In June I reported on growing criticism that British theatre is not all it should be. This is continuing. The latest playwright to enter the fray is John Godber, author of several popular comedies, notably Bouncers, Teechers, and the recently filmed Up 'n' Under. Interviewed about his five productions on this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Godber stormed that most current theatre is tedious and inaccessible. He dismissed the West End hit Shopping and Fucking as "just another play in a room." In a later interview, he qualified his statements, saying, "I don't want theatre to finish; I just want it to be better." But he had already found an ally in the Evening Standard's editorial writer. "He has a point," said the anonymous scribe on Aug. 12. "The fact that so many London theatres can only survive commercially by putting on musicals says much about the difficulties of luring live audiences to see straight plays."
Also on Aug. 12, Michael Billington, theatre critic of The Guardian, attacked Britain's two biggest subsidized companies, the Royal National Theatre (for mimicking West End values by staging Oklahoma!) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (for failing to come up with the kind of "Big Idea" that in the past produced The Wars of the Roses and Nicholas Nickleby.) "Both our national companies have turned into cautious, conservative institutions intent on pragmatic survival," Billington declared.
It can be argued that Keith Cooper has good reason to be a bigger grouch than anyone else at the present time. In February he was fired from his lucrative job as the Royal Opera House's marketing manager. Because he is a charismatic fellow, BBC television allowed him to make a program, Trouble at the House, screened July 20, in which he put his side of the tortuous story. Most revealingly, he dismissed the Government's Select Committee hearings, which investigated mismanagement of the Opera House, as "pure news management," a theatrical production involving rehearsals and even--shades of the O.J. Simpson trial--careful consideration of the clothes worn by the participants. Cooper doubted that the present Board of Management has the ability to implement the recommendations made in Sir Richard Eyre's recent report. Hardly surprisingly, leading players in the Opera House drama, such as former Chairman Lord Chadlington and Chief Executive Genista McIntosh, declined to appear. (It was reported at the end of July that New York opera director Sarah Billinghurst may take charge of the Royal Opera House when it reopens in December 1999.)
Disputes Jeopardize Major Shows
London may lose two major productions--the West End premiere of Ragtime and a revival of Amadeus--because of management crises. On Aug. 20, Sir Peter Hall announced that his six-year association with producer Bill Kenwright was over. Sir Peter was vague about the cause of the rift, but it is believed that poor attendances for his repertory season at the Piccadilly may be at the bottom of it. "I am still hoping that the Piccadilly season can be saved and am working towards that end," Sir Peter told the press. But there seems little hope for Amadeus, which Sir Peter was rehearsing when Kenwright sent in his lawyers. The play, starring David Suchet as Salieri and Michael Sheen as Mozart, was due to open at the Old Vic on Oct. 21. Producer Kenwright was partnered by Adam Epstein, who coproduced the Broadway production of A View From the Bridge.
Meanwhile, the Livent scandal, which resulted in the suspension of Vice-Chairman Garth Drabinsky and Vice-President Myron Gottlieb, appears to have scuppered plans for the West End transfer of Ragtime. Originally, Ragtime was scheduled to follow another Livent production, Show Boat, into the Prince Edward. It was revealed some weeks ago that Show Boat would close Sept. 19, earlier than anticipated, and that a production of West Side Story would fill in. This show, to be directed by Alan Johnson, who was in the first Broadway cast, may now be extended. The opening of Ragtime has been postponed indefinitely.
Hypnotism: Hilarious or Harmful?
Throughout the U.K., an almost infallible way of ensuring a full house is to engage a stage hypnotist. There are now dozens of these performers, who invite members of the audience on to the stage and convince them that they're chickens or strippers and even, on occasion, that they will continue to respond to hypnotic suggestion after they have left the stage. The most famous of these is Paul McKenna, who has brought his stage act to television. Always controversial, stage hypnotism was threatened with prohibition when McKenna was sued for £200,000 by one of his subjects, Christopher Gates, a 30-year-old furniture polisher, who claimed that, nine days after he strutted about the stage under the illusion he was Mick Jagger, he was admitted to hospital suffering from schizophrenia.
The case could have gone either way. Hundreds of volunteers take part in hypnotic shows every week, with no apparent ill effects, but Gates is undeniably a sick man and has been unable to work since taking part in the McKenna show in 1994. In the High Court on Aug. 14, however, Mr. Justice Toulson ruled that "Schizophrenia is an organic illness which could not be caused by hypnosis." After the case, McKenna clearly resented being dragged into court and losing £1 million worth of business in the process.
The Federation of Ethical Stage Hypnotists bought the back page of the trade paper The Stage to announce that "Despite a five-year media witch hunt stage hypnotism is alive and well, providing great entertainment for every event." But opponents of stage hypnotism remain unconvinced. They are angry that none of the hypnotists working in British theatres has been formally trained in hypnotherapy, and that they have no way of knowing if a volunteer is an undiagnosed schizophrenic. "That makes stage hypnotism a dangerous lottery," said a spokesman for the South London Hypnotherapy Center.
Over Here
A cabaret season at the Donmar Warehouse kicked off Aug. 10 with Sibling Revelry, put together by singing sisters Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway. Liz is on leave of absence from the Broadway cast of Cats . Joel Grey, who played Amos Hart in the 1995 New York revival of Chicago, is now playing the role at the Adelphi . Full Gallop, which won writer-performer Mary Louise Wilson Obie and Drama Desk awards in New York, opens at the Hampstead theatre, in northwest London, Sept. 3 . Nicole Kidman makes her London stage debut, Sept. 10, in the Donmar Warehouse production of The Blue Room, David Hare's adaptation of Schnitzler's La Ronde . Sweet Charity closed at the Victoria Palace Aug. 15 and will be succeeded Sept. 30 by a revival of Annie, to be directed by its lyricist, Martin Charnin. He's done the show here before (in 1978). This time Miss Hannigan is played by TV comedy actress Lesley Joseph . The King's Head, London's oldest surviving pub theatre, is scrambling to find something to replace its planned production of Cabaret. The show was in rehearsal when lawyers representing the New York production said no. Seems this version is headed back to London, from whence it came, and rival productions are henceforth banned.
Finally
Just over a year ago in Back Stage, in a piece advising visitors how to find their way around London, I warned that supermarkets are not open 24 hours. What a difference a year makes. Weeks after my article appeared, branches of Sainsbury began staying open all night every Friday. The experiment was such a success that rival supermarket chains have followed suit. Sixty-three branches of Tesco are now open 24 hours every day except Sunday. It could be that the U.K. is finally moving into the 1960s.