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Post by crabtree on Feb 4, 2023 15:33:44 GMT
during my usual wide awake moment at 4.00 in the morning I was thinking of the prestigious casts I've seen and probably top of the list was the opening play at the Royal Exchange in 1976, The Rivals - Patricia Routledge, Tom Courtney, James Maxwell, Christopher Gable, Susan Tracy, Lindsay Duncan, Trevor Peacock, Judi Bowker and many more. I was stage crew and marvelled at them all exploring this wonderful new theatre. Oh, if only the Royal Exchange had continued in such glory. A few real stinkers have dulled my enthusiasm for that place, sadly. Many glorious nights there.
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Post by bimse on Feb 5, 2023 15:47:32 GMT
I also saw this production, one of the finest casts I’ve ever seen in one of my favourite plays. You are so lucky to have observed these fine actors from your unique vantage point. I’ve seen some superb productions at the Royal Exchange, it’s a superb theatre, but I agree it’s definitely lost its way over the years. So many of the presentations these days seem to be quite strange choices and don’t (to me) promise enough entertainment value to actually encourage me to buy a ticket.
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Post by lynette on Feb 12, 2023 13:27:41 GMT
It is lovely to see the greats at the top of their game -that’s what we go to theatre for but I also love to spot the future stars. Saw Rory Kinnear kill it as Tranio at RSC,totally stole every scene. And David Tennant, also RSC obviously destined for the big time and many , many others. I’ve spotted huge talent that never got anywhere too. So what does it take, eh?
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Post by nicolaa on Feb 12, 2023 13:37:08 GMT
I saw Kinnear almost 20 years ago in Festen and thought he was terrible, mind you I also thought after seeing it that Luke Mably would go on to be a star.
I know nothing.
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Post by tmesis on Feb 12, 2023 16:22:07 GMT
I still think Kinnear is terrible. Plays everything like a tetchy Geography teacher reprimanding a year 10 class.
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 12, 2023 22:55:53 GMT
Paul Scofield, Eileen Atkins and Vanessa Redgrave were an impressive trio at the head of Richard Eyre's John Gabriel Borkman at the NT in the late 90s.
I have fond memories of Sam Mendes' Troilus and Cressida in 1990: Ralph Fiennes, Amanda Root, Simon Russell Beale, David Troughton, Norman Rodway, Ciaran Hinds, Patterson Joseph, Sally Dexter, Paul Jesson, Linda Kerr Scott, Lloyd Hutchinson, Alfred Burke.
Trevor Nunn's NT Summerfolk (Gorki) in 2000 was Roger Allam, Jennifer Ehle, Henry Goodman, Oliver Cotton, Simon Russell Beale, Raymond Coulthard, Derbhle Crotty, Patricia Hodge, Jasper Britton, Michael Bryant, Victoria Hamilton - actually this clearly beats anything else. Three and a half hours of absolute bliss, as I remember it.
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Post by zephyrus on Feb 12, 2023 23:04:45 GMT
Paul Scofield, Eileen Atkins and Vanessa Redgrave were an impressive trio at the head of Richard Eyre's John Gabriel Borkman at the NT in the late 90s. I have fond memories of Sam Mendes' Troilus and Cressida in 1990: Ralph Fiennes, Amanda Root, Simon Russell Beale, David Troughton, Norman Rodway, Ciaran Hinds, Patterson Joseph, Sally Dexter, Paul Jesson, Linda Kerr Scott, Lloyd Hutchinson, Alfred Burke. Trevor Nunn's NT Summerfolk (Gorki) in 2000 was Roger Allam, Jennifer Ehle, Henry Goodman, Oliver Cotton, Simon Russell Beale, Raymond Coulthard, Derbhle Crotty, Patricia Hodge, Jasper Britton, Michael Bryant, Victoria Hamilton - actually this clearly beats anything else. Three and a half hours of absolute bliss, as I remember it. I remember that RSC Troilus & Cressida very clearly - it was such a good production. |
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 12, 2023 23:19:10 GMT
Pinter's No Man's Land often gets a great quartet: 1993 at the Almeida - Pinter himself, Paul Eddington, Douglas Hodge, Gawn Grainger.
Best cast for a new play: Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the NT in 1993: Felicity Kendal, Bill Nighy, Sam West, Harriet Walter, Emma Fielding, Rufus Sewell, Derek Hutchinson.
Actually David Hare' NT Racing Demon is pretty good too: Oliver Ford Davies, Richard Pasco, Barbara Leigh Hunt, Stella Gonet, Michael Bryant, David Bamber, Adam Kotz, Paul Moriarty.
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Post by adolphus on Feb 12, 2023 23:37:29 GMT
"Summerfolk" most definitely. A great production. Another I remember very,very fondly was the Royal Court's Seagull with Kristin Scott Thomas, Art Malik, Mackenzie Crook, Chitiwel Ejiofor, Carey Mulligan and Katherine Parkinson
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Post by adolphus on Feb 12, 2023 23:40:36 GMT
Oh and Mojo with Ben Whishaw. Brendan Coyle, Rupert Grint, Colin Morgan etc. Whishaw was astonishing in that- watched Women Talking today and really miss seeing him on stage
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Post by robwilton on Feb 13, 2023 0:17:04 GMT
Four National Theatre highlights for me have been
1) THE BEAUX' STRATAGEM with Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens, directed by Bill Gaskill
2) JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN with Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft, and Wendy Hiller, directed by Peter Hall
3) JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN with Paul Scofield, Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Atkins, directed by Richard Eyre
4) THE WHITE GUARD with Conleth Hill, Pip Carter, Kevin Doyle, Daniel Flynn, Paul Higgins and Justine Mitchell, directed by the late great Howard Davies.
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Post by Fleance on Feb 13, 2023 0:42:40 GMT
Volpone (1977), my first visit to the recently opened NT: Paul Scofield, John Gielgud, Ben Kingsley, Ian Charleson, Morag Hood, Elizabeth Springs.
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Post by David J on Feb 13, 2023 6:53:38 GMT
Trevor Nunn's King Lear with Ian McKellen, Frances Barber, Sylvester McCoy, William Gaunt, Jonathan Hyde, John Heffernan
Gregory Doran's 2008 ensemble doing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost - David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Penny Downie, Oliver Ford Davies, Mariah Gale, Edward Bennet, Peter de Jersey, Joe Dixon
Michael Boyd's Histories Ensemble with Jonathan Slinger, Clive Wood, Geoffrey Streatfield, Katy Stephens, Chuk Iwuji, Richard Cordery, Lex Shrapnel, Patrice Naiambana to name a few
Gregory Dorans 2012 Julius Caesar with Ray Fearon, Joseph Patterson, Joseph Mydell, Adjoa Andoh
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Post by talkingheads on Feb 13, 2023 9:08:56 GMT
Height of the Storm - 2018, Dame Eileen Atkins and Jonathan Pryce
A German Life - 2019, Maggie Smith
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Post by tmesis on Feb 13, 2023 9:46:22 GMT
The 2000 NT Nunn production of The Cherry Orchard had an amazing cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Corin Redgrave, Maxine Peake, Michael Bryant, Roger Allam, Eve Best, William Gaunt and Ben Miles and I was lucky enough to see the original cast of Guys and Dolls with Julia McKenzie, Bob Hoskins, Imelda Staunton, Julie Covington and Ian Charleson on my first ever visit to NT.
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Post by Fleance on Feb 13, 2023 9:57:19 GMT
Volpone (1977), my first visit to the recently opened NT: Paul Scofield, John Gielgud, Ben Kingsley, Ian Charleson, Morag Hood, Elizabeth Springs. Elizabeth Spriggs |
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Post by crabtree on Feb 13, 2023 20:40:03 GMT
and an Old Vic Heartbreak house with Schofield and Diana Rigg and many others. And Diana Rigg and Anthony Hopkins as the macbeths......
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Post by lynette on Feb 15, 2023 16:40:44 GMT
Pinter's No Man's Land often gets a great quartet: 1993 at the Almeida - Pinter himself, Paul Eddington, Douglas Hodge, Gawn Grainger. Best cast for a new play: Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the NT in 1993: Felicity Kendal, Bill Nighy, Sam West, Harriet Walter, Emma Fielding, Rufus Sewell, Derek Hutchinson. Actually David Hare' NT Racing Demon is pretty good too: Oliver Ford Davies, Richard Pasco, Barbara Leigh Hunt, Stella Gonet, Michael Bryant, David Bamber, Adam Kotz, Paul Moriarty. O that Arcadia 😁 Wonderful wasn’t it? |
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Post by theatreman on Feb 15, 2023 22:31:37 GMT
My choice for UK is
"Uncle Vanya"/Twelfth Night" at Donmar Warehouse, directed by Sam Mendes
Emily Watson, Simon Russell Beale, Mark Strong. Helen McCrory, David Bradley etc
i also remember this shipwreck
"Resurrection Blues" at Old Vic. directed by Robert Altman
Maximillian Schell, Matthew Moden, Neve Campbell, James Fox, Jane Adams
"The History Boys"and "Mojo" had also good casts.
and in New York
"Death of a Salesman" Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Andrew Garfield, Finn Wittrock, Linda Emond, John Glover, Bill Camp
"Company" Neil Patrick Harris, Martha Plimpton, Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert, Craig Bierko, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Anika Noni Rose, Kattie Finneran, Jim Walton etc.
"Pride" Ben Whishaw, Hugh Dancy, Andrea Riseborough
And two productions i wish i had seen, even though the reviews were not great
"The Seagull" directed by Mike Nichols
Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Kevin Kline, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher Walken, Stephen Spinella, Debra Monk, John Goodman etc.
"The Maids" Isabelle Huppert, Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth Debicki
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Post by bordeaux on Feb 16, 2023 23:30:29 GMT
Actually the original cast for Caryl Churchill's A Number at the Royal Court in 2002 was Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig. Pretty good - and a reminder that original casts often look a lot better in retrospect than they did at the time. Another great that occurs to me is the Deborah Warner Julius Caesar from 2005 with John Shrapnel, Simon Russell Beale, Ralph Fiennes, Anton Lesser, Fiona Shaw, Clifford Rose.
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Post by Fleance on Feb 17, 2023 19:07:06 GMT
Two great Heartbreak Houses: at the TR Haymarket in 1992: Paul Scofield, Daniel Massey, Felicity Kendal, Oliver Ford Davies, Vanessa Redgrave, David Calder, Imogen Stubbs; at the Almeida in 1997: Richard Griffiths, Penelope Wilton, Patricia Hodge.
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