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A Year of Highs and LowsPhilip Fisher's Review of 2004 - Part III: The Smaller VenuesDateline: 11th February, 2005Once again, some of the very best writing and finest productions of the year came from outside the National and the West End. The Donmar, the Royal Court, the Almeida, Soho and the Bush all had their moments in 2004 and often showed great bravery in the breadth of their programming. Even smaller theatres chipped in too. Michael Grandage had a hard act to follow when he took over from Sam Mendes at the Donmar in 2003 but he has done a fine a job. Charlotte Jones's successor to Humble Boy, The Dark, was quite unusual as was Pirandello's Henry IV in a new version by Sir Tom Stoppard, featuring a fine performance from Ian McDiarmid. Dark was also pretty much the right word to describe the very grim Hecuba, Euripides updated by Frank McGuinness, centred on the superb Clare Higgins; and possibly even a revival of Pinter's Old Times. This year, the Royal Court had their own big-name American star in Gillian Anderson who led the cast in The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman. The highlight though was Conor McPherson's latest play, Shining City. There was also fine writing from Richard Bean in Honeymoon Suite at the beginning of the year and Simon Stevens in his gritty Country Music. There was also the seductive Maori tale The Sons of Charlie Paora by Lennie James. In the smaller studio upstairs, there were exciting seasons from playwrights have never previously seen in the UK, such as the Brazilian, Marcos Barbosa and the American Clare Pollard. There was also an eagerly-awaited new play from Vassily Sigarev, Ladybird, which lived up to expectations. The Almeida managed a pair of successful West End transfers and had other strong work in particular Peter Whelan's recent biographical play about Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris, The Earthly Paradise. The Bush had ups and downs, with highlights including a revisit for Georgia Fitch's superb Adrenalin Heart, Chloe Moss' How Love is Spelt, Richard Cameron's very quirky Gong Donkeys and, to everyone's taste apart from this reviewer's, Damages by Steve Thompson. Soho has built a reputation on 90 minute plays that vary in quality from the very best to the very worst. They also seem to import a remarkable number of plays that had been successful at the previous year's Edinburgh Festival. This year these have included two of the very best, Hurricane by Richard Dormer and Pugilist Specialist by The Riot Group. Other work shown there during the year included a 21 year-old David Dipper's debut, Flush, an unusual Irish pairing of solo shows, Geraldine Hughes' Belfast Blues and Protestants by Robert Welch. There was also On Blindness by Glyn Cannon (also see the praise for Gone), a fusion of the work of no fewer than three well-respected theatre companies, Frantic Assembly, Paines Plough and Graeae. Prior to closing for a lengthy refurbishment, the Young Vic had unexciting programme that included a hilarious revival of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, Kerry Fox in sparkling form in Martin Crimp's reworking of Sophocles, Cruel and Tender, and, in their young directors' season, Maurice Maeterlinck's Interior, showcasing the work of Christopher Heimann. The Tricycle had its usual melange of Black, Irish and Jewish writing culminating in a season of all three with revivals of Playboy of the West Indies by Mustafa Matura, Shadow of a Gunman by Sean O'Casey and Bread and Butter by CP Taylor. Earlier in the year, there was much good stuff to see and in particular, Peter Flannery's Singer was exceptional, while other pleasures included Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow, James Baldwin's Blues for Mr Charlie and a political drama Guantanamo - 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom' by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo which eventually made it to the Bleeker Street Theater Off-Broadway in New York. Hampstead had a horrible year with a mixture of new British plays that lacked realism and life and what should have been great new American writing but always ended up disappointing in the local productions. It is greatly to be hoped that with the import of the excellent Primo starring Sir Anthony Sher the corner will at long last be turned. In a year of transition as Thea Sharrock took over as artistic director from Erica Whyman, The Gate continued its support of international work, often have the highest quality but occasionally excessively obscure. Robin Soans' The Arab-Israeli Cookbook was particularly moving and Gone Missing by Steve Cosson and members of the Civilians surprisingly funny. Erica Whyman's last work as director, Marieluise by Kerstin Specht was notable for a fine central performance from Catherine Kanter. We also had a taste of what is to come under Miss Sharrock with the painful Tshepang by Lara Foote Newton and Daniel Kramer's breezy revival of Woyzeck by Georg Büchner. One consequence of Miss Sharrock's at the Gate is her replacement by Gareth Machin at Southwark. His early work included the very promising revival of Arthur Miller's The Archbishop's Ceiling and also a new version of Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard. The King's Head was distinguished by two unforgettable performances from Anjelica Torn, one as Sylvia Plath in Edge and another in Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden. A visit to the tiny Orange Tree in Richmond is always a treat with its mixture of revivals and intriguing new plays. This year, the best included Lorca's Dona Rosita the Spinster, Adam Barnard's import of The Little Years by the Canadian John Mighton and more recently a cricketing Mikado and the wonderful political drama, Myth, Propaganda & Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America by Australian playwright Stephen Sewell. New End can have more misses than hits but an Israeli version of Dan Clancy's The Timekeepers will live long in the memory. The Finborough continues to have its usual mix with the British premiere of Frank McGuiness' Gates of Gold, Italian-American Reconciliation by John Patrick Shanley, and Masks and Faces by Charles Reade and Tom Taylor all memorable. It is also good to see Theatre 503 Latchmere winning awards. Certainly, their funny Welsh import, Cancer Time by Gary Owen, was worth the trip. Some relatively new theatres showed that they have much to offer. The Arcola provided us with most unusual versions of Macbeth and Tartuffe. The Menier Chocolate Factory had Brian Parks' wonderful Americana Absurdum beautifully lit by torches - the electric kind; as well as Mark Setlock in Becky Mode's Fully Committed, a funny reminder of how unusual New York can be. The Players Theatre may have a long tradition but not in putting on a straight plays, although there might be a rather odd description for Guantanamo Baywatch, the final play in Justin Butcher's hilarious trilogy. All in all this has been a very full and generally rewarding year. Let us hope that 2005 proves even better! As always, it is all too likely that in providing a review of this type something absolutely wonderful will have slipped through the net. If that is the case, all that I can do is apologise profusely.
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