Jeremy Lewis Interview: His Best & Worst Theatre Royal Shows
Title
Jeremy Lewis Interview: His Best & Worst Theatre Royal Shows
Date
9 August 2017
Description
Oral history interview with local journalist and theatre reviewer, Jeremy Lewis.
What's the story?
Having trained and started his journalistic career in the South East, Jeremy Lewis moved to Nottingham in 1981 to work for the Evening Post.
Following the retirement of eminent local critic Emrys Bryson, Jeremy eventually became the regular theatre reviewer for Nottingham from the mid 1990s, attending many opening nights at the Theatre Royal.
In this interview Jeremy talks about his favourite and least favourite shows.
A discussion ranging from the Royal Shakespeare Company's Tantalus to Puppetry of the Penis ... "it wasn't pornographic, it was just plain boring really".
Well, the best is quite difficult, because there have been a number of events at the Theatre Royal in the last 25 years that have been terrific. You think of, for instance, Tantalus, Peter Hall’s staging of John Barton’s collection of material based on the Trojan War. That was an all day effort. Effort’s probably the wrong word, but you wanted to stand up by the time 10 o’clock came round because you were watching eight or nine plays starting at elevenses and finishing at 10.30. But that was delivered by the Royal Shakespeare Company with a real degree of wit and warmth. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget players like Greg Hicks and David Ryall.
I think for a single play, I can remember Peter Hall’s production of An Ideal Husband. Barbara Murray was in it, and the most memorable performance to me was that of Patrick Ryecart’s Lord Goring, who was absolutely dazzling. It was a real, sort of, showstopping performance, where he stretched his timing to such a point that it was almost dangerous. You were wondering if he’d forgotten his lines, but he was terrific.
If I had to pick one show that I would definitely not go to see again, it was the Puppetry of the Penis. A show in which two young men stood naked on the stage and pulled their genitalia around so that they imitated this, that or the other. These images were projected onto a big screen and the place was full of screaming women really enjoying themselves. I went with a female colleague and we both did separate reviews and we both thought it was not particularly….. one our more conservative readers said it was pornographic. Well it wasn’t pornographic, it was just plain boring, really.
Following the retirement of eminent local critic Emrys Bryson, Jeremy eventually became the regular theatre reviewer for Nottingham from the mid 1990s, attending many opening nights at the Theatre Royal.
In this interview Jeremy talks about his favourite and least favourite shows.
A discussion ranging from the Royal Shakespeare Company's Tantalus to Puppetry of the Penis ... "it wasn't pornographic, it was just plain boring really".
Well, the best is quite difficult, because there have been a number of events at the Theatre Royal in the last 25 years that have been terrific. You think of, for instance, Tantalus, Peter Hall’s staging of John Barton’s collection of material based on the Trojan War. That was an all day effort. Effort’s probably the wrong word, but you wanted to stand up by the time 10 o’clock came round because you were watching eight or nine plays starting at elevenses and finishing at 10.30. But that was delivered by the Royal Shakespeare Company with a real degree of wit and warmth. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget players like Greg Hicks and David Ryall.
I think for a single play, I can remember Peter Hall’s production of An Ideal Husband. Barbara Murray was in it, and the most memorable performance to me was that of Patrick Ryecart’s Lord Goring, who was absolutely dazzling. It was a real, sort of, showstopping performance, where he stretched his timing to such a point that it was almost dangerous. You were wondering if he’d forgotten his lines, but he was terrific.
If I had to pick one show that I would definitely not go to see again, it was the Puppetry of the Penis. A show in which two young men stood naked on the stage and pulled their genitalia around so that they imitated this, that or the other. These images were projected onto a big screen and the place was full of screaming women really enjoying themselves. I went with a female colleague and we both did separate reviews and we both thought it was not particularly….. one our more conservative readers said it was pornographic. Well it wasn’t pornographic, it was just plain boring, really.
Type
Oral interview
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham.
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham.
Contributor
Interviewers: Valerie Rogers & Sally Smith
Transcriber: David Chilton
Transcriber: David Chilton
