So, London Dramatic Arts turned up trumps tonight, with the cheapest tickets available to Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, at the National. Fair enough - I booked. And with a nice, late start time (the advantage of having no interval), and being so quick to get to, I even had time to have dinner beforehand! Now there's a luxury..
Mind you, that did mean I was slightly rushed, and after bolting my food, I rushed to catch the train to Waterloo. Uncomfortable journey - I was too hot, despite all the train windows being open. The organiser had asked us to let her know if we weren't going to make it by 7.45 (for an 8pm start), so I did.. that was about the time that my train chugged into Waterloo, and it took me another five minutes to get to the other side of the station, and five more to get to the Dorfman. In really sultry heat - I still have the fan on now, in the wee small hours of the morning. Anyway, the Dorfman is the one accessed to the side of the main entrance, and I guessed - correctly - that it'd be quicker to approach from the rear, along Upper Ground, which was my way from the station.
The idea was that she'd leave our tickets at the box office if we hadn't made it by 7.45. And so she had - although there was slight confusion when I gave my full name to the lady, who just had a ticket under my first name. Never mind, I got it, and when the really slow-moving people in front of me finally decided to make their way to their seats, I could get to mine (in the very front row). Where I said hi to the others, and we waited for the show to start - they always do start a little late.
The lady beside me, who seemed to be acquainted with theatrical people, remarked that she'd hate to be in charge of the props for this - the stage was strewn with plastic bottles, a bird cage, and who knows what all. Some musical instruments filled the rear, and a statue of the Virgin Mary graced the back wall.
The plot concerns a group of schoolgirls who attend the Catholic school that gives its name to the production. They're all in the school choir, and headed for a competition in Edinburgh. They're from Oban, themselves - and, let loose in the city, winning the competition is the furthest thing from their minds, as they lose themselves in a riot of teenage boozing, flirting, and more.
It's absolutely hilarious. The insane scrapes they get into aren't a million miles from the sort of thing we're all familiar with, from our youth. The characters are people we get interested in, and come to care about, as we learn about the problems they face - and we take their side as they come up against people who would do them harm. And through it all, we get snatches of music, sung by the most angelic voices, and accompanied by a small band at the rear.
This is a transfer from the Edinburgh Fringe, apparently, and it's hard to do it justice. It's absolutely terrific, wonderfully written and performed. A standing ovation was well deserved - and I was delighted to have a good night out! This week has been a bit short on them, so far. Currently booking until 1 October, very highly recommended. Contains flashing lights, and loads of strong language.
Afterwards, most of us hung on for a drink, but rather than hang around the cramped lobby bar of the Dorfman, we headed around to The Green Room, since a couple of people fancied food. It was still lovely and warm out, and The Green Room is surrounded by a kind of garden, with seating - there were tables, chairs, deckchairs, people enjoying the evening but plenty of space. I spied a sign asking patrons to check in at the bar first, so we made our way over there.
And we waited, and we waited. A group of people beside us seemed to have taken possession of a number of bottles of wine, but the only person we saw behind the bar seemed to be there exclusively to wash up, and completely ignored us. We made our way back and forth - no management was apparent - and finally found someone to tell us that the outside area was now closed - a pity, as despite all the open windows (and, indeed, walls), the inside was quite stuffy. We were shown to a table - one of the curious, glass-topped ones, with an interior shelf that was filled with curiosities. Ours contained food, which we decided couldn't be real.
We got menus quickly enough, but no-one came for ages to take our order. As I mentioned, I'd eaten before, so just had chips, while the others had mains. And it was all very nice. And my portion of chips was a decent size, for £3. The wine was on the pricey side, but not excessive for the location - but with the lacklustre service we'd had, I raised an eyebrow at the included 12.5% service charge on the bill. I raised it even further when, after we'd all paid separately, she came back to tell us we were 94p short. We didn't fancy dessert, and anyway they were closed now - and nary a "good night" out of them as we walked past to leave. As I agreed with one of my companions, we won't be back there again.
Tomorrow, the Man with the Hat makes an appearance - his second outing to Macbeth, at the Globe, in fact; I loved it so much the first time that I'm going again. The music is by the same composer who wrote the soundtrack for Eyes Wide Shut, and I adored it - I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack. Expecting a good night, then.
And on Friday, I'm back to Ireland again, for a long weekend - it's a bank holiday here on Monday.
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