
Ash - Roger Lloyd Pack

Directed by Samuel West
Designed by Tom Piper

Seen during it's transfer run in the very mean seated Trafalgar Studio 1 - G6 (mental note, try not to sit further back than E in this theatre)


I made several aborted attempts to see this at the Menier Chocolate Factory but once I'd played a little bit of theatre-seat-excuse-me I managed to get comfy in the bigger auditorium at the Trafalgar.

A masterpiece of writing. I found Stephen Wight was a bit too big but everyone else was wonderful and how can you go wrong with writing like this? Roger had a cold, I think but he was wonderfully controlled. Loved the set too.

Absurd Person Singular by Alan Ayckbourn

Jane - Jane Horrocks
Sidney - David Bamber
Ronald - David Horovitch
Marion - Jenny Seagrove
Eva - Lia Williams
Geoffrey - John Gordon Sinclair

Directed by Alan Strachan
Designer - Michael Pavelka

At the Garrick complete with the very special underground train noises and judders - J4.....sort of


Oh happy day. Heard great things about this and since it is a comedy I thought it was safe to see it in a matinee. I got a half-pricey earlier in the morning but by the time I got to my seat it was almost full downstairs.

Jane Horrocks spared us her usual shrillness most probably aided by using a different regional accent. The performances of David Horovitch and Lia Williams really stood out beyond the rest because they didn't overdo their parts but it was great fun and done in three acts with two intervals, which was nice! The second act was so much the better for Lia being the central character trying to commit suicide in the middle of the mayhem. What larks!

Othello by William Shakespeare

Roderigo - Edward Bennett
Othello - Chiwetel Ejiofor
Emillia - Michelle Fairley
Duke of Venice/ Lodovico - Michael Hadley
Cassio - Tom Hiddleston
Montano - Michael Jenn
Bianca - Martina Laird
Brabantio and Gratiano - James Laurenson
Iago - Ewan McGregor
1st Senator, 2nd Cyprus Gentleman - David Mara
Desdemona - Kelly Reilly
1st Officer, Messenger, 1st Cyprus Gentleman - Alastair Sims


Directed by Michael Grandage
Designed by Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Composer and Sound Designer: Adam Cork

Seen during it's run at the Donmar - D10


Despite my efforts to avoid reviews, several people thought it was alright to tell me that Chiwe was the star and whilst I would have assumed that since he had the title role, I had to grit my teeth and just put it down to seeing it so late after Press Night. People who don't go to the theatre can't resist pretending that they have some understanding and in doing so, reveal that they have none.

So, with my expectations of Chiwe high and last experience with Ewan low I entered the evening with mixed feelings. I don't know if it was a New Year's Day fluke but every single member of the cast was absolutely staggering. I could go through each individual and detail of the manner in which they excelled. Othello is, after all a reversed rendition of Much Ado but with knives. Few of the roles are incidental and there are two very powerful females. Kelly still does the OTT head shaking thing which is such a shame when she is such a deliciously creamy confection but hopefully she will read tonight's notes with a red face and conviction. Young Mr Hiddleston was something of a revelation with a wonderful texture to his voice.........and I detect something of the Claire Higgins in Michelle Fairley. Some of these people are fresh in their career and yet they bring a great punch to this production.

Further details and pictures here.

The speediest 195 minutes I've had in a long time.

Theatre Index for 2007

▼ December (2)
Present Laughter by Noel Coward
Swimming with Sharks by George Huang
▼ November (11)
War Horse based on Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Ni...
Alex by Charles Peattie & Russell Taylor
The Country Wife by William Wycherley
The Arsonists by Max Frisch & translated by Alista...
Face to Face with Stephen Poliakoff
Statement of Regret by Kwame Kwei-Armah
The 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala introduced by Kev...
Notes about the 24 Hour Play proceedure
Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill
Rafta, Rafta by Ayub Khan-Din & Bill Naughton
Vincent River by Philip RIdley
▼ October (5)
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill
Moonlight & Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson
Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco in a Martin Crimp tra...
Fragments by Samuel Beckett
▼ September (12)
Bill Bailey - Pre Arena Shows
The Ugly One by Marius von Mayenburg & translated ...
A Disappearing Number by Simon McBurney
Awake and Sing by Clifford Odet
Burning Cars by Matt Hartley
Playtime by Gabriel Bisset-Smith and Gary Owen
Settled by George Cotts
Waiting for Leroy by Tanita Gupta and Atiha Sen-Gu...
1 in 5 by Penelope Skinner
Thank God it's Friday by Cosh Omar and Amy Rosenth...
Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat by Mark Ravenhill
All About My Mother based on the film by Pedro Al...
▼ August (5)
Absurdia - see below
Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw
The Enchantment by Victoria Benedictsson
In Celebration by David Storey
Philistines by Maxim Gorky, adapted by Andrew Upto...
▼ July (7)
The Hothouse by Harold Pinter
The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams
Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton
Rough Cuts: The Girlfriend Experience by Alecky Bl...
Rough Cuts: Posh by Laura Wade
Rough Cuts: A Liability by Sean Foley
Rough Cuts: Airbag by Leo Butler
▼ June (5)
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (adapted by Tanya ...
Betrayal by Harold Pinter
The Pain and the Itch by Bruce Norris
A Matter of Life and Death by Powell & Pressburger...
Alaska by Dan C Moore
▼ May (4)
Leaves of Glass by Philips Ridley
my child by Mike Bartlett
That Face by Polly Stenham
Elling adapted by Simon Bent
▼ April (9)
Whipping it Up by Steve Thompson
Dublin by Lamplight by Michael West
The Reporter by Nicholas Wright
Equus by Peter Shaffer
Landscape with a Weapon by Joe Penhall
John Gabriel Borkman by Ibsen in a version by Davi...
Attempts on her Life by Martin Crimp
Total Eclipse by Christopher Hampton
The Lady from Dubuque by Edward Albee
▼ March (9)
Extraordinary entry
The Caretaker by Harold Pinter
The Soldiers' Fortune by Thomas Otway
Dying For It by Moira Buffini(a free adaptation of...
Treats by Christopher Hampton
The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht in a version ...
An Oak Tree by Tim Crouch
The Seagull by Anton Chekov in a version by Christ...
There Came a Gypsy Riding by Frank McGuiness
▼ February (6)
Boeing, Boeing by Marc Camolettiand Beverley Cross...
The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter
Happy Days by Samuel Beckett
Man of Mode by George Etherege
Waves by Virginia Woolf & The Company
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
▼ January (2)
bash latterday plays by Neil LaBute
Caroline or Change by Tony Kushner

Present Laughter by Noel Coward

Daphne Stillington - Amy Hall
Miss Erikson - Anny Tobin
Fred - Tony Turner
Monica Reed - Sarah Woodward
Garry Essendine - Alex Jennings
Liz Esssendine - Sara Stewart
Roland Maule - Pip Carter
Henry Lyppiatt - Simon Wilson
Morris Dixon - Tim McMullan
Joanna Lyppiatt - Lisa Dillon
Lady Saltburn - Frances Jeater

Directed by Howard Davies
Set Designer - Tim Hatley

During it's run at the Lyttleton on Theatre Quiz Night - E21
Celebrity in the audience.......hmmmm - well Richard Curtis and family were there to support Emma for the Quiz



Almost as much fun as The Country Wife and if I'm honest, slightly less silly, in a good way. Wonderful performances all round and such a great story arc for a farce. Just the perfect thing for the Friday before Christmas.

Swimming with Sharks by George Huang

Rex - Arthur Darvill
Guy - Matt Smith
Buddy Ackerman - Christian Slater
Mitzy - Elizabeth Croft
Dawn Lockard - Helen Baxendale
Cyrus - Jonathan Newth
Daniel Faruk - Fanos Xenofos
Jack - Mark Edel-Hunt

Directed by Wilsom Milam
Designed by Dick Bird

seen during Michael Lesslie's version at the Vaudeville Theatre .....ticket was H4 but I sat in D7


Hmmm. Well it was a matinee though I feel both audience and performers gave all they had but it wasn't enough. Something wasn't tight enough. The tension was not built up and it felt like they'd skipped 10 minutes of the text. Entertaining enough if you've not seen the film or if you like to see a couple of good young actors but not show to their best advantage.

War Horse based on Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Stafford

Major Nicholls - Jamie Ballard
Swallow/Emilie - Alice Barclay
Chapman Carter/Rudi - Jason Barnett
Sergeant Bone/Colonel Strauss/Sergeant Fine - James Barriscale
Captain Stewart/Soldat Schmidt - Simon Bubb
Joey's Mother, a horse/Goose/Topthorn/Veterinary Officer Martin - Finn Caldwell
David Taylor/Soldat Schultz - Paul Chequer
Song Man - Tim Van Eyken
Young Joey/Topthorn = Thomas Goodridge
Joey's mother, a horse/Dr Schweyk/Coco, a horse/Geordie - Stephen Harper
Rose Narracott/Private Shaw - Thusitha Jayasundera
Veterinaray Officer Bright/Karl - Gareth Kennerley
Crow/Joey - Craig Leo
Young Joey/Emile - Rachel Leonard
Topthorn/Major Callaghan - Tim Lewis
Joey - Tommy Luther
Young Joey/Emile - Mervyn Millar
Paulette/Crow - Emily Mytton
Swallow/Joey/Crow - Toby Olie
Ted Narracott/Coca, a horse - Toby Sedgwick
Ned Warren/Heine, a horse - Ashley Taylor-Rhys
Albert Narracott - Luke Treadaway
Sergeant Thunder/Soldat Klebb - Howard Ward
Arthru Warrren/Soldat Manfred - Alan Williams
Heine, a horse/Ensemble - Matthew Woodyatt
Hauptman Friedrich Muller - Angus Wright

Directed by Marianne Elliot & Tom Morris
Designed by Rae Smith
Puppet Design & Fabrication - Basil Jones & Adrain Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company

Phew ! A fairy tale story about a farm boy in World War 1 but more about the forgotten animals in war. Some really lovely performances but the most credit goes to the horse puppeteers. They were so fluid and beautiful with such attention to detail.

A fun night out.

Alex by Charles Peattie & Russell Taylor

Alex - Robert Bathurst

Directed by Phelim McDermott

Seen at the Arts Theatre Circle A2

No actors I could see in the audience but during one of my shelters from the rain, I think I saw Tom Hardy in a cafe



I had the misfortune of sitting (wedging) right next to the epitome of old Telegraph readership. This great lummox had clearly never been inside a theatre before, waded in with his tumbler of red wine.........and proceeded to stumble in and out to the bathroom with no thought for Mr Bathurst or his fellow audience members. He was clearly oblivious of the etiquette around waiting for scene changes. He was so drunk that he kept lurching forward as he dozed. We were in the front row of the balcony and the temptation to tip him over the bar was enormous.

I must say that Robert was wonderful but I just found the material a bit too tired and dated.

I was soaked to the skin in the 7 or 8 minutes it took me to get there and ringing wet all over after the 25 minutes it took me to get home on my bike.

The Country Wife by William Wycherley

Horner - Toby Stephens
Quack - David Shaw-Parker
Boy - Derek Howard
Sir Jaspar Fidget - Nicholas Day
Lady Fidget - Patricia Hodge
Dainty Fidget - Lucy Tregear
Mrs Squeamish - Liz Crowther
Harcourt - John Hopkins
Dorilant - Tristran Beint
Sparkish - Jo Stone-Fewings
Pinchwife - David Haig
Mrs Margery Pinchwife - Fiona Glascott
Ms Alithea - Elisabeth Dermot Walsh
Lucy - Catherine Bailey
Old Lady Squeamish - Janet Brown

Directed by Jonathan Ken
Designer - Paul Brown

seen during it's run at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket R16

Celeb in the audience: Fern Britton & Philip Schofield


Glorious humour, inspired set design and wonderful performances from everyone. With the exception of the carrier bag fiddler near me, the audience were marvelous too.

The Arsonists by Max Frisch & translated by Alistair Beaton

Anna - Zawe Ashton
Chorus - Michael Begley
Schmitz - Paul Chahidi
Eisenring - Benedict Cumberbatch
Babettte - Jacqueline Defferary
Chorus - David Hinton
Biedermann - Will Keen
Chorus/Dr of Philosophy - Munir Khairdin
Chorus - Claire Prempeh
Chorus/Widow Knechling - Alwyne Taylor
Chorus Leader - Graham Turner

Directed by Ramin Gray
Designed by Anthony Ward

Seen during it's run downstairs at the Royal Court - Circle A18

Actor in the audience: Harry Lloyd - well, he was in the bar, at least!

I wonder why they needed to enlist the help of the fire department at a station as far away as Euston? Were Chelsea unhelpful or has that station been closed?

Well, thank goodness for Will Keen. Without his dry wit and immaculate timing this would have little to commend it. He was glorious and there were a couple of nice staging gags but I loathed and loathed and loathed the bloody chorus thing. As soon as they started, the whole thing descended to a school play for me. I should make it very clear that it was the format that grated. The performers were all top class. I feel disloyal but I always have my reservations about Ramin's work. I should try to rise above it.

On a practical note, I made the unusual choice of circle seats on a whim but I'm glad I did as much of the action takes place on the roof of the house.

Face to Face with Stephen Poliakoff

I really am taking the piss now! This was so fascinating that I felt the need to record the event here. I shall write more when I have caught up on my main reason for being at the Royal Court tonight

Statement of Regret by Kwame Kwei-Armah

Issi : Angel Coulby

Soby : Oscar James

Val : Trevor Laird

Michael Akinbola : Colin McFarlane

Idrissa Adebayo : Chu Omambala

Kwaku Mackenzie Jnr : Javone Prince

Adrian Mackenzie : Clifford Samuel

Lola Mackenzie : Ellen Thomas

Kwaku Mackenzie : Don Warrington

Director: Jeremy Herrin

Designer: Mike Britton

At the Cottesloe during it's premiere run
I stumbled upon the press night and the flash of a smile let me in. There was a good atmosphere in the audience for which the cast must always be grateful.

A complex piece from which you can take as little or as much as you please. Very efficient set design and good performances though a couple were a bit too large for me. I didn't really grasp the point of our central character changing his accent around so much. I thought it might have been that he was more West Indian when he was with his father or halucinating but that theory didn't hold up. Ellen Thomas stole the show a couple of times which pleased me.

Interesting. I wonder what the reviews will say.

The 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala introduced by Kevin Spacey & hosted by Ronnie Corbett

I would not ordinarily describe much about the plot in this blog since such information is always readily available elsewhere. However, after seeing some new writing earlier in the year and regretting making such brief notes, I decided that this night may warrant a different approach.

Assuming that the format of these 24 Hour Plays is well understood by now, I should explain that during a brief film shown beforehand, we learned of props brought by the actors and one provided by the frozen food manufacturing sponsors, the inclusion of which in one of the plays would produce a further £ 1,200 to got to the charity.
I have copied the Old Vic notes about the format of the event if anyone is not familiar with it

Fighters by Moses and Nina Raine

Billy - Kwame Kwei-Armah
Patrick - Samuel West
Craig - Ralf Little
Amanda - Elizabeth McGovern

Directed by Josie Rourke

Now this is terrible of me. I don't remember much about the plot of this play. Such is the mind of a withering soul. I remember that I had a sneaking suspicion that Elizabeth McGovern was trying to do a cut-glass English accent which she never fully achieved and should not have attempted with no time allowance for a voice coach. I also remember that Kwame and to an even greater degree Sam were woefully under-used. Something about the play made it feel like Robert De Niro had turned up in an episode of Neighbours but I think I am being too cruel. I am waiting for my friend to remind me of the plot. How ridiculous that I cannot recall any detail of it. I recall that Ralf Little produced all of his props to much laughter. It was very funny - I do remember that but it was not tight and polished ..........and the plot was unmemorable, apparently

My memory has been jogged but I decided not to replace the comments above because this blog is about instant reactions. This is the plot summary as supplied by my dear friend.

Talented but insecure boxer tries to psych himself up for the fight. He is being cajoled by the assistant, bullied by the manager. The manager objects to the on-off girlfriend. Girlfriend shows up, tension mounts, the boxer wants to quit boxing because he doesn't like the pressure. With the backing of the girlfriend he finds the nerve to stand up to the manager. The boxer fires the manager and between the firing and the girlfriend, he finds his backbone and decides to fight. He goes out for the fight and we find out that the situation was a set up between the manager and the girlfriend, who are having an affair. The assistant is clueless throughout.

Sounds alright, doesn't it?

Two Stars

A Handbag by Amy Rosenthal

Jez - Stephen Mangan
Zoe - Juliet Rylance
Victor - Donald Sumpter
Marilyn - Gemma Jones

Directed by Wilson Milam

Zoe's bag is stolen but Victor, the husband of the thief, brings his wife, Marilyn to justice. Zoe and her husband, Jez invite Victor and Marilyn to their home to discuss the theft. The bag has already been returned presumably via the police. This seemed like some cathartic act straight out of the plot of The Pain and the Itch.

The play starts with witty banter between Jez and Zoe as they prepare to receive their guests. Upon their arrival it is clear that Victor is annoyed with his wife's strange behavior and it transpires that this is an isolated incident. Marilyn sits in a daze but it is unclear whether this is with distress, denial or indeed peace. She even suggests it was fate they should meet and after years of drudgery she found the contents of the bag liberating and uplifting, filling her with optimism. Witty and touching with taught performances. What more can you ask for?

Four Stars

An Act of Love by Aschlin Ditta

Drew - Tom Hollander
Louise - Sharon Small
Catherine - Doon Mackichan
Ben - Obi Abili

Directed by Edward Dick

The star of the evening in my opinion. It hit the ground running and didn't lose pace at any point.

A couple let themselves into a flat and shout out for the owner who is finishing in the bathroom. Drew is very uneasy about the task ahead - going to the clinic for a wank so that the bathroom dwelling sister of his wife, Louise can have his child by the turkey basting method, thereby negating the need for the intervention of a male partner. After some awkward preamble Louise confides that her sister Catherine is not at all keen on the artificial method of conception so they (the two sisters) have decided it should be done 'naturally'. Drew was not a party to this decision. The banter is sharp and immaculately delivered.

Catherine emerges with the obvious intention of performing said natural act immediately. Louise departs for the kitchen and Drew strips down to his y-fronts and a perfectly judged detached petting ensues. The front door opens and the lodger, Ben walks in. More silly exchanges with the added contrivance of a packet of McCain Oven Chips being introduced into the script which he takes off to the kitchen to cook.

Louise returned from the kitchen when she heard Ben talking and is now left with her husband and sister in a state of undress and decides that she would feel better about the entire arrangement if she could watch them. This is not greeted with the greatest of enthusiasm but the curtain falls as the task resumes.

The joy for this writer was knowing the cast in advance and totally using Tom Hollander's talents to the greatest advantage. We saw the tech rehearsal for this and I must say Obi gave a better performance then but all in all this was wonderfully timed and a total hoot.

Six Stars


Get Tested by Laura Wade

Bob - Kevin Spacey
Claudia - Haydn Gwynne
Abby - Katherine Parkinson
Daniel - Tobias Menzies

Directed by Matt WIlde

Bob and Abby, an affluent but disparate couple are joined by a self-assured interloper, Claudia. It is clear that Bob has decided their marriage should not be a sexually exclusive union but does not wish to digress with any deceit to his wife.

A very practical arrangement is made with Claudia, to the extent that all three of them gain written proof they have been tested for the various STDs. Abby is clearly not quite as comfortable with this new stage in her marriage but becomes significantly more interested in the prospect when Claudia's friend Daniel enters to join the fun. Bob's mood turns on a sixpence and even the production of Daniel's test certificate does not placate him. Bob's protestations are universally taunted until he drags Abby away from the house, leaving just long enough for her to mouth a big 'thank you' to Claudia as she leaves.

I think this gets my 5 out of six rating for the evening. The performances were wonderful and once again, I suspect the writer had the individual actors in mind. Perfect timing and everyone clearly enjoyed themselves.

Five Stars

Dinner - Simon Vinnicombe

Susan - Sharon Maughan
Paul - Rob Brydon
Vera - Fiona Shaw
Mike - Simon Woods

Directed by Tim Roseman

Two couples meet for diner and are clearly on blind dates from a lonely heart's contact. I don't believe we are supposed to think they are the same restaurant at this point. We flit from one couple back to the other over various time-lines, both trying to make the best of the liaison and eventually agreeing to make a more permanent partnership.

Various rifts form in the relationships and cruel truths are finally discussed. We see the same arc of the relationship commence as the couples swap over.

I feel as though I may have missed or forgotten something here. I liked the little vignettes and the cast were wonderful but other than demonstrating the desperate nature of some people's desire for companionship and the inevitable repetition or our mistakes, I think there was more to this than I grasped or remembered. The enjoyable little sketches did not adhere well enough to make a satisfying play.

Three Stars

Tears by Bryony Lavery

Marilyn - Sian Thomas
Maria - Natasha Little
Moira - Nancy Carroll
Maura - Ronnie Ancona
Marta - Maureen Lipman

Directed by Tamara Harvey

So sad to end on the weakest piece. A bunch of silly women turning up to an adulterer's wake. They all have their points to make and they all have blue carrier bags containing reminders of their late lover. A few clunky laughs but a dreadful waste of a talented cast, in my opinion. Bad luck all around.

One Star

I cannot conclude my notes of the auditorium proceedings without mention of the talents of the heavily jet-lagged Mr Spacey as he introduced the evening. He really does have a confidence and charisma that both excites and puts at ease.

Ronnie Corbett was wonderful. He was unrelenting in his jokes around his diminutive stature and I only wish I could remember some of them.

Any harsh criticism of the work here is not meant to in any way diminish the wonderful evening enjoyed by all. A monumental achievement and that a couple of these tiny productions were virtually flawless is a testament to the greatness of the entire endeavor.

in other parts of the building we were treated to a brief look in at a tech rehearsal and endless champagne in the Pit Bar with a gracious and personal thank you from Mr Spacey. We were efficiently hauled away to the Plaza on the River for more champagne, raffles and generous entertainment during the 25th Hour Gala Night Party.

I fear that after years of resisting, I am now addicted and will need to find the means to attend next year.

I normally note celebrities in the audience but that would be a fools errand on this occasion. I will just say that Mrs Mangan sat in the row behind us and if I see Adrian Lukis at the theatre any more times, he will think I am on the staff. Esther Hall was there to support her beau but Bo was sadly not there to support his wife or current co-star. Rebecca Hall seemed to be enjoying the company of other thespians. The remarkable young Mark Field, whose performance in Vincent River will surely secure his future, was also in the front row and had benefited from the object of this charity.

Notes about the 24 Hour Play proceedure

The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices
Information sheet taken from the Old Vic website

WHAT IS A 24 HOUR PLAY?

The ultimate theatrical challenge. In just 24 hours, seven teams comprising of 1 writer, 1 director, 1 producer and 4-5 actors must create, produce, rehearse and perform a 10-minute play in front of 1,000 members of the paying public.

The breakneck schedule starts when the writers, producers and directors meet the actors who, one by one, introduce themselves, have their photograph taken and describe a single prop that they’ve brought. The actors retire and each writer bids for the actors that they feel most inspired to write for. Clutching polaroids of their chosen casts, the writers each head for their own room in a local hotel where, overnight, they’ll have to create their plays.

At 7.00am the next morning, the producers prise the new works from the hands of the weary writers, and frantically photocopy and distribute them. The directors read the plays and make impassioned bids for their favourites. Once everyone has been assigned a play, the rush begins to create ideas before the casts arrive.

Come 9.00am, the actors and directors are at work around the theatre - a process managed and co-ordinated by the producers. Each cast has just 11 hours to rehearse the show and memorise their parts.

A short technical rehearsal that afternoon is the last chance for directors to make changes, and for actors to learn lines. The producers are on hand ready to tackle all the inevitable last-minute crises.

At 8.00pm, the moment of judgment arrives. The Old Vic is a-buzz with 1000 eager theatregoers waiting to see six brand new plays, ink barely dry on the scripts. As the curtain rises, an evening of spontaneous creativity rarely seen in the theatre begins...

CAN IT BE DONE?

Each year, a celebrity 24 Hour Plays gala is held at The Old Vic to raise money for Old Vic New Voices. Previous casts have featured a host of well-known theatre, TV and film talent, including Catherine Tate, Brooke Shields, Brian Cox, Gabriel Garçia Bernal, Joseph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Meera Syal.

In 2005, we decided to throw out the same nail-biting challenge to 18-25 year old practitioners. The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices project was born, with a company of 50 young actors, writers, directors and producers receiving support and advice from a host of professionals (including Patrick Marber, Claire Higgins, Michael Sheen, Patsy Rodenberg and Sam Adamson) to prepare them for their big day. The event was such a success that we made The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices an annual sister event to the gala show.

Cloud Nine by Caryl Churchill

Clive/Cathy - James Fleet
Joshua/Gerry - Mark Letheren
Harry Bagley/Martin - Tobias Menzies
Betty/Edward - Bo Poraj
Maud/Victoria - Joanna Scanlan
Ellen/Mrs Saunders/Lin - Sophie Stanton
Edward/Betty - Nicola Walker

Directed by Thea Sharrock
Designed by Peter McKintosh

Seen during it's revival at the Almeida D9

Celebrity in the audience - Daniel Radcliffe??? but I could be wrong there

Joy of joys. Caryl's work can either excite me or confuse me and this happily falls into the former camp but further energised beyond my wildest dreams by Thea Sharrock's inspired direction. Wonderful performances given because they were so perfectly cast. I could happily see this again - time permitting. Seriously thinking about going to the last night.


..........didn't make the last night but I did get another chance on 7th December. Utterly wonderful again and as the run waltzed to the end the cast had a really naughty time.

Rafta, Rafta by Ayub Khan-Din & Bill Naughton

Eeshwar Dutt - Harish Patel
Atul Dutt - Ronny Jhutti
Jai Dutt - Rudi Dharmalingam
Etash Tailor - Arsher Ali
Jibaj Bhatt - Simon Nagra
Lopa Dutt - Meera Syal
Lata Patel - Shaheen Khan
Vina Patel - Rokhsaneh Gwawam-Shahidi
Moly Bhatt - Natalie Grady
Laxman Patel - Kirss Dosanjh

Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Designed by Tim Hatley

Seen during it's long run at the Lyttelton Theatre G19

Celebrity in the audience - Stephen Frears

I suffered with a donkey braying woman behind me during this......and not even at appropriate moments. It looked good and would have had some really poignant points to make between the comic lines if I had the luxury of being able to hear it over the screeching behind. I am sure this is very clever. I have a vested interest because Bill Naughton was a client of my father's and visited us from time to time with his lovely wife.

Vincent River by Philip RIdley

Anita - Lynda Bellingham
Davey - Mark Field

Directed by Rebecca McCutcheon
Designed by Harry Scott

Seen in it's premiere run at the Trafalgar Studio 2 C13






Very intense story of love, bereavement and denial. Wonderful performances, full on for the duration and at the perfect venue.

Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet

Shelly Levene - Jonathan Pryce
John Williamson - Peter McDonald
Dave Moss - Matthew Marsh
George Aaronow - Paul Freeman
Richard Roma - Aiden Gillen
James Lingk - Tom Smith
Baylen - Shane Attwooll

Directed by James Macdonald
Designed by Anthony Ward

seen during it's run at the Apollo, Shaftesbury Avenue G5

This piece hits the ground running and never stops. I'd forgotten how short it is - 35 plus 45 mins. That's 20 minutes shorter than the film. Wonderful characters for most of the cast to get their teeth into and so intense for many of them. One of those plays you should really experience live and with this cast. it's a real joy.

Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill

Native Woman - Corinne Skinner Carter
Henry Smithers, a trader - John Marquez
Brutus Jones - Paterson Joseph
Witch Doctor - Dwayne Barnaby
Lem - Yemi Goodman-Ajibade
Ensemble - Adrian Chrostopher, Olivette Cole- Wilson, Brooks Livermore, Rex Obano, Daniel Poyser, Leroy Ricardo-Jones, Jonathan Taylor

Directed by Thea Sharrock
Designed by Robin Don

Seen during it's short run at The Olivier G17

Once a sun-god, now an emperor, Paterson Joseph seems to be in his element and once again, gave so much energy and spectacle. I can't imagine what this would have been link in it's earlier staging. Wonderful piece, fantastically presented.

I have no idea how much the rest of the cast were paid but they walked on for no more than five minutes and there were around 28 of them who I am not going to list anytime soon.

Moonlight & Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson

David O Selznick - Andy Nyman
Citor Flemming - Steven Pacey
Ben Hecht - Duncan Bell
Miss Poppenghul

Directed by Sean Holmes
Designed by Francis O'Connor

During it's run at the Tricycle

Brilliant in every area. Wonderful little set in that tiny space. Utterly energetic, tight performances of a wonderful script. This will undoubtedly transfer to the West End.

Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco in a Martin Crimp translation

Housewife/Monsieur Jean's wife - Jacqueline Defferaray
Grocer Woman/Madam Beouf -Alwyne Taylor
Jean - Jasper Britton
Berenger - Benedict Cumberbatch
Waitress - Claire Prempeh
Grocer Man/Dudard -Pal Chahidi
Old Gentleman/Monsieur Papillon - Graham Turner
Locigian - Michael Begley
Boss of Cafe/A Fireman - David Hinton
Daisy - Zawe Ashton
Botard - Lloyd Hutchinson

Directed by Dominic Cooke
Designed by Anthony Ward

Seen at the Royal Court Downstairs
on the Cast & Crew after show talk night B13

Celeb in the audience: Ben Miles


Deliciously absurd, funny, adroit and in my face (because my seat was too near the front).......... clever set that was approached in a similar way to the theatre of the absurd we saw in the Donmar earlier. The rhinoceros heads were very, very effective. The arc of the central character's journeys must have been a joy for the actors to get their teeth into.

If it wasn't such a crazy time of year I would try to see this again.........

Some really interesting info here.

Fragments by Samuel Beckett

Actors: Jos Houben, Kathryn Hunter & Marcello Magni

Performing: Rough for Theatre 1
Rockaby
Act without Words II
Neither
Come and Go

Directed by Peter Brook

Seen at the Young Vic

Celebs in the audience: Alan Rickman and Anna Ford
(but not together)

I really jumped through hoops to get this ticket but in the end, I'm not sure if I was as enthralled as I had hoped. How many more chances will I get to see Peter Brook at work though?

On the face of it, the performances were faultless, the pieces sublime and the direction pure but it didn't give me the thrill I had anticipated.

Bill Bailey - Pre Arena Shows

Does it count to mention this?

I've seen one or two things in Studio Two but never such an eager crowd. Half an hour before the show began, the line for the unreserved seating was already winding from the far side of the bar, down the miserable corridor and well into the main booking area. All these people had chosen Bill over seeing Ricky Gervais down the road at the Apollo.

Some of the routine was very funny and I wish I could remember some more. He did a sketch about how he feels like a Malteser in a pack of Revels........he can just sense the toffee and the orange flavoured ones looking at him and saying 'what's his game? He doesn't need to be here. He's got his own pack.' Priceless.

In haste, I stupidly chose a bad seat and suffered in the morning for sitting at an awkward angle.

The Ugly One by Marius von Mayenburg & translated by Maja Zade

Fanny - Amanda Drew
Lette - Michael Gould
Scheffler - Mark Lockyer
Karlman - Frank McCusker

Directed by Ramin Gray
Designed (if you can call it that) by Jeremy Herbert

At the Royal Court Upstairs during it's UK premiere run and as part of the international writing project.

Very interesting piece and if I'd known the subject matter in advance I would have been too squeamish to attend. The text is, of course, about much more than the surgical procedures and this lovely cast adopted the mantels of their various characters so seamlessly that I couldn't dwell on the gory bits.

Totally enjoyable, mercifully short and gratifyingly articulate.

A Disappearing Number by Simon McBurney

The cast includes: David Annen; Firdous Bamji; Paul Bhattacharjee; Hiren Chate; Saraj Chaudhry; Divya Kasturi; Chetna Pandya; Saskia Reeves and Shane Shambhu.

Conceived and Directed by Simon McBurney
Devised by the Company
Original Music Nitin Sawhney
Design Michael Levine

Seen at the erstwhile London home of Complicite - The Barbican Theatre - E8
Saw Simon himself wandering around pre-show but nobody else caught my eye

I wouldn't usually list a load or reviews but this is a complicated piece and it's good to see the critics point of view. In a staging that felt like a cross between Robert Lepage and Katie Mitchell. So hard to describe and do justice.

Jasper Rees - The Sunday Times, 2 September 2008 For Simon McBurney, Complicite`s artistic director, this is more than just a tale of two boffins. read article

Nikita Lalwani - New Statesman, 23 August 2007 With touching emotion and unnerving disquietude, A Disappearing Number forces the spectator to consider the facts of love, death and belonging, within the space of his or her own personal universe. read article

Brian Logan - The Times, 20 August 2007 This is very much Complicite territory: echoes through time, connections across worlds. In McBurney`s hands, mathematical sequences become journeys through life, and numerology a means of giving substance to the unknowable. read article

Sarah Hemming - Financial Times, 28 July 2007 One morning in 1913 the Cambridge mathematician G.H. Hardy opened an unexpected letter from India. It was crammed with wild mathematical theorems... read article

Michael Billington - Guardian, 12th September 2007 Maths, mysticism and mortality combine in Complicite's latest mind-expanding show conceived and directed by Simon McBurney.... read article

Awake and Sing by Clifford Odet

Ralph Berger - Ben Turner
Myron Berger - Paul Jesson
Hennie Berger - Jodie Whittaker
Jacob - John Rogan
Bessie Berger - Stockard Channing
Schlosser - Kieron Jecchinis
Moe Axelrod - Nigel Lindsay
Uncle Morty - Trevor Cooper
Sam Feinschreiber - John Lloyd Fillingham

Directed by Michael Attenborough
Designed by Tim Shortall

During it's revival at the Almeida - E18

Celeb in the audience: Tom Stoppard....and that wonderful man with the glass eye and the young kid from last week's readings.



Mr Stoppard clapped till he was sore and shouted Bravo! twice. I think that says it all.

Jodie really suits the dark hair that I now suspect she was born with. John Rogan was wonderful and Niel Lindsay is a good solid reliable.

Burning Cars by Matt Hartley

Cast includes Alicia Davies, Dave Harley, Sarah Solemani, Tom Stuart

Directed by Nick Bagnall during the New Writing Festival at the Hampstead

the 2nd act of a play in development. How a foolish error of judgement can turn into a crime.

Playtime by Gabriel Bisset-Smith and Gary Owen

Kirsty Bushnell - Fliss
Fiona Button - Sam/Student3/Girl
Billy Carter - Alan
Simon Darwen - Billy/Student 1
Jonny Phillips - Boss/Minister
Narinder Samra - Suman/Soldier
Richard Shanks - Colin/Student 2
Ellen Thomas - Ama/Stella
Philip Voss - Oscar
David Webber - Vincent

Directed by Tamara Harvey

Seen at the Hampstead Theatre during it's Daring Parings Festival of New Writing.

Peter Wight and Sam West were in the audience.

Tight little piece about the last knockings of civilisation and the way the human condition will continue to make the same mistakes.

Settled by George Cotts

Cast includes James Chalmers and Charlotte Pyke

Directed by Chris White

Interesting exploration of the human condition. I left wanting to know a lot more about this piece. Did we see act 1, for instance? it could have been but it could have also been act 2.

Waiting for Leroy by Tanita Gupta and Atiha Sen-Gupta

Laurie - Claire-Louise Cordewell
Hassan - Stephenjohn Holgate
Kweku - Emmanuel Idowu
Tyrone - Marcel McCalla
Blacker - Luke Norris
Amir - Ray Panthanki
Shanice - Ony Uhiara

Directed by Maria Aberg

Performed during the Hampstead Theatre New Writing Festival

Celeb in the audience: Roy Williams

Fantastic piece and performances. Luke is still at drama school! I feel like I'd seen the format before, probably from the above-mentioned Mr Williams. Some young people are waiting for a new youth centre to open so that they can channel all their ambitions but in this bold political statement, it doesn't open and one of the girls is carrying her brother's stash and it all goes pair-shaped.

1 in 5 by Penelope Skinner

Cast Includes Simon Darwen, Sian Hutchinson, James Kermack, Alison O'Donnell & Gary Selford

Directed by Michael Longhurst

Slightly too self conscious but an interesting piece.

Thank God it's Friday by Cosh Omar and Amy Rosenthal

Jan - Emma Cunniffe
Zeki - Michael Higgs
Sam - David Horovitch
John - Jonathan McGuiness
Michael - Joseph Millson
Aiyse - Lisa Stevenson
Rachel - Susannah Wise

Directed by Noah Birksted-Breen

Seen as a rehearsed reading during Hampstead Theatre's New Writing Festival

Celeb in the audience:- Anthony Scher, Maureen Lipman

Wonderful sharp piece about religious and gender taboos. Hardly a dead moment throughout and so well put together.

Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat by Mark Ravenhill

Cast:-

Tom Brooke
Deborah Findlay
Alice O'Connell
Lesley Sharp
Kevin Trainor

New writing as part of the 'daring pairings' new writing festival at the Hampstead Theatre

So many people of note in the audience. I saw Mel Kenyon chatting to Mr Ravenhill himself in the bar and Lesley Sharp's lovely fella (Nicholas Gleaves) was in a house seat.

Six twenty minutes pieces on the theme of the age of war on terror propagation. There are seventeen of these pieces in total and I think he wrote them in a few months. A force to be admired. Some of them got a bit raggy in the middle or towards the end but generally tight and hilarious dialogue.

All About My Mother based on the film by Pedro Almodovar & written by Samuel Adamson

Esteban - Colin Morgan
Manuela - Lesley Manille
Doctor - Michael Shaeffer
Alicia - Yvonne O'Grady
Nian Cruz - Charlotte Randle
Humo Rojo - Dianna Rigg
Maria del Toro - Bradly Freegard
Agrado - Mark Gatiss
Client - Robert Galas
Nun - Eileen Nicholas
Sister Rosa - Joanne Froggatt
Sister Rosa's Mother - Eleanor Bron
Alex - Robert Galas
Gynaecologist - Bradley Freegard
Nurse - Yvonne O'Grady
Streetcar Actor - Michael Shaeffer
Streetcar Actress - Eileen Nicholas
Lola - Michael Shaeffer

Directed by Tom Cairns
Designed by Hildegard Bechtler

Seen in it's premiere run at The Old Vic. Q19

Celebs in the Audience: Kevin was there, Michael & Mary Parkinson, David Tennant

I have mixed feelings about this. So much of it was incredible but it seemed to lack some of what Almodovar brings to a project. I realise it's a different medium but so much effort was made to bring the visual mood from his films so it seemed a shame that the dialogue wasn't always there.

Mark Gatiss had the role he was born to play and was the star of the show but Lesley Manville was perfect too. A couple of magnificent performances.

Absurdia - see below

A Resounding Tinkle by N.F. Simpson

Middie Paradock - Judith Scott
Bro Paradock - Peter Capaldi
Uncle Ted - Lyndsey Marshal
Vicar's Voice - John Hodgkinson


Gladly Otherwise by N. F. Simpson

Mrs Brandywine - Judith Scott
Mr Brandywine - Peter Capaldi
Man - John Hodgkinson

The Crimson Hotel by Michael Frayn

Bibette's Voice - Judith Scott
Pilou - Peter Capaldi
Lucienne - Lyndsey Marshal
Dodine's Voice - - John Hodgkinson

Directed by Douglas Hodge
Designed by Vicki Mortimer

This collection see at the Donmar Warehouse on Supporters Night - B7

Celeb in the audience: sweet faced boy from The Thick of It

I laughed uncontrollably and shook the benches during A Resounding Tinkle. Gladly Otherwise didn't do so much for me but The Crimson Hotel was more clever than funny. A very smart ensemble and we were treated to a wonderful post show discussion so that I could bask in the multiple talents of Douglas Hodge . Gawd, I adore that boy. He helped compose the music too, you know.

Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw

Robert de Baudricourt - Brendan O'Hea
Stewards and Pages - Luke Treadaway
Joan - Anne-Marie Duff
Bertrand de Poulengey - Ross Waiton
Duke de la Tremoullie - James Barriscale
The Archbishop of Rheims -James Hayes
Gilles de Rais(Bluebeard) - Gareth Kennerley
Captain La Hire - Finn Caldwell
Charles (The Dauphin) - Paul Ready
Dunois - Christopher Colquhoun
Richard - Angus Wright
Chaplain de Stogumber
Peter Cauchon (Bishop of Beauvais) - Paterson Joseph
The Inquisitor - Oliver Ford Davies
Canon John D'Estivet - William Osborne
Canon de Courcelles - Simon Bubb
Brother Martin Ladvenu - James Ballard
The Executioner - Jonathan Jaynes
Ensemble - Michael Camp, Eke Chukwu, Simon Markey, David Ricardo-Pearce

Directed by Marianne Elliott
Designed by Rae Smith

At the Olivier where it belongs - K 14

Celeb in the audience: Andrew Davies


My evening began earlier in the Cottesloe where I attended a 'Platform' with Paul Miller as he discussed The Enchantment. So young and so talented.....and frighfully posh. Very interesting start to my cultural delights.

Entering the Olivier tonight (as so many nights) was a beautifully calming experience. It always reminds me of a really well designed church and I cannot express how disgusted I would have been if they had staged this production at the Lyttelton. I endure that auditorium but I can only think of one production that actually felt right in it (The Far Side of the Moon) - that actually needed a space like that.

I digress. Saint Joan is as remarkable as a revival in London is likely to be. Humour has been injected in almost all the right places allowing the space for Joan to be the bright shining light of passion and serenity. My only grip here is the silliness of the French Court. I think it was just a tad overplayed on the night I saw it but I'm sure it is more balanced normally.

I cried during the trial when she burned. I think the staging of the burning was either having a bad night or just a tiny bit too subtle but I would love to see this again.....time permitting.