When I was looking for something to go to yesterday, and it came up as a film, the first of these films (Angels Are So few) came up as the second-highest rated (as per IMDB) film showing in London this week. The highest rated was, of course, Boyhood, which I saw on Sunday. This double-bill was only showing at the BFI, as part of The Ousider Inside section of their Dennis Potter season. And when I looked, it was mostly sold out - so I booked. Their cheap Tuesday tickets were already gone.. mind you, when I checked again (out of curiosity), annoyingly, they had one cheap seat left! I guess, the first time, someone had been thinking of booking that seat, but hadn't gone through with it.
Anyway, off I went, yesterday evening, to the BFI for the 8.15 showing. I see they're still doing construction work at Embankment station, which meant the exit on the BFI side was still closed. Anyway, I managed to get there just in time, if breathless. Good job my row was nearly empty, considering I arrived just in time for the screening, and was sitting almost on the very inside! As it happened, the two seats beside me were never occupied, although they had been booked. Anyway, that have me some room to stretch. And oh, the nice, cold air conditioning was welcome, given the sweltering weather we have this week!
After some speechifying by (a) a member of the BFI team, who SO sounded like he was reading straight from a script, (b) the guy who used to produce Dennis Potter, and (c) someone who acted in one of these films, although he's much older now and I couldn't tell which he was, the first film started. They were both part of the "Play for Today" BBC tv series in the early 70s.
The first, Angels Are So Few, concerns a scruffy young man, wandering the streets, claiming to be an angel and availing of whatever hospitality he can find. He meets his match, though, in the form of a bored housewife.
The second tells the story of a playwright writing the play, Angels Are So Few, for the Play for Today series. He's taking his wife's leaving him badly, and has injured his hand, so can't write the play himself and has to hire a typist. She turns out to be young and pretty, and as the play progresses, he finds himself more and more drawn to her, and some interesting parallels are drawn between their story and the story of the characters in the play.
Well, these really took me back! I have never seen them before, but the staging is so familiar - so many interiors were shot just that way on telly when I was a kid. And it's fascinating, how, as shown in these films, in those days sex couldn't be shown explicitly - you had to have some kind of overlay of pictures. Gosh, it's a while since that was true.. You can watch the second as a standalone, but it makes more sense to have seen the first, since it's based on it. Interestingly, in the second play, you get extracts from the first, with different actors (for my money, the first actor made a better angel - odder, with a hint of danger about him). One other observation - I really felt that housewife's frustration. My, how restrictive a housewife's lot was in those days! Yep, very interesting films to watch, if you can get hold of a copy.
As I headed back to the station, I crossed the bridge on the near side, figuring I'd cross under the bridge when I got over, to reach the entrance that was open. Paused for a moment to admire the beautiful view. When I got over, however, I discovered that the pavement was completely closed under the bridge as well! I walked up the pavement in the other direction for a bit, thinking to find a cross street that I could use to double back - but I soon discovered I was passing a park - which, of course, was closed at night - and it seemed to go on for quite a bit. So I returned to the bridge instead and had to cross the road, walk to the next set of traffic lights and cross back. Unfortunately, despite there being crossing lights, there are no corresponding lights for cars on the second half, and despite my crossing light being green, traffic was still pouring past me! So that was a slightly hair-raising road crossing..
Well, for tonight I was checking the Time Out listings, and came up with a new show. Forbidden Broadway is a parody of all Broadway & West End shows currently running. Sounds good, and when I checked there was.. ONE seat left! Showing at the Menier Chocolate Factory, which is no longer actually a chocolate factory. Now, it's been a while since I saw anything here, and my billing address has changed. And the website wouldn't let me change it! I ended up having to cancel the purchase and book over the phone. I guess they have now changed my address. Tsk, Menier Chocolate Factory..
Tomorrow night, Hard Facade returns from the studio for a one-off performance at Suraya, near King's Cross. And then, after a somewhat hectic week, it's back to Ireland for the weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment