I left in decent time, armed with a packed of fruit gums - which I secreted about my person. They might check your bag for goodies, but they don't frisk you! ;-) I needed them for medicinal purposes, obviously. Brilliant sunshine, and me having left my sunglasses at home.. Anyway, with a couple of buses I could catch, I saw one stopped at the lights as I waited at the stop. So when an American couple asked me to take their photo - St. Paul's in the background, natch - I just nicely had time to do so.
At the theatre, I had a cursory bag check, then picked up my ticket at the box office - no postcode required for once, despite me having taken care to note that I'd booked this under my last postcode! Made my way to the bar downstairs, where I was one of the first few to arrive - as usual, we made quite a group in due course, as the room got more and more crowded. The unfortunate thing with going all the way down there, of course, is all the steps you have to climb if you're towards the rear of Studio One..
Perfect view, mind - there isn't a bad one, here. The place ended up filling almost - but not quite - completely; there were a few empty seats.
Now, as I say, this is set on one chaotic day in a school. Much of the proceedings are remarked upon by the deadpan external observer - a German language teacher on placement, who casts a cool eye on the shenanigans. We were promised music, and music we get - jeez, I'd forgotten how much good music there was at the time! Let Me Entertain You, Bittersweet Symphony - so many that I can't remember, but they had me jigging in my seat!
As we remarked afterwards - and is clearly communicated in the production - this was a fabulously upbeat and optimistic time in Britain. They'd just won the Eurovision, Blair promised a new beginning with New Labour.. Cool Britannia ruled, and times haven't been as good since. Sure enough, we also have a - mostly - upbeat bunch of manic teachers.. who double as hyperactive students, in some seamless costume / character changes. This isn't a musical, by the way - nobody sings - but there are plenty of dance numbers.
Our group gave it a mixed reaction. Some people didn't appreciate the pretty complete absence of a plot. Others thought there'd be more political commentary - although it does get a bit darker towards the end, their concerns are primarily with the school, rather than the broader political canvas. Me? I just loved it. I was delighted with the music, thought the production had really funny moments - the German guy is a delight to watch. It is definitely nostalgic - and what's wrong with that? Runs till the 29th. Recommended, for a fun night out. Oh, and I did cough a few times - during loud musical numbers.
Afterwards - in light rain - some of us went for a drink. As the organiser correctly remarked, with three pubs together in close proximity across the road, there had to be one with some space in it! And so it was that we ended up in The Clarence, where we had a table all to ourselves by the wall. Mind you, he had some trouble getting the barman to understand that what he wanted was a fruit juice!
Too tired to blog last night, what with this cold, and schlepping off again to the old flat to move stuff. Oh, and the bus back sailed past where I wanted to get off, so I had longer to walk.. I've complained. Now, I have movers coming soon (wish me luck!), which stymied any afternoon plans I might have made for today. But then my cheap ticket source came up with a suggestion that caught my eye - so, this evening, after the dust settles, I'm off to St. Peter's Church, Eaton Square, for a classical choral concert called Music for the Monarch. It's her official birthday today, you see.
Two days of storytelling to follow! Tomorrow, I'm back with the London European Club, who are off to see The Embers Collective perform. Now, I haven't been to one of their events before, but a couple of their performers have also performed at the Crick Crack Club events. It's a bit out of town, at Balabam - never mind, should be good. And Ivan said he'd come, so cool! Name of the show? F*cked Up Fairytales.. tickets courtesy of Design My Night.
Speaking of the Crick Crack Club, on Monday I'm headed to what will probably be their last show before autumn. This is a Fairytales for Grown-Ups double bill at Soho Theatre - one of the performers is Ben Haggarty, always worth seeing.
On Tuesday, back with UITCS to the King's Head, for what should be another manic show. Vulvarine - ahem - is a sort of superhero story. With a female superhero, natch.
And on Wednesday, back with London Literary Walks. He had to change his original plan - seems the pub we were to meet in is closed for refitting, and with no good alternatives, he had to come up with another walk at the last minute. So now, we're doing a Walk by a Canal.
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