Play: Holes

I am certainly ploughing my way through the plays listed in Time Out! Six plays I've been to now, in just over a week. Last night was Holes, showing in the Arcola Tent. Now, I didn't know they had a tent.. anyway, they said payment on the door should be cash, so I figured I could pay on the door (booking didn't seem heavy). And I got out some cash. And at the appropriate time, I moseyed down to the station to catch the Overground to Dalston Kingsland. Dalston Junction is actually slightly closer, but Dalston Kingsland is more convenient for me, given that I can get the Overground straight there.

The trip was so long that the free paper I picked up at the start of the journey was finished a good bit before I got off the train. I finally got a seat about 2/3 of the way there. Witnessed a woman with a "Baby on Board" badge have to ask a fellow a couple of times before he'd get up and let her have his seat - I guess he figured "age over beauty". Probably didn't see the badge at first. Anyway, she got it eventually.

From the station, hang a right and head for the hoarding across the road. That hoarding is on Streetview, it's been there for years. I did notice, last night, however, that the colour on that side of the road has changed from blue to red! Very snazzy. Take that street and follow it around - you soon come to the Arcola. I, of course, was looking for the Arcola Tent, so I kept going. Streetview hadn't been exactly sure where it was, but if you just persist, you come across a (I guess, temporary) wall with "Arcola Tent" prominently displayed. The tent itself is just inside that, and I joined the queue of people who mostly had to to collect tickets. Despite the "cash-only" warning on the website, she asked whether I wanted to pay cash or card - gave me a slip of paper that she'd scribbled on, and I was in.

Seating is on folding chairs - not the most comfortable: an elderly gent sitting near me decided, near the end, that the floor would be better. Legroom is fine, though. The place was more than half empty - glad I didn't pay a booking fee! This is theatre in the round. A circular stage is covered in sand, empty but for a lone stick at the start. This is the desert island that our heroes are stranded on, following a plane crash. There are four characters, and the play progresses from comedy to something darker.

Now, three of these characters work in the same company, and were on their way to a conference. So.. what you're essentially watching is "what would you do if you were stuck on a desert island with the people you work with?" and it is hilarious. You have the head of HR, slightly past her prime and fixated on Ian. Ian is the guy who blusters as if he knows everything, but actually doesn't. And there's Gus, who might actually know something, and whose prime concern when he discovers they won't make the conference is that so-and-so will take credit for his work. He, unfortunately, has broken his arm, leaving Ian as the self-appointed saviour of the group. The characters are brilliantly drawn. And there's a bemused 16-year old girl, who was orphaned in the crash, and finds herself the outsider in this new group. She has a role to play later on, though.

Yep, this is well done. It's always a shame to see something poorly attended, but that's the problem with out-of-town productions. Anyhoo, if you get a chance, it's worth a look - runs until the 9th. There is a basic bar at the entrance, BTW. The running time advertised on the website doesn't include the interval, as stated - so it's just over two hours, altogether. Sadly, I was just in time to miss a train back, so had to wait 15 minutes. During which time I noticed a large Irish flag outside a nearby house. Go figure. In the evenings, there are no direct trains back to West Brompton, so I had a 20-minute wait at Willesden Junction as well. The perils of the Overground, eh? Well, at least it's cheaper! So anyway, by the time I finally got home (and the rain that had been promised found me, just as I was around the corner from home!), it was too late to blog - hence the delay.

Well, having gone through pretty much all the plays at the top of the Time Out listings, I find myself back at films again! I was just re-checking the IMDB ratings, and there's a big shake-up.. there I was, all set to go see The Purge: Anarchy tonight - but I find that it's dropped to 7/10! So that leaves me with The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, showing in the Prince Charles. It's a Swedish comedy. Trailer looks good! And it'll be a relief to remove such a long name from my film list.. Actually, it's looking like films up to and including Thursday (subject to change). There are higher rated films on tomorrow, but for Thursday.. if it's a film again, I will be going to The Purge: Anarchy. So I'm just swapping the nights around! And this is momentous, because it'll be the first time since I moved here that I saw a film rated at 7.. except for films I saw for free..