Play: Doctor Scroggy's War

I wasn't 100% sure about Doctor Scroggy's War when I was considering whether to go to it. It's about the First World War - and there's so much of that going around, and while I don't mind war as a theme, I was unsure what tone this would take. But it's in the Globe, which almost makes its subject matter redundant - it's such a great place to see a play! And the Time Out review was glowing - it remarked that the writer, Howard Brenton, is the only person who knows how to write for the Globe. Apart from Shakespeare, of course.

Cheapest non-restricted view tickets were available through my old friend, LoveTheatre. At £24 for a front row seat (not at the side), in the Lower Gallery (equivalent to the stalls), I wasn't complaining. It does get my goat, though, that they inflate the face value; I would've paid £41.50 through the official box office for that ticket, not the £46.10 LoveTheatre was quoting! Heavens, it's a good enough discount as it is - no need to gild the lily.

Interestingly, Google Maps was suggesting I get the Tube to Blackfriars and take a boat to the Globe - there's a pier right outside, conveniently. Well, that would've been the romantic, traditional way to arrive, and I definitely considered it - until I checked, and discovered that the fare (for a journey of one stop) was £6.10 one-way, £10.80 return! and that's with a discount for a PAYG Oyster card. Nah, don't think so. For a treat, it would be lovely, though. Google Maps also suggested that, if I were getting the Tube all the way to Mansion House, I could get the bus the rest of the way. Thinking of the approaching winter weather, doubtless.. I wonder whether their directions do change in winter!

Well, my answer as to whether I really need to hire a cushion in the Globe is now answered - I didn't have time to get one! I left in decent time, although could've cut it a bit less fine. Shortly, there was a Tube straight to town. All was well - for once - until we were held at St. James's Park - there was trouble at Blackfriars. Uh-oh. Someone on the track, it sounded like. All of a sudden, I predicted that I wasn't going to make it. I couldn't think of a viable alternative route - all I could do was stay on the train and read the paper. And hope.

Well, we were only held for about five minutes - they're quite used to this. And the rest of the journey was uneventful. I'd have missed that boat, mind. But we pulled in to Mansion House with just under ten minutes to spare for me to get to the Globe. At least I know the way! Take the exit to the left, marked with the Globe as one of the places you can get to from it. Turn right out of the station, cross the laneway, take the first right after that, and keep going across the bridge. Down the steps to the right, and head left a short distance along the waterfront. As I scurried along, wishing I could walk faster, I did wonder whether my lungs were gonna give out. Surprisingly, I made it without medical incident, and panted my way to the box office to collect my ticket - there's never very much fuss when the show is on the point of starting. I should know. Up the stairs, and flew straight through the door they were on the point of closing - I was lucky, they'd already closed the one beside it! I was taking my seat as the first actor came onstage.

Immediately immersed in the story, it took me quite a while to realise that this was the first event I've been to in the Globe after dark! The last time I was here, it was just getting dark by the end, and I mused that it would be lovely - if a bit chilly - to come to something at night. I was right - it's so intimate! The night was mild, and the light breeze was welcome after my mad dash (it's open to the elements). Mind you, it did turn chilly at the interval.

Well, this is the story of a plastic surgeon during WWI. Immediately, it establishes its comic credentials. Y'know, I'm doing an online course at the moment on the fight for Irish independence, and watching this first scene, you would wonder why they bothered. It's all jovial wisecracks and chaps in uniforms. Tea and cricket and cucumber sandwiches - that sort of thing. By the second scene, you see another side to British society, as the toffs appear and act unpleasant, and you cease to wonder anymore. Indeed, one of the themes of this play is the change in society between the beginning and end of the war. Pastimes become less frivolous, attitudes change, and people's cherished beliefs are turned on their heads. There's even an Irishman in it, who starts off keen to fight for Britain, but later decides to do his fighting in Dublin. Against Britain.

But now, that's not to say that this is a serious play - nor, indeed, a frivolous one. Maybe a serious play in lighthearted clothing. It's alternately hilarious and moving, and Doctor Scroggy himself plays a blinder - a natural comic actor. Really, it's very good, and highly recommended. When the percussion is imitating artillery fire, and all the actors are gazing skywards, you do yourself, half expecting to see rockets come in over the roof of the Globe. Four performances left - next Friday, Saturday, and Monday, and the following Friday. Go see! They had a collection afterwards for a charity for homes for disabled servicemen and women - I couldn't spare much change, but gave them a fistful of coppers, which greatly lightened my wallet! Oh, and the lack of cushion? Not a problem! I was plenty comfy without anything - which is good to know.

When I emerged, I was devastated that I didn't have a camera of any sort on me - my phone was at home, charging. I haven't come out of here in full darkness before, and the sight was riveting. St. Paul's looked as spectacular as I've seen it, huge and floodlit white against the dark, and Southwark Bridge's lights were a riot of colour, with the towers of the City in the background.

I was right, mind you - I predicted that I'd just miss the boat and wouldn't have taken the return trip in it (there's just one an hour at that time). Yep, I'd missed it by five minutes - just out of curiosity, I wouldn't have taken it anyway. I made my way back to Mansion House, and hopped on a Tube. Blackfriars was having quite a night - as we left the station, the driver announced that we wouldn't be stopping there (again, good job I didn't take the boat!) - Blackfriars station was closed, following a cable fire earlier. Indeed, as we passed through, the firemen could be seen lounging on the benches on the opposite side, swigging water. Danger over, I guess. And the rest of the journey was accompanied by nothing more eventful than a number of passengers swinging off the overhead rails. For something to do, I guess. Pity the poor City workers, probably just leaving work, though - on a long Tube journey home in their suits. Tsk.

Right then! For tomorrow night, I just got a ShowFilmFirst offer of a free ticket to a musical - in Fairfield Halls in Croydon again. But you know what? My original plan was to listen to the last night of the iTunes Festival - Plácido Domingo is singing at the Roundhouse, and it's being streamed live (and free). I think I'll stick to that plan - either is free, but this way I save myself a hefty trip. (All those ShowFilmFirst tickets are gone now anyway, I see.) And I can do chores that never get done.

For Wednesday and Thursday, I got Time Out offers (since expired, I'm afraid!) on theatre tickets. Wednesday is Land of Our Fathers, in Trafalgar Studios. About coal miners, stuck down a Welsh mine in 1979 - the title refers to the Welsh anthem. On Thursday, I'm off to Breeders - a comedy in the St. James Theatre, starring Angela Griffin and Tamzin Outhwaite as a lesbian couple who want the brother of one of them to inseminate the other, so they can have a child with the DNA of both.

At least they're closer to home - on Friday, however, I'm back to the Hackney Empire, to see Lenny Henry in Rudy's Rare Records, a comedy about the owner of a record shop. I got literally the last cheap seat in the house (there were three, but the others would have left single seats, apparently). Edge of the dress circle. And on Saturday, I'm off to the matinee of Sequence 8, a circus/dance performance at Sadler's Wells - and the very last day of it! Well, it's hard to get to everything.. cheapest seats are at the rear stalls.