Peter Graystone
Writer, theatre-lover, follower of Jesus
- Man and Boy at the NT is a curiosity. It’s a rarely revived Terence Rattigan play about a corrupt businessman who tries to get out of a financial mess by pimping out his son. Great performances and non-naturalistic staging. Interesting, but such a horrible protagonist that I recoiled. #theatre
- Oh my! I Do, by Dante Or Die, is so, so, so good. It takes place crammed in six actual hotel rooms half an hour before a wedding. Scenes are contemporaneous, so every exit is an entrance into a scene you see later. Incredibly clever, but also satirical, funny, moving. I absolutely loved it.
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- It would be impossible to stage a more loveable When We Are Married. Samantha Spiro, Sophie Thompson and Siobhan Finneran wonderfully funny, and a glorious drunk turn from Ron Cook. It still has a bit of satirical bite about marriage, but that’s not the point - it’s two hours of joy.
- A very happy 89th birthday to the absolutely magnificent Vanessa Redgrave.
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- Eat the Rich is about a working class scouser negotiating Cambridge University. Very funny, politically savvy, full of charm. It’s been wildly acclaimed and compared with Fleabag and Baby Reindeer, which were both poleaxing. But for me … hmm! But it’s going to be a Netflix series, so what do I know.
- My favourite films of the year are always quiet, unnoticed, independent British films. So I’m delighted that the #BAFTA nominations include The Ballad of Wallis Island (hilarious and charming), I Swear (hilarious and moving), and Mr Burton (charming and moving). www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
- This week’s agenda: Monday: Eat the Rich (Soho) Thursday: When We Are Married (Donmar) Saturday: I Do (Barbican) All of them 5-star sell-outs for which I’ve had tickets for several months, so I’ve got high expectations.
- Deep respect, prayer, love and thanks for the 100 clergy arrested at Minneapolis airport as they prayed for those who have been abducted by ICE agents.
- Full marks to Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo for utter originality. It makes you engage with the issues of Iraq post shock-and-awe by allowing the witty, prowling ghost of a tiger to do some surreal metaphysical questioning. It was impressive and I did think a lot. But, ye gods, it’s depressing.
- Stranger Things is one of the most spectacular things I’ve seen in a theatre. It’s old-school stage magic - traps, flies, doppelgängers, gauzes, dance, pyrotechnics. Not having seen the TV, I didn’t share the gasps of recognition at the end. But it was a dazzling journey with a huge cast.
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- All My Sons in Ivo van Hove’s production is completely devastating. The stage is bare but for a fallen tree and revelatory circle. Performances as raw as a wound. Guilt and denial and shame held back until there is nowhere else for them to go except destruction. What a presentation of a great play.
- At St Peter & St Paul Chaldon this morning the electricity had failed. So an unaccompanied choir, I shouted the prayers, and stood under the window to preach because I needed the light. A fantastically joyful service. You really knew you were in a thousand year old building.
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- Reposted by Peter Graystone“What the hell kind of Christian is this guy anyway?” From the new Private Eye, out now.
- The Forsyte Saga at the RSC is absolutely the loveliest way to spend two evenings. The acting is impeccable (especially Joseph Millson) and because it is uncluttered on a bare stage my imagination soared. Gorgeous costumes. Pin-sharp wit. Deep, deep sadness.
- I quite enjoyed the RSC Twelfth Night, but mainly because Feste the jester was hilariously brilliant. When he wasn’t ad libbing the actual play was a bit heavy-handed. The other characters (especially horribly alcoholic Toby Belch) weren’t lovable. But the ending redeemed it in a bittersweet way.
- I really enjoyed one surprise after another in David Ireland’s relocation of the Annunciation to an Edinburgh Travelodge. You can read my review in churchtimes.co.uk
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- American Beasty #MakeAFilmCheaper
- Also Ran #MakeAFilmCheaper
- Once Upon a Time in Hollyoaks #MakeAFilmCheaper
- This is magnificent. An electricity bill in the style of The Sound and The Fury.
- This is such a funny story by a great raconteur. Marlene Dietrich was born on this day in 1901.
- Reposted by Peter GraystoneIn 1931 in Kiel, Germany, Rachel Posner, the wife of a rabbi, took this picture. On the back of the photograph she wrote: “‘Death to Judah,’ so the flag says. ‘Judah lives forever,’ so the light answers.” The light will continue to answer the darkness. Happy Hanukkah.
- "Post a favourite work of art from the year exactly 50 years before you were born."
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- A sensational performance by Nicola Walker, refusing to seek closure after her teenage son goes missing. But The Unbelievers is an unsatisfying play. The point of it is that nothing changes for her, so leaping back and forth over 7 years it doesn’t climax, just stops. A convincing vicar though.
- Quietly charmed by The Lost Library of Leake Street at The Glitch, the last outpost of the much-missed Vault Festival. A sweet, slight storytelling piece about the power of tales to help grief. It has a glorious wraparound Old Curiosity Shop set and hints of magic. Billed for 8+ but terribly sad.
- … and the subject of London’s latest blue plaque, which I recently spotted in Mayfair. This is 3 minutes of spirit-lifting joy. It will do you good.
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- Since an arrow shot towards a target first has to cover half the distance, then half the remainder, and then half the remainder after that, and so on ad infinitum, though an arrow is always approaching its target, it never quite gets there, and Saint Sebastian died of fright. Thank you #TomStoppard
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- At the school Christmas Fair I entered the raffle. I’ve won twenty yoga sessions. Oh saints preserve us! Does anyone know the legal position on this? Can they make you go? 🧘♀️
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- Oh my word, what a gorgeous film I Swear is. It’s the true story of John Davidson, who has Tourette’s Syndrome, from miserable teenage to MBE. It’s the first time I’ve seen anyone like me on screen. After laughing for 90 minutes I was sobbing at the end. (But so was everyone else!) Go see!
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- Reposted by Peter GraystoneRobbie Gibb was appointed to the BBC Board by Boris Johnson, was an editorial advisor for GB News, and worked as Theresa May's Director of Comms. He is not impartial or neutral. The government should remove him from the Board immediately to protect the BBC's independence.
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- Reposted by Peter GraystoneNowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.
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- Does anyone still have “Penny for the Guy” in their area? I suddenly recall it from my childhood and miss it. It was how I first learned sewing.
- Reposted by Peter GraystoneOn this day 225 years ago, John Adams moved into the still-not-quite-complete White House, becoming the first president to occupy it. His blessing was carved into the State Dining Room mantel in 1945: "May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”
- Reposted by Peter Graystone15 million Americans are going to lose their health care.
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- I am so sad, but full of happy memories, to learn that Prunella Scales has died. Just as last week Patricia Routledge was missed at Chichester Cathedral, we at Southwark Cathedral will miss Prunella. When she read the Bible, even the stones paid attention. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
- Reposted by Peter Graystone"Parking is such sweet sorrow"
- I can’t decide what to make of the RSC Measure For Measure. It’s not the play Shakespeare intended. But bookended by video of powerful men who have abused women it is not only timely but gripping and shocking. Disconcertingly the Duke disguised as a priest looks the spit of the Bishop of Leicester.
- The RSC Cyrano de Bergerac is terrific. Every joke is sparkling, every sword fight is thrilling, every tragedy is heartbreaking. Bravo Adrian Lester! It doesn’t eclipse the unforgettable triumph of the 1983 Derek Jacobi production (‘Who ARE these men?’) but it reminds me why it is my favourite play.
- I enjoyed The Land of the Living more than the reviews led me to believe I would. A really timely play about the ethics relating to displaced children after a war. The staging is inventive and interesting. But it’s a two hour play that takes three hours. Juliet Stevenson is predictably magnificent.
- “The 12 chapters of Satantango each consist of a single paragraph.” May I offer my services? I have a Nobel Prize for Proofreading.
- Well well! After all these years someone has made a film about someone like me. I absolutely cannot wait to see this. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
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- Entertaining Mr Sloane is showing its age. You can’t fault the performances, the direction or the wonderful design of chintz and filth. But things that were originally transgressive and shocking now feel really uncomfortable. An awkwardly enjoyable evening at the Young Vic.
- The Battle of Cable Street took place on this day in 1936. The people of East London decided the fascists would progress no further. We salute you and we need you.
- An absolutely wonderful actor, perhaps my favourite. She once wrote me a letter declining a magazine interview but it was such a gorgeous message that I felt like she had befriended me! The congregation at Chichester Cathedral will miss her. www.the-guardian.com/tv-and-radio...
- There is an earth-shaking display of acting in Creditors at @orangetreetheatre.bsky.social. I was focussed on every single word, but still the twist blindsided me. What a horrible, horrible person. (I won’t say who!)
- And to all my Jewish friends and followers also: You are not alone.
- Julie Andrews is 90 today. I can’t quite believe that. To me she is eternally this age.
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- Very happy memories of Tony Harrison, who gave me probably my four best evenings in the theatre. Three parts of the joyously uplifting promenade plays The Mysteries. The fourth was when I went back to see it all in one day. Vivid picture of Jesus coming down from the cross and dancing with a nun.
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- It’s my turn to write the Notebook page in Church Times this week. I’ve written about my new healthy lifestyle regime. Spoiler : it didn’t end well. www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
- Born With Teeth is extremely entertaining, and two superb performances. But it’s rather slight. Just two men and a table. I think I’d have been more gripped in a smaller theatre. The best thing was spotting all the Shakespeare quotes smuggled into the script.
