The Judas Kiss

The Judas Kiss, Cambridge Arts Theatre, 2012.

Cast: Ben Hardy, Kirsty Oswald, Alister Cameron, Cal Macaninch, Rupert Everett, Freddie Fox, Tom Colley.

Writer: David Hare

Director: Neil Armfield

I write this a couple of days before going to see Rupert in something else. I find him a bit complicated and he doesn't always help himself, which probably makes him ideal for playing Oscar Wilde. I struggle with Oscar as a gay icon as he brought it all on himself by showing off and yet as I write that I just think, "closet" and perhaps he did us all a favour. In Rupert's book about the film he made about Oscar he says this play was part of the long term plan to get it made, an audition to financial people really to show that he could do it. I like it and thought he was very good, although I suppose what I remember most was how naked the rest of the cast were.

Cabaret

Cabaret, Lyric Theatre, 2006

Cast: Anna Maxwell Martin, James Dreyfus, Sheila Hancock, Michael Hayden, Geoffrey Hutchings, Harriet Thorpe, Andrew Maud, Christopher Akrill, Rebecca Bainbridge, Alastair Brookshaw, Michael Camp, Josephine Carvill-Mills, Kaisa Hammarlund, Alexandra James, Jack Jefferson, Benny Maslov, Jason Rowe, Rebecca Sutherland, Clemmie Sveass, 

Book: Joe Masteroff

Composer & Lyricist: John Kander & Fred Ebb

Director: Rufus Norris

An absolute classic but the first time I was saw it was an amateur production in Cambridge in which someone I was trying to woo had a role. Actually I saw a bit of it before when the drama group in the village I grew up in included Money, Money from  the film (Elaine Haynes doing her best Liza Minelli). So this must have been the first time I saw a professional version of it. A lot of fuss was made about how it was a bit darker, and I think the fact that Anna Maxwell Martin hadn't sung on stage before played into that, but I expect every production since has got darker still. I prefer it to the film which, despite Liza being absolutely incredible, is a bit uneven, but I'm warming to the film too. Always a pleasure to see this.

Wonderful Town

Wonderful Town, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2012

Cast: Connie Fisher, Michael Xavier, Lucy van Gasse, Joseph Alessi, Emily Goodenough, Tiffany Graves, Nic Greenshields, Katy Hards, Bob Harms, Paul Hawkyard, Lucy James, Frankie Jenna, Lucinda Lawrence, Peter McPherson, Michael Matus, Natalie Moore-Williams, Haydn Oakley, Oliver Roll, Giovanni Spano, Sevan Stephen, Alain Terzoli, Matt Wilman, Liam Wrate, Annette Yeo.

Music: Leonard Bernstein

Book: Joseph Fields & Jerome Chodorov

Lyrics: Betty Comden & Adolph Green

I've got no recollection of this but it does make me think of On the Town, which is no surprise as it was created by the same people. There's even photos of sailors in the programme so it was probably more of the same.

La Cage aux Folles

La Cage aux Folles, Playhouse Theatre, 2008

Cast: Douglas Hodge, Denis Lawson, Paula Wilcox, Tracie Bennett, Stuart Neal, Iain Mitchell, Nolan Frederick, Adrian der Gregorian, Alicia Davies, Ben Bunce, Darren Carnall, Nicholas Cunningham, Matt Krzan, Gary Murphy, Dane Quixall, Zoe Ann Bown, Ben Deery, Leanne Harwood, Robert Maskell, Duncan Smith, Scott Spreadbury, Jason Pennycooke

Composer/lyricist: Jerry Herman

Book: Harvey Fierstein

Director: Terry Johnson

At some point Graham Norton was in this production but as he's not in the programme I guess it wasn't when I went, which is a pity as I doubt he'll do acting again. This might have been the first production of this I saw, although if it wasn't I'm sure the boxes will reveal what was. Subsequently I saw a touring production with him from Eastenders, and most recently a production at the Regent's Park Open Theatre, and between those a production of the play it's based on. It's definitely a show I'd see again.

In the programme there's interviews with Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman who seem to disagree about everything which makes you wonder how the show came to exist in the first place. 

The Tempest

The Tempest, Norwich Theatre Royal, 2002

Cast: Leon Tanner, Paul Benzing, Michael Gaunt, Crispin Redman, William Russell, Tristram Wymark, Mark Baylis, Madelaine Worrall, Richard Briers, Ben Silverstone, Rory Kinnear, Orlando Wells, Carsten Hayes, Oliver le Sueur, Darren Tunstall, Stephen Casey, Caoimhe Harvey, Lisa Reeves.

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Patrick Mason

All I remember about this is Richard Briers being alone on stage in some kind of modern metal frame raging against a storm, but that could be a dream. I imagine it was the only time I ever saw him on stage, and I think it's the only time I've seen The Tempest (once was probably enough). It was interesting to spot Orlando Wells in the cast - he was quite the thing for a while, possibly because he was handsome and his mother is Susannah York. And it turns out Rory Kinnear was in this, who I've seen more recently, but this was only his second stage performance.

Beautiful Thing

Beautiful Thing, Arts Theatre, 2013

Cast: Jake Davies, Zaraah Abrahams, Suranne Jones, Danny-Boy Hatchard, Oliver Farnworth

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Nikolai Foster

The second production of this I saw. The Arts Theatre is small so I remember standing outside on the pavement during the interval and it was warm, just like in the play which is set in summer. Apparently at the time I thought Suranne Jones wasn't quite right for the part but couldn't put my finger on why. 

Gatz

Gatz, Noel Coward Theatre, 2012

Cast: Scott Shepherd, Jim Fletcher, Kate Scelsa, Susie Sokol, Lucy Taylor, Gary Wilmes, Aaron Landsman, Laurena Allan, Lindsay Hockaday, Vin Knight, Ben Williams, Mike Ivson, Ross Fletcher.

Writer: F Scott Fitzgerald

Director: John Collins

Some plays really stay with you and this is one of those. The premise is that an office full of bored workers start reading The Great Gatsby to entertain themselves and because they enjoy it so much they keep reading until they finish it. So the play is basically a live reading of the book. I'd never seen anything like it before. It was in four parts: two hours then an interval before another hour and fifteen minutes, then a dinner break before two more parts of an hour and thirty minutes with an interval between them. I'm sure it got a standing ovation at the end, because it absolutely deserved it, but I wonder if it also wasn't partly for ourselves in the audience for getting through it as well. Amazing.

The Great Gatsby is one of those books that people never lose interest in. I've read it a couple of times, seen the film, seen a ballet version of it, and I wonder if I might have seen a play too - I'm sure I'll find the programme at some point if I have. I'm not keen on the book but can't keep away from adaptations.

Judging by the logos on the cover this was part of some cultural programme around the Olympics. We really were a better country that year.