Play: Hand to God

Another day, another play.. London Dramatic Arts Meetup was off last night to Hand to God, at the Vaudeville Theatre. So off I went too.. cheapest tickets available on lastminute.com, and the LDAM organiser kindly RSVPed me "Yes".

I figured I could get a direct bus (cheaper than adding a train fare as well), and when I asked it nicely to restrict itself to buses, Google Maps kindly informed me that the 87 would take me all the way. It'd take nearly an hour in rush hour traffic, but I was working from home and could leave on time. Plus, although a pre-show meeting had been mooted, it was changed to post-show because others had to rush from work. Which gave me more time.

So I made my way down the road, arriving at Clapham Junction Stop D just in time to miss an 87. Never mind, another was promised within 10 minutes (by the handy LCD board), and when it arrived, I joined a huge crowd in boarding, meaning I sat upstairs. Running along the river as it does, I should've got some nice views, but the rain and condensation on the windows put paid to that..  Anyway, I was now a bit after rush hour, and arrived at the theatre at about 7:10, for a 7:30 start. About a 40-minute journey, then.

I collected my ticket - now, with lastminute, you don't get your seat number in advance: just the price and band. The venue decides, on the night, what seat to give you - with the proviso that it'll be at least as good as you'd expect from the price. I've always been happy with lastminute though, and was very pleased to see that, instead of the Grand Circle seat I'd been expecting (the cheapest price band, for which they charged me £16.50), I was in the Stalls! I made my way in, meeting the other group members on the way, and - after some confusion about where row "AY" was - discovered that, moreover, I was in the very front row! Well now.. and for half (or less) what I'd have paid to book that seat specifically, from the venue. Great legroom, it goes without saying.

The stage set is a school - patently Christian, with posters and stickers all over the walls about how Jesus loves us, and of children laughing and singing together. Lots of crosses, and a confessional-style booth, which of course is used as a puppet show booth. Because, ladies and gentlemen, the star of this show is.. a demonically possessed hand puppet.

Catchy Christian rock plays as the audience take their seats, then the lights go down and we're introduced to said puppet. Who treats us to a monologue about the development of society (and religion, along the way), and is obviously not a fan - pointing out how the Devil is used as a scapegoat for awkward behaviour, or things we don't understand. The story proper then begins, of a Christian class - three pupils - who are being encouraged by their harassed teacher to stage a puppet show with Christian themes. One of them is her son, whose act she thinks the most promising.. and you might recognise his puppet, from the opening monologue. Yes, there's more to this puppet than meets the eye..

So, they've described this as "The Book of Mormon" meets "Avenue Q".. or "Sesame Street" meets "The Exorcist". The connections are obvious - The Book of Mormon for the bad language and religion-bashing, Avenue Q and Sesame Street for the puppets, The Exorcist for the - well, the Devil. Let me say from the outset, I found it hilarious - I thought the possessed puppet was a laugh-riot, and I had a ball. I thought the guy with said puppet on his hand, who constantly switched voices and characters throughout, was brilliant.

The acting in general was terrific, although the actors supposed to be portraying youngsters maybe didn't quite look as young as they were supposed to be. I loved the set design, walls frequently revolving so that we could enter different rooms in seconds. Being so close, it was also fascinating to check out the details - the books in the bookcase of the pastor's office, for instance, which gave a hint as to where exactly this was set - somewhere in the States, judging by the accents, but I did notice a book on Texas.

The touted "controversial" aspect of the play, however, didn't work for our audience - was the general opinion of our group. Britain is too secular a society, we're used to Christanity-bashing, we've heard pretty much all of this before. Possibly it'd have more of an impact in the Bible Belt. Still, it was laugh-out-loud funny to see the puppet have a go at it, and anyway, as the puppet said, the Devil is only a scapegoat - something else is going on, and cleverly portrayed. Yes, I recommend this - it is great fun. Currently booking up to June - I anticipate a long run.

Afterwards, after waiting a bit to collect our sundry members, we trotted up the road to Brown's. Good job I'd mapped it on Streetview - I seemed to be the clearest about where we were going! A calm and pleasant place, not at all crowded, the decor all dark colours and table lamps, with mirrors to prevent it feeling cramped. It is a large space - we could've gone through to the restaurant, but not many were very hungry, so we stayed in the bar. They have a food menu - also an extensive drinks and bar snacks menu, with plenty of unusual nibbles, a decent wine list, and a unique cocktail list. And there we stayed, imbibing tasty nibbles and tempting drinks (three of our group ordered Champagne, which came with glasses that had pieces of strawberry in them! - a nice touch). So we stayed, and we chatted, and we stayed some more and chatted some more, and by the time we finally left, they'd stopped serving and started putting chairs up on the tables around us.

Back the way we'd come, and for once, I made the bus stop seconds before my bus arrived! It was already way past my bedtime, given that I'm in Guildford today, so too late to blog.  Tonight, I'm joining the London European Club for Light, an interesting play at Battersea Arts Centre - what a relief, as it's close enough for me to walk, so no complicated routes to figure out. I see the show is completely sold out now.. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to be joining them again, for a talk entitled The Global Refugee Crisis: a Challenge to Our Common Humanity. Frankly though, it's unlikely, as I'll be in Guildford again. Watch this space for more details.

Eschewing all the Valentiney things I could be doing in London, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Next week starts with not one, but two, outings with the Man with the Hat - on Monday, London for Less Than a Tenner is going to a show called Free Admission (confusion always a risk with that name..) at Soho Theatre. And on Tuesday, he's off to another classical concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. And I'm schlepping along to both.

On the 17th & 18th, I'm back with LDAM - the 17th for The End of Longing, starring - and written by - Matthew Perry, at the Playhouse Theatre. His playwriting debut. I got my ticket through London Box Office. On the 18th, we're headed to The Patriotic Traitor, at Park Theatre. Tom Conti stars as Philippe Pétain, the title character, a good friend of De Gaulle, who nonetheless has him tried for treason as a Nazi collaborator.

On the 19th, I've got another cheap ticket to the Circus Show at The Aeronaut - it'll be interesting to see how much the lineup changes! On the 20th, I'm back with the London European Club, for Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras, at Sadler's Wells. Part of their Flamenco Festival. Olé! And on the 21st, I'm finally heading to one of those famous free gigs at the Finsbury - there are actually two Meetup groups heading there, I've signed up with both! - specifically, the World Music Meetup and London Gigs and Alternative Events.. 6 currently going to each, I see, but not the same 6, by the look of it..