# Performance (British TV series)

Performance is a UK television anthology series produced by Simon Curtis for the BBC. Twenty-six episodes aired on BBC2 between 5 October 1991 and 21 March 1998, almost all of which were productions of classic and contemporary plays, including Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, King Lear by William Shakespeare, and The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Rattigan.
Among its directors were Karel Reisz, Anthony Page, Richard Eyre, Simon Curtis, and Harold Pinter.
Its high-profile cast included Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth McGovern, Jeremy Irons, Judi Dench, Hugh Grant, Alec Guinness, Tom Wilkinson, Miranda Richardson, Ian Holm, Bill Nighy, John Gielgud, Geraldine Somerville and Juliet Stevenson.

## List of episodes

The main sources for compiling this list was the BFI Film and TV Database and the website of the BBC Genome Project.
Legend: Se = Season; Ep = Episode
| Se | Ep | Title | Author | Producer/ Director | Performers | UK Transmission date |
| 1 | 1 | Absolute Hell | Rodney Ackland | Anthony Page (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Charles Gray, Anthony Calf | 5 October 1991 |
| 1 | 2 | Uncle Vanya | Anton Chekhov | Gregory Mosher (d), Simon Curtis (p) | David Warner, Ian Holm, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Ian Bannen, Roger Hammond | 12 October 1991 |
| 1 | 3 | Nona | Roberto Cossa (play), Michael Hastings (adaptation) | Simon Curtis (d/p) | Les Dawson, Liz Smith, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall, Jane Horrocks, Maurice Denham | 19 October 1991 |
| 1 | 4 | Old Times | Harold Pinter | Simon Curtis (d/p) | John Malkovich, Kate Nelligan, Miranda Richardson | 26 October 1991 |
| 1 | 5 | Top Girls | Caryl Churchill | Max Stafford-Clark (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Deborah Findlay, Beth Goddard, Lesley Manville | 2 November 1991 |
| 1 | 6 | The Trials of Oz | Geoffrey Robertson John Mortimer | Sheree Folkson (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Hugh Grant, Peter O'Brien, Kevin Allen Leslie Phillips, Nigel Hawthorne, Simon Callow, David Troughton, Alfred Molina, Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Planer, Lee Cornes | 9 November 1991 |
| 2 | 1 | Tales from Hollywood | Christopher Hampton | Howard Davies (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Jeremy Irons, Alec Guinness, Elizabeth McGovern, Sinéad Cusack Ian Thompson, George Raistrick, Jack Shepherd, Lynn Farleigh, Mike McShane, Iain Rattray | 19 October 1992 (U.S.) 14 November 1992 (UK) |
| 2 | 2 | A Doll's House | Henrik Ibsen | David Thacker, Simon Curtis | Juliet Stevenson, Trevor Eve, Geraldine James, Patrick Malahide, David Calder, Helen Blatch | 21 November 1992 |
| 2 | 3 | Roots | Arnold Wesker | Simon Curtis (d/p) | Jane Horrocks, Pam Ferris, Imelda Staunton, Christopher Eccleston, Timothy Spall | 28 November 1992 |
| 2 | 4 | After the Dance | Terence Rattigan | Stuart Burge (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Anton Rodgers, Gemma Jones, Imogen Stubbs, John Bird, Geoffrey Beevers | 5 December 1992 |
| 2 | 5 | Six Characters in Search of an Author | Luigi Pirandello | Bill Bryden (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Brian Cox, John Hurt, Tara Fitzgerald, Susan Fleetwood, Brian Glover, Steven Mackintosh | 12 December 1992 |
| 3 | 1 | The Maitlands | Robert MacKenzie | Lindsay Posner (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Eileen Atkins, Jennifer Ehle, Bill Nighy, Edward Fox, Samuel West | 13 November 1993 |
| 3 | 2 | Hedda Gabler | Henrik Ibsen | Deborah Warner (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Fiona Shaw, Nicholas Woodeson, Stephen Rea | 27 November 1993 |
| 3 | 3 | The Entertainer | John Osborne | Nicholas Renton (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Michael Gambon, Helen McCrory, Bill Owen, Billie Whitelaw | 4 December 1993 |
| 3 | 4 | The Changeling | Thomas Middleton and William Rowley Michael Hastings (adaptation) | Simon Curtis (p) | Bob Hoskins, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Grant, Leslie Phillips, Sean Pertwee | 11 December 1993 |
| 4 | 1 | Message for Posterity | Dennis Potter | David Jones (d), Simon Curtis (p) | John Neville, Eric Porter, Ronald Pickup, Sophie Thompson, Abigail Cruttenden, Annette Crosbie, Tony Haygarth, Patrick Godfrey, Nicholas Selby, Stephen Moore | 29 October 1994 |
| 4 | 2 | Measure for Measure | William Shakespeare | David Thacker (d) | Tom Wilkinson, Corin Redgrave, Juliet Aubrey, Ian Bannen, David Bradley, Geoffrey Beevers, Rob Edwards, Sue Johnston | 5 November 1994 |
| 4 | 3 | The Deep Blue Sea | Terence Rattigan | Karel Reisz (d) Simon Curtis (p) | Penelope Wilton, Ian Holm, Colin Firth, Stephen Tompkinson, Geraldine Somerville, Edward Tudor-Pole | 12 November 1994 |
| 4 | 4 | The Mother | Paddy Chayefsky | Simon Curtis (d/p) | Anne Bancroft, Katherine Borowitz, Joan Cusack | 19 November 1994 |
| 4 | 5 | Summer Day's Dream | J. B. Priestley | Christopher Morahan (d), Simon Curtis (p) | John Gielgud, Terence Rigby, Rosemary Harris, Mike McShane Vincent Wong | 26 November 1994 |
| 5 | 1 | Shadow of a Gunman | Sean O'Casey | Nye Heron | Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Rea, James Ellis | 7 October 1995 |
| 5 | 2 | The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd | D. H. Lawrence | Katie Mitchell (d) | Zoë Wanamaker, Stephen Dillane, Colin Firth, Brenda Bruce | 14 October 1995 |
| 5 | 3a | Landscape | Harold Pinter | Harold Pinter (d), Simon Curtis (p) | Ian Holm, Penelope Wilton | 21 October 1995 |
| 5 | 3b | Bed | Jim Cartwright | Steve Shill (d), Kevin Loader | Renée Asherson, Robin Bailey, June Brown, Maurice Denham, Richard E. Grant, Lionel Jeffries | 21 October 1995 |
| 5 | 4 | Henry IV (Pt 1 & Pt 2) | William Shakespeare (plays), John Caird (adaptation) | John Caird (d), Annie Castledine (p) | Ronald Pickup, John Woodvine, Peter Jeffrey, Joseph O'Conor, David Calder, Geoffrey Hutchings, Jane Horrocks, Elizabeth Spriggs, Peter-Hugo Daly, Paul Eddington, Clive Kneller, Toby Jones | 28 October 1995 |
| 5 | 5 | After Miss Julie | Patrick Marber, August Strindberg | Patrick Marber (d), Fiona Finlay | Geraldine Somerville, Phil Daniels, Kathy Burke | 4 November 1995 |
| 6 | 1 | Company | Stephen Sondheim | Sam Mendes (d), Simon Curtis (ex p) | Adrian Lester, Sheila Gish, Sophie Thompson | 1 March 1997 |
| 6 | 2 | My Night with Reg | Kevin Elyot | Roger Michell (d), Kevin Loader (p) | David Bamber, John Sessions, Anthony Calf, Kenneth MacDonald | 15 March 1997 |
| 6 | 3 | Richard II | William Shakespeare | Deborah Warner (d), John Wyver (p) | Fiona Shaw (as Richard II), Graham Crowden, Richard Bremmer, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Donald Sinden | 22 March 1997 |
| 6 | 4 | Broken Glass | Arthur Miller | David Thacker (d), Fiona Finlay (p) | Henry Goodman, Margot Leicester, Mandy Patinkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Ed Bishop | 29 March 1997 |
| 6 | 5 | Macbeth on the Estate | William Shakespeare, Penny Woolcock (adaptation) | Penny Woolcock (d), Alison Gilby (p) | James Frain, Susan Vidler, Ray Winstone | 5 April 1997 |
| 7 | 1 | King Lear | William Shakespeare | Richard Eyre (d), Sue Birtwistle, Joy Spink (p) | Ian Holm Timothy West, Amanda Redman, Michael Bryant | 21 March 1998 |