March 9, 2011

The docter is in … the garret

by

L-R, Trudie Styler as Johnson's friend Mrs. Thrale, Russell Barr as James Boswell, and Ian Redford as Dr. Johnson

“A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson,” a play about Samuel Johnson being staged in London in the actual garret where he compiled his famous dictionary, receives a big thumbs up from critic Michael Billington in this Guardian review. According to Billington, “You feel oddly at home the moment Ian Redford, with his broad features and Staffordshire accent, ascends the stairs and introduces himself as ‘Dictionary Johnson’. And when he is joined by Russell Barr as a Boswell who is a mixture of close companion, whipping-boy and assiduous note-taker, you feel you are eavesdropping on one of the great double-acts in literary history.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

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