Jerusalem
So disappointed with JERUSALEM last night. And nothing feels worse than disappointment with a celebrated play/production.
So disappointed with JERUSALEM last night. And nothing feels worse than disappointment with a celebrated play/production.
Reading THE TUDOR AGE by Jasper Ridley for TWELFTH NIGHT, an excellent book which has some fascinating information about the period. Three facts struck me as suprisingly bizarre:
A review for Tim Speyer in the Independent:
Daniel Evans pulled off a magnificent coup last night with the best crowd scene I've ever seen, using a marvellous group of community actors to portray the townsfolk in AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Ibsen's play is quite extraordinary, with Tony Sher in fine form as Dr Stockmann. The refurbished theatre looks and feels fabulous!
It's often one of the forgotten aspects of theatre life - but thank goodness for good understudies. Both GEORGE and HORRIBLE SCIENCE have relied on their understudies in the last fortnight - and thank goodness we took the time to find the two brilliant actors who have stepped into the breach of their respective shows.
Tim has done about 57 shows for the BSC over the years - FANTASTIC MR FOX, THE BFG, GEORGE'S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE, SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER, COLOMBE, TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN, HORRIBLE HISTORIES, THE WITCHES, BRIDGES AND HARMONIES, JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH - so how wonderful it was to see him on stage at The Rose being marvellous in The Dream - and how excited we are at the prospect of seeing him in 39 STEPS in the West End, in a part that could have been written for him!
What a treat we had last night! It was fabulous to see The Rose Theatre packed to the rafters and this theatre works best when it's full. This is the best Dream I've seen, with Oliver Chris as as superb Bottom, William Chubb playing a wholly convincing Egeus doubling as a well disguised Starveling, a great Peter Quince by James Laurenson, the lovely Tam Williams as a gorgeous Lysander, the indomitable Tim Speyer as Snug and the incomparible Judi Dench as Titania.
Julian Fellowes wrote a good article about Carey Mulligan for the Telegraph on Saturday, in which he said:
Four years in jail for Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei who genuinely thought he could away with assaulting and falsely arresting someone he owed money. I had wondered whether our system of justice could deal with a case like this. What a relief that a corrupt, vicious bully hiding under a blue cap has been treated so firmly. Hurrah for British justice.
...I have finished the second series of DAMAGES.
One of the actors in SKELLIG was talking about COLUMBO in the Green Room. She had no idea why everyone loved it so much - she said she always managed to work out who had done it within about 15 minutes.