One Man, Two Guvnors

One Man, Two Guvnors, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2012.

Cast: Amy Booth-Steel, Mark Monero, Colin Mace, Kellie Shirley, Nick Cavaliere, Leon Williams, Rufus Hound, Rosie Wyatt, Edward Bennett, Matthew Woodyatt, Peter Cauldfield, Sabrina Carter, Alicia Davies, Mark Jackson, Alan Pearson, Seun Shote, Russell Wilcox.

Writer: Richard Bean

Director: Nicholas Hytner

I don't like slapstick and have left other stuff at the interval when there has been too much of it so this was a risky proposition. But it was also a huge hit and the fact it was coming to Norwich was a big deal. And unexpectedly I absolutely loved it. So I should probably learn something from that.

Into the Woods

Into the Woods, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Ethan Beer, Eddie Manning, Joshua Swinney, Helen Dallimore, Ben Stott, Mark Hadfield, Jenna Russell, Gaye Brown, Amy Ellen Richardson, Amy Griffiths, Marilyn Cutts, Beverly Rudd, Hannah Waddingham, Gemma Wardle, Billy Boyle, Michael Xavier, Valda Aviks, Alice Fearn, Simon Thomas, Mark Goldthorp, Sophie Caton, Marc Antolin, Judi Dench (as the voice of the giant).

Music & lyrics: Stephen Sondheim

Book: James Lapine

Director: Timothy Sheader

My first visit to the Open Air Theatre, and it would take me thirteen years to get back. I went to a matinee because I couldn't work out if it would be possible to get home after an evening performance and if I'd been worried about the daylight somehow spoiling the show I was wrong. The backdrop of trees was perfect for this production and I think that's why it took me so long to go back - nothing could ever work as well.

It was my second time seeing Into the Woods and I'm overdue another viewing. It's interesting to see Hannah Waddingham in the programme, looking far less imperial than she does now. 

 

The Habit of Art

The Habit of Art,  Lyttelton Theatre, 2009.

Cast: Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings, Adrian Scarborough, Stephen Wight, Laurence Belcher, Otto Farrant, Toby Graham, Philip Childs, Elliot Levey, Frances de la Tour, John Heffernan, Barbara Kirby, Danny Burns, Martin Chamberlain. Tom Attwood.

Writer: Alan Bennett

Director: Nicholas Hytner

They really did make the most of Bennett at the National Theatre didn't they? He turned 90 this week so I suppose the chances of any more full length plays are very slim now. I remember this as being a play within a play but I think I'm the wrong generation to really appreciate how important Auden and Britten were.

Hamlet

Hamlet, Olivier Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Michael Peavoy, Matthew Barker, Giles Terera, Marcus Cunningham, James Laurenson, Patrick Malahide, James Pearse, Ellie Turner, Alex Lanipekun, David Calder, Rory Kinnear, Clare Higgins, Ruth Negga, Victor Power, Ferdinand Kingsley, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Saskia Portway, Michael Sheldon, Richie Hart, Jake Fairbrother, Nick Sampson, Zara Tempest-Walters, Leo Staar.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Nicholas Hytner

I associate this with the tail end of the period when every young actor had a go at Hamlet on stage - Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, John Simms. I didn't see any of them as the tickets would have been impossible to get hold of and although this is the Shakespeare play I know best (we studied it for A level) perhaps I've seen it enough. One of the things about having seen a decent amount of theatre and getting older is knowing that it's okay not to see stuff again. I'd go if there was a significant production -- Cush Jumbo at The Young Vic was my most recent experience - but it's quite nice knowing I don't have to see any more if I don't want to. 

I seem to remember Rory being good but maybe he's not the ideal person for this role.

La Bete

La Bete, Comedy Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Mark Rylance, David Hyde Pearce, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Ouimette, Lisa Joyce, Greta Lee, Robert Lonsdale, Michael Milligan, Liza Sadovy, Sally Wingert.

Writer: David Hirson

Director: Matthew Warchus.

I imagine the reason I dragged a friend along to see this was Joanna Lumley, in the second of only three theatre productions this century. But arguably the bigger deal was David Hyde Pearce making his only London appearance (so far) but as I didn't watch Frasier this meant less to me. I find Mark Rylance difficult.

It was a period piece, at least I remember there being period costumes, and I think it was a bit of a romp - I remember laughing hard at something. They're all comedians so it would have been silly to get them all to play straight.

Canary

 

Canary, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Ben Allen, Sean Gallagher, Philip McGilney, Jodie McNee, Ryan Sampson, Kevin Trainor, Philip Voss, Paula Wilcox.

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Hettie Macdonald.

I wish I remembered this but even after reading the programme again it means nothing to me. I also wish Jonathan Harvey would write more plays but he seems to have stopped, which is a bit of a loss.

Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Jodie Taibi, Hermione Norris, Robert Bathurst, Bo Poraj, Charlotte Thornton, Alison Steadman, Ruthie Henshall.

Writer: Noel Coward

Director: Thea Sharrock.

This is probably top of my list of things I never want to see again and that's' because of this production. Alison Steadman really hammed it up as Madame Arcati in a way that was just annoying. Ruthie Henshall was probably too old to play the dead first wife. Perhaps it's time to look at some of Coward's other work or give him a rest completely.

Or You Could KIss Me

Or You Could Kiss Me, Cottesloe Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Adjoa Andoh, Basil Jones, Finn Caldwell, Adrian Kohler, Craig Leo, Tommy Luther, Mervyn Millar, Marcus Tilt.

Created by Neil Bartlett and Handspring Puppet Company

Director: Neil Bartlett

I went to see this because I was a fan of Neil Bartlett, a gay writer whose work I really liked (but which I feel a bit different about now - it maybe feels old-fashioned now). I remember there were puppets but I don't remember it being in the Cottesloe Theatre - in my head it felt bigger than that. It might have been set in South Africa.

dinnerladies

dinnerladies, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2009.

Cast: Shobna Gulati, Andrew Dunn, Laura Shepherd, Jacqueline Clarke, Liz Bagley, Stella Ross, Emily Butterfield, Barrie Palmer, Louise Dumayne, Joanne Lee Martin.

Adapted by David Graham from the TV series by Victoria Wood.

Director: David Graham

I assumed I'd seen this after she died because it feels like the sort of thing she'd have said no to because of her complete control over her work but I was wrong. Two people from the original cast can't make up for the complete band of nobodies playing the rest of the characters. I'm sure I liked it, and there was a second version of it so I wasn't the only one, but in retrospect Victoria deserved better.

The Little Dog Laughed

The Little Dog Laughed, Garrick Theatre, 2010.

Cast: Tamsin Greig, Rupert Friend, Gemma Arterton, Harry Lloyd.

Writer: Douglas Carter Beane

Director: Jamie Lloyd

I have fond but sketchy memories of this. I think Tamsin Greig played an agent in it and Rupert Friend was an actor. I was so wowed by Tamsin that I'd forgotten that Gemma Arterton was also in it. I'd love to see both of them on stage again. Possibly the only successful experience I've had at the Garrick which is a nightmare of columns if you're at the back and Tube trains running underneath it.

Les Misérables

Les Misérables, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2010.

Cast: John Owen-Jones, Earl Carpenter, David Lawrence, Jonathan Alden, Madalena Alberto, Laura Tebbutt, Victoria Farley, Rhiannon Sarah Porter, Rosa O'Reilly, Leigh Rhianon Coggins, Vanessa Leagh Hicks, Beth Davies, Rebecca McKinnis, Carl Mullaney, Alice Payne, Charlotte Nicholas, Sophie Downham, Lynne Wilmot, Emily Remer, Maia Hunt, Charlotte Cooper, Ashley Artus, Jake Abbott, Dylan Jones, Toby Prynne, Rosalind James, Katie Hall, Luke Kempner, Ian Caddick, Jon Robyns, Gareth Gates, David Covey, Owain Williams, Christopher Jacobsen, Rhidian Marc, Adam Linstead, Jamie Muscato, Joanna Loxton, Gemma O'Duffy, Michael Baxter, Peter Manchester, Leighton Rafferty.

Music: Claude-Micehl Schonberg

Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer

Directors: Laurence Connor & James Powell

I hated this. The songs are shit and the best one - I Dreamed a Dream, the Susan Boyle one - is the fourth song in a three hour show. I saw the film thinking I might be wrong and hated that too and was glad to be proved right. Apparently it was a production of this that prompted Pet Shop Boys to write their own musical as they thought the songs were so bad, so at least something good came out of it.

Cause Celebre

 

Cause Celebre, The Old Vic, 2011.

Cast: Lucy Black, Timothy Carlton, Simon Chandler, Richard Clifford, Oliver Coppersmith, Niamh Cusack, Anne-Marie Duff, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Freddie Fox, Jenny Galloway, Patrick Godfrey, Nicholas Jones, Tommy McDonnell, Lucy Robinson, Tristan Shepherd, Richard Teverson, Sarah Waddell, Michael Webber, Tristram Wymark.

Writer: Terence Rattigan

Director: Thea Sharrock

I assume I went to this partly to see Anne-Marie Duff but also because Rattigan was having a bit of a moment (Flare Path was on in London that summer too) but without rereading the programme I'd have remembered nothing about the play.

What I do remember, far too vividly because that's how these things work, is that the singer Tracey Thorn asked for people's opinions on it on Twitter as she was thinking of going. I think I replied that the second half was stronger than the first and I enjoyed it. She hated it and stupidly I felt in some way responsible.

Jekyll & Hyde

Jekyll & Hyde, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2011.

Cast: Marti Pellow, Sabrina Carter, Sarah Earnshaw, David Delve, Mark McGee, Amira Matthews, Michael Taibi, Martin Dickinson, Matt Stevens, Jacob Chapman, Jon de Ville, James Gant, Daniel Robinson, Carolyn Maitland, Alexandra Grierson, Grace Gardner, Rob Copeland, Kerri Watt.

Lyricist/Librettist: Leslie Bricusse

Composer: Frank Wildborn

Director: Martin Connor

Marti's second appearance on here and it won't be his last. I remember nothing about this but wonder if it prompted me to read the book it was based on.