Wednesday 17 June 2009

old stuff

I cleared a shelf earlier today. I found one of my favourite old play reviews. It's from the Culture section of the Sunday Times. I can't find the date. The play in question is A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it was being done at Stratford. The review opens: 'This is one of the two or three truly great productions of this great play I have ever seen.'

So far, no problemo. But the review then awards it four stars out of five. How high are this guy's standards? Presumably he never gives five stars. Au contraire, because on the same page he gives five stars to Mammals at the Bush Theatre. The author of Mammals, Amelia Bullmore, is jolly good, and I'm sure the cast, etc., but a star more than a 'truly great' production of a 'great' play. Maybe that word doesn't mean what I think it means.

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