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Post by Jan on Oct 4, 2023 6:46:19 GMT
The Donmar 2018 production less good. Robert Eddison was one of my favourites but I only saw him very late in his career when he was absolutely brilliant in small roles - including Friar Lawrence, and Lafeu in All's Well. The last time I saw Robert Eddison on stage was as John of Gaunt in Richard II (Phoenix).... Another distinguished old actor that the RSC used to use in small roles around that time was Griffith Jones (father of Gemma Jones) who at that time sported a massive white beard - I used to see him wandering into the Barbican each day for his few minutes on stage. What a pity the RSC abandoned the company structure. |
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Post by crowblack on Oct 4, 2023 22:12:59 GMT
am I right in remembering Gary Oldman and Cheryl Campbell in the Royal Exchange's wonderfully rude Country Wife. The letter scene still lingers as pure joy. A production which also had Alex Jennings Yes, Gary Oldman, Ian McDiarmid, Cheryl Campbell and Alex Jennings - what a treat! The RX also had a production of The Alchemist around that time too - not Restoration obviously, but great fun. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 5, 2023 14:53:47 GMT
Another distinguished old actor that the RSC used to use in small roles around that time was Griffith Jones (father of Gemma Jones) who at that time sported a massive white beard - I used to see him wandering into the Barbican each day for his few minutes on stage. What a pity the RSC abandoned the company structure. I remember Griffith Jones well. I think the last times I saw him on stage was at an early RSC at the Barbican play, in which he had a small role in All's Well that Ends Well. Peggy Ashcroft was the Countess in that production. Also in Coriolanus at the Barbican; and Measure for Measure at Stratford. He was of course in many films of the 1940s and 50s, some with significant roles. Another omnipresent character actor in his later years was Nicholas Selby. Robert Eddison told me that Selby loved very small roles. I remember Selby coming on at the very end of The Mayor of Zalamea at the NT, as Philip II, King of Spain. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 5, 2023 17:16:01 GMT
Over at the NT in the same era Michael Bryant was truly omnipresent, occasionally in leading roles but mostly in small parts in plays in all three theatres. He must have been there continuously for a decade at least. His massive motorbike was parked permanently just outside the stage door. David Ryall and James Hayes too - in fact the latter is the actor I’ve seen on stage the most often.
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Post by Fleance on Oct 5, 2023 20:19:20 GMT
Michael Bryant was the Mayor (Pedro Crespo) in that production of The Mayor of Zalamea. When Peter Hall exited his NT gig, he directed three productions of late Shakespeare. He cast Michael Bryant as Prospero.
I think the first time I saw Bryant on stage was in Peter Wood's 1978 production of The Double Dealer. Of course Nicholas Selby was also in the cast.
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Post by Jan on Oct 6, 2023 6:30:24 GMT
Michael Bryant was the Mayor (Pedro Crespo) in that production of The Mayor of Zalamea. When Peter Hall exited his NT gig, he directed three productions of late Shakespeare. He cast Michael Bryant as Prospero. I think the first time I saw Bryant on stage was in Peter Wood's 1978 production of The Double Dealer. Of course Nicholas Selby was also in the cast. Bryant kept going well into the Richard Eyre era - he was a brilliant Foldal in John Gabriel Borkmann with Paul Scofield/Vanessa Redgrave/Eileen Atkins. Luxury casting. I also remember him as Fool in the Richard Eyre/Ian Holm King Lear. And a small part in Eyre's awful production of Bartholomew Fair. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 6, 2023 12:28:38 GMT
Michael Bryant was the Mayor (Pedro Crespo) in that production of The Mayor of Zalamea. When Peter Hall exited his NT gig, he directed three productions of late Shakespeare. He cast Michael Bryant as Prospero. I think the first time I saw Bryant on stage was in Peter Wood's 1978 production of The Double Dealer. Of course Nicholas Selby was also in the cast. Bryant kept going well into the Richard Eyre era - he was a brilliant Foldal in John Gabriel Borkmann with Paul Scofield/Vanessa Redgrave/Eileen Atkins. Luxury casting. I also remember him as Fool in the Richard Eyre/Ian Holm King Lear. And a small part in Eyre's awful production of Bartholomew Fair. I remember that production of John Gabriel Borkman (a few years after the luxury casting of Heartbreak House at the Haymarket) and the excellent King Lear. The last times I saw Bryant was in The Invention of Love, Money and The Cherry Orchard.I didn't see Eyre's Bartholomew Fair, but I did see Bryant's Polonius with Day-Lewis and Dench; and in The Voysey Inheritance; and his Alfred Doolittle a few years later. And of course his Badger. |
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Post by bordeaux on Oct 6, 2023 17:13:13 GMT
Lovely to be reminded of those Michael Bryant roles. And I had a pang at the mention of Bartholomew Fair - and just thought: am I ever going to see a good production of that (and plays like it) again, a production that is not buggered about with in some way, horribly cut or added to, that contains a top-notch cast, is directed well and clearly?
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Post by Jan on Oct 6, 2023 18:53:56 GMT
Lovely to be reminded of those Michael Bryant roles. And I had a pang at the mention of Bartholomew Fair - and just thought: am I ever going to see a good production of that (and plays like it) again, a production that is not buggered about with in some way, horribly cut or added to, that contains a top-notch cast, is directed well and clearly? No. You’re never going to see a good production of Bartholomew Fair. The Eyre version was everything you say you want but it was still awful - long and tedious and totally unfunny. It’s a lost cause. Other Jonson plays are a different story, for example the RSC Volpone with Richard Griffiths was hysterically funny. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 6, 2023 20:34:31 GMT
I've seen two productions of Bartholomew Fair: at the Roundhouse in 1978 (Peter Barnes); and at the Open Air, Regents Park in 1987. I enjoyed them both. We were given red noses to wear for the Regents Park production. The Roundhouse had been turned into a fairground, with pre-show games. There was a mouse race, and I bet on a mouse. My mouse did not win, but I cherish the memory of cheering him/her/they on. One of my favorite actresses was in the Roundhouse production: Sheila Burrell.
As for Ben Jonson, his Volpone was the first play I ever saw at the new NT/South Bank, in 1977, with an amazing cast: Paul Scofield, John Gielgud, Ben Kingsley, Ian Charleson, Elizabeth Spriggs, and Morag Hood. I thought that was a great production but think I was in the minority. I saw the later production (1995) with Michael Gambon and Simon Russell Beale as well.
I do remember enjoying the RSC/Mermaid 1987 production of Every Man in His Humour, which had a great cast, including Simon Russell Beale, Henry Goodman, and Pete Postlethwaite.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 6, 2023 20:47:03 GMT
We are staying well off topic, but for fans of Jonson, Creation Theatre are doing The Alchemist is Oxford this month.
Am reviewing next week
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Post by Jan on Oct 7, 2023 8:58:34 GMT
We are staying well off topic This is a senior citizen support group, not a topic. The title has been carefully chosen to prevent younger members straying in by mistake. I’ve seen The Alchemist a few times. It can be good. Around the 1980s I saw a production by Griff Rhys-Jones which was the fastest-paced production I’ve ever seen, everyone talking as fast as they could, absolutely relentless. |
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Post by bordeaux on Oct 7, 2023 9:17:26 GMT
The Sam Mendes Alchemist at the RSC in 91-92 with David Bradley, Guy Pearce, Jonathan Hyde, Philip Voss was superb. The Nick Hytner one at the NT with Alex Jennings, SRB and Lesley Manville was a rare misfire from him in my view - certainly mid-stalls I found it harder to hear the dialogue than I've ever done at any other production: too many accents may have had something to do with it. Hytner's Volpone, on the other hand, which was in opening season of the Kent-McDiarmid era at the Almeida (1990) was brilliant with McDiarmid as the Volpone and Denis Lawson as Mosca. I enjoyed the Gambon-SRB one at the NT directed by Matthew Warchus too, 1995.
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Post by Jan on Oct 7, 2023 9:24:06 GMT
The Nick Hytner one at the NT with Alex Jennings, SRB and Lesley Manville was a rare misfire from him in my view - certainly mid-stalls I found it harder to hear the dialogue than I've ever done at any other production: too many accents may have had something to do with it. Yes it was disappointing - SRB in particular seemed miscast and his comic talent wasted. Now I have checked I'm surprised to see I saw an RSC production of it by Polly Findlay in 2016. I can't remember a single thing about it. |
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Post by cavocado on Oct 7, 2023 10:19:52 GMT
We are staying well off topic I’ve seen The Alchemist a few times. It can be good. Around the 1980s I saw a production by Griff Rhys-Jones which was the fastest-paced production I’ve ever seen, everyone talking as fast as they could, absolutely relentless. I remember this at Hammersmith Lyric. I think Stephen Moore was in it? |
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Post by Jan on Oct 7, 2023 11:33:52 GMT
I’ve seen The Alchemist a few times. It can be good. Around the 1980s I saw a production by Griff Rhys-Jones which was the fastest-paced production I’ve ever seen, everyone talking as fast as they could, absolutely relentless. I remember this at Hammersmith Lyric. I think Stephen Moore was in it? Yes. John Sessions and Sylvestra Le Touzel too. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 7, 2023 12:32:55 GMT
This production only has a cast of 5, I believe. So fingers crossed that still works.
I have directed Volpone in the past but only have a vague knowledge of the rest of Jonson
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Post by Fleance on Oct 7, 2023 12:39:51 GMT
The Sam Mendes Alchemist at the RSC in 91-92 with David Bradley, Guy Pearce, Jonathan Hyde, Philip Voss was superb. The Nick Hytner one at the NT with Alex Jennings, SRB and Lesley Manville was a rare misfire from him in my view - certainly mid-stalls I found it harder to hear the dialogue than I've ever done at any other production: too many accents may have had something to do with it. Hytner's Volpone, on the other hand, which was in opening season of the Kent-McDiarmid era at the Almeida (1990) was brilliant with McDiarmid as the Volpone and Denis Lawson as Mosca. I enjoyed the Gambon-SRB one at the NT directed by Matthew Warchus too, 1995. The Mendes production was excellent. We had a production/adaptation in NYC recently, presented by the Red Bull Theater, which produces "plays of heightened language." The first Red Bull production I attended years ago was a reading of Lord Byron's Sardanapalus.
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Post by Jan on Oct 7, 2023 13:22:40 GMT
This production only has a cast of 5, I believe. So fingers crossed that still works. I have directed Volpone in the past but only have a vague knowledge of the rest of Jonson I have seen nine of his plays: Volpone The Alchemist Every Man in his Humour The New Inn Bartholomew Fair The Silent Woman The Devil is an Ass The Sad Shepherd Eastward Ho ! The RSC The Silent Woman was particularly good and very funny - directed by a young Danny Boyle. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 7, 2023 13:35:28 GMT
This production only has a cast of 5, I believe. So fingers crossed that still works. I have directed Volpone in the past but only have a vague knowledge of the rest of Jonson I have seen nine of his plays: Volpone The Alchemist Every Man in his Humour The New Inn Bartholomew Fair The Silent Woman The Devil is an Ass The Sad Shepherd Eastward Ho ! The RSC The Silent Woman was particularly good and very funny - directed by a young Danny Boyle. Matthew Warchus' production of The Devil Is an Ass (Barbican Pit) was very funny, with a young Damian Lewis in a small role. Totally off topic: Danny Boyle's production of Howard Barker's The Bite of the Night was totally bizarre, a four-hour trial to sit through. |
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Post by Jan on Oct 7, 2023 14:53:23 GMT
Howard Barker: Death at the box office.
The main Jonson production I missed was Greg Doran’s well-reviewed production of the tragedy Sejanus with William Houston (presumably because Sher was unavailable).
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Post by Fleance on Oct 8, 2023 15:31:23 GMT
To get back to Restoration plays (but not comedies), one of the great and memorable productions that I've seen was a 1984 NT production of Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd. Directed by Peter Gill, the cast included Ian McKellen, Michael Pennington, Jane Lapotaire, Stephanie Beacham, and Hugh Paddick. I tried to produce a reading of it in New York in the early 2000s, and Michael Kahn was interested, but then felt it was too complicated, given his schedule. Despite being a tragedy, it certainly had some comic elements. Gill's production included scenes that are sometimes cut.
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Post by Jan on Oct 8, 2023 16:52:57 GMT
To get back to Restoration plays (but not comedies), one of the great and memorable productions that I've seen was a 1984 NT production of Thomas Otway's Venice Preserv'd. Directed by Peter Gill, the cast included Ian McKellen, Michael Pennington, Jane Lapotaire, Stephanie Beacham, and Hugh Paddick. I tried to produce a reading of it in New York in the early 2000s, and Michael Kahn was interested, but then felt it was too complicated, given his schedule. Despite being a tragedy, it certainly had some comic elements. Gill's production included scenes that are sometimes cut. Oddly enough I didn't like that production at all, I found it very dull and confusing. I recall McKellen saying he only did it to show solidarity with the NT company structure, Pennington had the leading role. However, it did have two splendid old actors in minor roles: Brewster Mason and Edward de Souza. I was always ambivalent about Gill as a director, his RSC Romeo & Juliet was really poor but his pared-back Antigone at NT with Michael Bryant, James Hayes and Basil Henson was excellent. He wasted a decade in the NT Studio directing things that a paying audience never saw. |
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Post by Fleance on Oct 8, 2023 19:00:32 GMT
I like some of Peter Gill's plays, most recently Versailles at the Donmar, which I found quite moving. In terms of his work as a director, I remember liking Fool for Love with Ian Charleson and Julie Walters very much. I do remember that Gill's production of Danton's Death (NT, 1982) was a pretty hard slog for me, although it was the first time I saw Brian Cox.
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Post by Jan on Oct 8, 2023 19:37:48 GMT
The Virtuoso by Thomas Shadwell, written in 1676, is a good one as it also satirises the Royal Society and the scientific advances which were a feature of Restoration London. The RSC production of it was pretty good.
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