The Syndicate

The Syndicate, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2011

Cast: Jane Bertish, Margaret Clunie, Philip Correia, Michael Pennington, Michael Stevenson, David Shaw-Parker, Michael Thomson, Ian McKellen, Brendan O'Hea, David Foxxe, Gavin Fowler, Annie Hemmingway, Cherie Lunghi, Mark Edel-Hunt, Oliver Cotton, Janet Spencer-Turner

Writer: Eduardo di Filippo, translated by Mike Poulton

Director: Sean Mathias

I imagine when I saw Ian McKellan in King Lear I thought it was the first time I'd seen him because somehow I've managed to forget this. Actually it comes back a bit to me - I seem to remember it being interminable. It looks like some Italian family drama thing which I hope they had fun doing but it does seem a bit of a waste of everyone's time.

Grief

 Grief, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2011

Cast: Lesley Manville, Ruby Bentall, Sam Kelly, David Horovitch, Marion Bailey, Wendy Nottingham, Dorothy Duffy

Written & directed by Mike Leigh

I hadn't realised I'd seen two new Mike Leigh plays this century. I remember that Lesley Manville was in it, which isn't the only time I've seen her in something but I feel like I've always seen her in the wrong things. I wonder if she'll have time to do any more theatre in future? Would it be rude to hope that Mike doesn't?

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2011

Cast: Samuel Barnett, Jamie Parker, Chris Andrew Mellon, Charlie Hamblett, Stephen Pallister, Trevor Allan Davies, Zac Fox, Greg Last, James Northcote, Keith Thompson, Katherine Press, Jack Hawkins, James Simmons, Fiona Gillies, Andrew Jarvis, Tomm Coles, Elizabeth Hopper, Jody Elen Machin, Tom Golding, Michael Benz.

Writer: Tom Stoppard

Director: Trevor Nunn

With apologies to Oscar Wilde, to forget one production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead may be regarded as a misfortune; to forget two looks like carelessness. And yet here's a second production of this that I have no recollection of seeing. I really should remember it though: my two favourite History Boys directed by Trevor Nunn, I bet it was excellent. The Guardian review at the time gave it four stars and mentions that Tim Curry was originally supposed to be in it as well. I doubt I'd have forgotten that.

Swallows and Amazons

Swallows and Amazons, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2012

Cast: Celia Adams, Akiya Henry, Richard Holt, Katie Moore, Sophie Waller, Stewart Wright, Greg Barnett, Francesca Bradley, Neil Craig, Adrian Garratt, Alison George, Hilary Tones, Jon Trenchard.

Script: Helen Edmundson

Music and lyrics: Neil Hannon

Director: Tom Morris

I'm a big fan of the band The Divine Comedy so Neil Hannon was the appeal here. A few years ago his demo versions of the songs were released as a bonus disc with an album so I'm more familiar with them than I might have been otherwise. What I remember of it is going with a friend who was also a fan, who took their youngest child who perhaps wasn't. We went to a matinee and I don't remember there being a big audience. I remember the cast pretending to row boats and one of them (Stewart Wright) was a handsome beardy.

Auntie & Me

Auntie & Me, Wyndhams Theatre, 2003

Cast: Alan Davies, Margaret Tyzack

Writer: Morris Panych

Director: Anna Mackmin

This baffled me when I saw it. I assumed it was some local thing I'd forgotten but then I noticed the theatre name on the programme. Was I going to the theatre in London so often in 2003 that I could have forgotten this? Apparently so. I found my blog about it and I went to see it with a man called Ian. Not that one. I suspect he might have moved to the area for work and we hung out a bit without ever having sex then he moved away and I forgot his name (if he's the one I'm thinking of). I said I loved it but the Guardian review I found only gave it two stars. I suspect I might have been generous.

Sign of the Times

Sign of the Times, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2009

Cast: Stephen Tomkinson, Tom Shaw

Writer: Tim Firth

Director: Peter Wilson (who was at the same time Chief Executive of the Norwich Theatre Royal and had his own production company, which feels like a cheating way of getting your play on)

When I looked at the programme I thought, "man on a roof" and it turns out it was about two men putting up a sign on a roof. As Tim Firth wrote Calendar Girls and then a musical using Take That songs I suspect it wasn't as much like Waiting for Godot as the idea sounds.

To Kill a Mockingbird

 

To Kill a Mockingbird, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2006

Cast: Duncan Preston, Anita Booth, Stephen Casey, Christopher Chilton, Tor Clark, Andrea Harris, Richard Heap, Bettrys Jones, Andrew Kwame, Ged McKenna, Vinta Morgan, Phil Mulryne, Charity Or, Jean-Marc Perret, Charlie Roe, Helen Ryan, Joe Speare, Sally Tatum, Craig Vye, 

Adapted by Christopher Sergel from the book by Harper Lee

Directed by Michael Buffong.

This gets performed a lot, presumably because it's now on the English Literature curriculum so there's a bit of an audience guaranteed. I didn't read it at school so I took no baggage to it but I wonder if I found it a bit worthy and not much fun, which is an awful thing to say about something so important but that's certainly how I'd feel about it now if someone suggested I go and see it again. Perhaps I should read the book.

Arsenic and Old Lace

 

Arsenic and Old Lace, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005

Cast: Angela Thorne, Brigit Forsyth, Sylvester McCoy, Andrew Havill, Huw Higginson, Reanne Farley, Mark Heenehan, Anthony Houghton, Peter Laird, Jon Millington, Damian Myerscough, David Peart, David Sparks, Andrew P Stephen, Kate Willow, Judith Rae.

Writer: Joseph Kesserling

Director: Robin Herford

There's a film of this starring Cary Grant which I suspect I haven't seen and I might have thought this was an adaptation of that but it turns out the play came before the film and before both was a novel. I think I muddle it with The Ladykillers, lazily because both have older women in the cast. 

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005

Cast: Rebecca Egan, Matthew Kelly, Christopher Benjamin, Anita Booth, Paul Benzing, Suzanne Marston, Rebecca Pownall, Bob Cryer, Ben Crystal, Christopher Logan, Neil Jones, Honeysuckle Weeks, Roger Barclay, Hilton McRae, Paul Stewart, Christopher Harper.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Patrick Mason.

I wish I could remember anything about this but I don't. The only version of this I do remember is the very good National Theatre one with Tamsin Greig which they broadcast online during lockdown. I ought to remember it as the play about the yellow tights but instead I think of it as the one where the brother and sister dress up as each other and then I can't tell it apart from all the other ones where that happens.

Evita

Evita, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2013

Cast: Marti Pellow, Madalena Alberto, Mark Heenehan, Sarah McNicholas, Nic Gibney, Verity Burgess, David Burilin, Joseph Connor, Natalie Day, Joel Elferink, Laura Emmitt, Emily Goodenough, Antony Hewitt, Stuart Maciver, Joe Maxwell, Perry O'Dea, Lizzie Ottley, Ryan Pidgen, Anthony Ray.

Lyrics: Tim Rice; Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Directed by Bob Thomson & Bill Kenwright

The difficulty I have with Evita is that the first time I saw it was when the film came out. It's a brilliant film and not just because Madonna is so good you forget that by the end you're crying over the death of a dictator's wife. So how can the stage version compete with the scale and expense of that? I've seen it a couple of times and so far it hasn't, which is a real shame as the songs are great and there's a lot of potential for big scenes. One day I hope I see a version that properly wows me.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2006

Cast: Nicholas Rowe, James Wallace, James Faulkner, Ed Browning, Grant Gillespie, Richard Hansall, Edmund Kingsley, Charlie Roe, Leon Tanner, Ross Walton

Writer: Tom Stoppard

Director: Stephen Unwin

I haven't seen much of Tom Stoppard's work, probably because of an awful experience reading Jumpers for A level, but this is by far my favourite and I've seen it several times and have even read it a couple of times. I'd definitely see it again. I'm disappointed I don't remember this production. For a while I really liked English Touring Theatre - they did a great production of Angels in America which came to Cambridge and which I saw over two nights, and a play by Jonathan Harvey that I've never seen performed since. I still get their marketing emails and would happily go and see them again if they did anything that appealed.

Design for Living

Design for Living, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2003

Cast: Janie Dee, William Chubb, Hugo Speer, Aden Gillett, Ann Penfold, Col Farrell, Benjamin Jones, David Jansen, Pandora Colin, 

Writer: Noel Coward

Director: Peter Hall

I was talking to some friends about Noel Coward in the summer, remembering the plays of his I'd seen, and wondering if perhaps I didn't need to see any more of them. I have no recollection of seeing this. Last year I read Peter Hall's diaries about running the National Theatre - don't bother, it's endless moaning about the building and funding, and everyone is a shit - and I assumed I'd never been lucky enough to see something he'd directed when I had but had just forgotten it, which is not a good review.

Prick up Your Ears

 

Prick up Your Ears, Comedy Theatre (now Harold Pinter Theatre), London, 2009

Cast: Matt Lucas, Chris New, Gwen Taylor

Writer: Simon Bent

Director: Daniel Kramer

My abiding memories of this are that it was on a Sunday and because of that the friend I went with parked their car in the street rather than paying parking charges at the station. And also a few years later when I described it on Twitter as "...that Matt Lucas/Joe Orton thing that nobody liked" Matt Lucas blocked me. Talentless twat. Ironically I apparently did like it according to the blog I wrote at the time. Chris New went on to be excellent in the film Weekend.

Entertaining Mr Sloane

Entertaining Mr Sloane, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2000

Cast: Alison Steadman, Clive Francis, Bryan Pringle, Andrew Howard

Writer: Joe Orton

Director: Terry Johnson

You'd think I'd remember seeing Alison Steadman in this but I don't. I think it might be time to retire Orton's work for a while and let future generations discover him for themselves or not as the case maybe. Perhaps he'll just become a footnote in the history of gay writing, in the same way that Terrence Rattigan has maybe, and his death will be the most interesting thing about him. I think times have changed so much that the work can only now look very old-fashioned, and I'm not sure his life now makes much sense either. I guess when you're very much the hot thing of a time it's tricky to maintain any universality that the future can identify with, although I guess that's not the point of being a hot thing.

Two Thousand Years

 

Two Thousand Years, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2006

Cast: Caroline Gruber, Allan Corduner, Ben Caplan, Adam Godley, Alexis Zegerman, John Burgess, Nitzan Sharron, Samantha Spiro

Written and directed by Mike Leigh.

If you're arty and left-wing Mike Leigh is supposed to be one of your heroes. I've tried, I really have. I'm sure I even said nice things about this after I saw it. But having seen an awful production of Abigail's Party and failed to get all the way through his film Happy-Go-Lucky I feel like it's time to stop feeling like I have to see his stuff. It's good that the National Theatre tours stuff though and saves me a day trip to London now and then.

When Harry Met Sally

 

When Harry met Sally, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2005    

Cast: Gaby Roslin, Jonathan Wrather, Rebecca Gethings, Qarie Marshall, Matt Wolf, Polly Maberly, Ann Wenn, Edward Hayes-Neary

Adapted by Marcy Kahan from the film by Nora Ephron

Director: Simon Cox

Music by Ben & Jamie Cullum (the Harry Connick Jr stuff was obviously too expensive)

It's obvious why I went to see this - the film is great and still stands up well (I last watched it when Carrie Fisher died and am overdue another watch) but this is everything that's wrong with theatre. I see how it brings in a new audience but how does it encourage new writing and voices? And yet I go to this stuff and hate myself for it. Also, Gaby Roslin? She's a presenter and although she went to an acting school her first time on stage was three years previously in Chicago. Let's do less of this kind of thing in future.

A View from a Bridge

 

A View from a Bridge, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2002

Cast: Robert Gwilym, Sorcha Cusack, Mark Carlisle, Mark Flitton, Matthew Flynn, Edmund Harcourt, Katherine Holme. Tardeuz Pasternak, Katherine Stark, Juliet Warner, Klaus White, Benny Young

Writer: Arthur Miller

Director: Kenny Ireland

Arthur Miller is one of those people who is an instant no for me when I see their work announced in a theatre's season, along with Ibsen, Chekhov, and George Bernard Shaw to name a few. Maybe they are classics but maybe it's time that new stories and writers were given some space. I remember nothing about this but the cast list is more men than women so I imagine it was a bit macho and my blog at the time says it was very On the Waterfront, something else I never want to see again.

Thoroughly Modern Millie

 

Thoroughly Modern Millie, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005

Cast: Lesley Joseph, Grace Kennedy, Donna Steele, Andrew Kennedy, Richard Reynard, Robyn North, Nicola Blackman, Unku, Yo Santhaveesuk, Lauren Adams, Vanessa Barmby, Karl Clarkson, Laura Clements, Charles Doherty, Victoria Hay, Phil Hogan, Ian Gareth Jones, Emma Gina-King, Joseph Prouse, Emily Shaw, Daniel Smith, Karl Stevens, Laura Tyrer, Brett Watkiss, Nicky Willson.

Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan. New music by Jeanine Tesori. New lyrics by Dick Scanlan.

Director: Beth Eden.

All I remember about this is that I went with a young man called Matt who I'd met online. He cooked for me at his house somewhere north of Norwich one evening. I remember driving back late afterwards listening to Depeche Mode's Playing the Angel album which was released that year and was a bit of a return to form. I don't think we met again after this evening. 

I found an entry about this on my other blog and hadn't realised how mad I was at the time, hoping he'd be my boyfriend, which would never have worked. The following bit is quite interesting and honest about why I suddenly rather desperately wanted a boyfriend, which I guessed at the time was because Dad had died less than two years before:

"The more realistic part of it is that I'm just more available - during the last few years of Dad's life, when his health was a bit fragile, I liked to be around for them just to make sure they were OK, and to be there for the occasional middle of the night phone call to say Dad was going into hospital. I couldn't be sleeping in a strange bed in the middle of nowhere as I'd never have forgiven myself if they needed me and I wasn't there."

I wonder what happened to Matt? 

East

 

East, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2000

Cast: Edward Bryant, Matthew Cullum, Tanya Franks, Joan than Linsley, Christopher Middleton, Sarah Jaxx, Jake Thomas, Simon Sharp (pianist)

Writer/Director: Steven Berkoff

According to the programme this was a revival 25 years after it was written and "...it was an experiment in playwriting and an attempt to be bold". I can't imagine ever seeing any of Berkoff's work again - it feels like the opposite of what I would want to see now.

Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2005.

Cast: Sean Mulligan, Rebecca Dent, Jayde Westaby, Matthew Cutts, Stephen Webb, Jamie Hughes-Ward, Andrew Prosser, Kevin Brewis, Enzo Squillino Jnr, Karen Lynne, Joe McMurray, Rebecca Sutherland, William Peaco Jnr, Marsha George, Caroline Graham, Samantha Berisford, Leanne Pinder, Emma Stephens, Catherine Greeney, Kris Manuel, Philip Marriott, Leighton Morrison, Elliot Nixon, Jonathan Renny Miller, Alison Hefferon, Emily Mascarenhas, John Stacey 

(I don't recognise the names or faces of any of those suggesting none of them went on to greater things.)

Stage Adaptation: Nan Knighton

Director/Choreographer: Arlene Phillips (currently having huge success with Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre which I still haven't seen).

I was absolutely certain I'd never seen this. It feels like it's been touring forever - it played most recently in 2022 - and I imagine I'd just say no every time because I don't need to see a stage version of every film that's ever been made, especially one I've only ever seen on TV and which I know more for the songs than the acting. But I did see it and according to my other blog I did so on the second anniversary of my Dad's death. Good heavens. Apparently I found it fun although I was worried the audience might misbehave, something they're even more likely to do now.

The first box

I started with this one as the lid is broken so I want to empty it to throw it away. I've filled it with so much stuff I've broken it, surely a sign that I need to have a clear out.

I sorted through it to separate all the things that aren't theatre programmes: those glossy things they sell you at big gigs now (the stripy top thing is from a Pet Shop Boys gig); guidebooks to country houses; guides to Art exhibitions; programmes for dance events (there was a disproportionately large number in here which suggest some previous sorting had occurred - dance might be covered later on once I've worked through all the plays and musicals). I was left with this:

As I went through them I realised there would be some I would never be able to part with but also that there were plenty I would have very confidently say I'd never seen. I think it's the latter I'm going to start with as it will be easy to throw away something I don't even remember.

My intention is to take a picture of the cover and anything inside it that catches my eyes, then list the cast, writer and director (and anyone else notable involved). I'll also record the venue and if it's easy to find out the year. I was going to leave it at that but just looking at them brought back memories, or didn't bring back memories, and I might record that too.

This isn't going to be a regular thing - I'll just do it as and when I'm in the mood. It feels like a task for a winter's afternoon. 

One final thing - you may not agree with me throwing them away but please don't tell me.

Wilkommen! And bienvenue! Welcome!

Hello, my name is Garry and as the name of this blog suggest I have too many theatre programmes.

As I write this I'm 54 years old so I've probably been going to the theatre regularly for thirty years, and over that time the frequency of my visits has increased. I always buy a programme, if there is one, which I guess I started doing because it felt like that's what people did but now it just feels like an integral part of my visit. At the very least it helps me identify who I've just seen if I'm sitting in a cheap seat at the back of my nearest theatre in Norwich, but hopefully it will also give me some insight into the production and a bit of history. When I've read them I store them in a box under the bed and this is where the problem lies:

I live in a very small house, an old-fashioned two up, two down. Two of those rooms - the kitchen and bathroom - are about six feet square so the rest of the house has to make up for the lack of storage everywhere. And now, after living in this house for thirty years, the piling up of stuff under the bed has to stop.

People told me not to throw away memories, but they were people with bigger houses to store them in, or who paid for storage away from their house, or who had less of this kind of thing to store in the first place. I simply can't keep them any longer. There's no more room. And realistically I never look at them and even if they were more accessible I don't suppose I'd look at them. They can't stay under the bend until I die and one of my sister's kids gets the job of chucking them in a skip.

But I realise they needed to be recorded in some way, and at first I was going to create a database so I could search it. Then a friend suggested photographing them, which seemed like a good idea but I wanted to record the cast in a way I could search so I could see who I'd seen in what if my memory failed me. You can search a blog so here we are. If I was younger this might be an Instagram thing or even TikTok but I'm older so it's another blog. 

I hadn't intended it to be public but the fact I've explained myself at length suggests it's going to be. So, welcome to the theatre programmes from the boxes under my bed.