Play: How Not to Drown

Tonight, my first actual event with Over 40 Living the Life. We were off to How Not to Drown at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East - the first event of theirs for which I couldn't get a cheaper ticket! So I decided, if I couldn't beat them, I might as well join them. True story of an unaccompanied, 11-year-old asylum seeker.

Out that far, it had to be Tube. Now, I remembered that there was a good Chinese - Sichuan Grand - next door, so decided to eat there. The Central Line was a bit crowded - but I was just early enough to avoid the worst crowds. And headed for the end, where I could actually breathe, as well as squeeze on. In Stratford, I did very well in finding the shortcut through the shopping centre - and into the Chinese I went. I hadn't booked, as they don't give instant bookings.

No problem getting a table. Now, this is one of those Chinese restaurants where you see lots of Chinese-looking people, so you figure it's authentic. And so it proves when you look at the menu - plenty of entrails on offer. Well, I saw one familiar dish - gung bao chicken sounded enough like kung po, so I ordered it. And egg fried rice. Only two white wines by the glass - the pinot grigio sounded more drinkable. I didn't see anything I fancied for a starter - and indeed, I wouldn't have had time for one.

Well, I have to say, it all tasted lovely and fresh. Unfortunately, the chicken dish was smothered in soy sauce. Now, don't get me wrong, I love soy sauce - it's just that everything came out the same colour, so it was hard to tell what was what! Which was fine, apart from the shreds of chili.. oh, I had a hard time, trying to pick it all out. I really couldn't bear it - whenever I got a piece in my mouth, I had to spit it out. The rice came as a welcome relief. As I say, with all of that, by the time I was ready to leave, it was time to meet the others anyway.

We were to meet outside, but there was no sign - then I thought to peer in the glass doors. Sure enough, a lady in a pink coat - as she'd said she'd be wearing - was talking to someone in the hallway. As she said when I went to meet her, it was just too cold to stand outside. We sat in the bar, got drinks.. they were lovely and friendly, and one knew me from - we figured - Laurence's walks! We chatted away merrily until the organiser decided it was time to go in - with 20 minutes to go, we stayed on for a bit. She never did come back, although she had all our tickets - turned out she'd had them all scanned on the way in, and just told the usher we'd be along in a bit! Hmm..

Well, we were all in Row B. Handily, I was beside the lady who was keen to share her chocolates.. Now, this is straight through, no interval. So, apart from anything else, you know you're in for an intense experience - and so it proves. As they swap roles, and the story shifts country and passes through years, we're treated to a complex series of dance sequences that evoke a series of events, no props whatsoever apart from an angled, elevated stage.

It's the story of the playwright's own experiences. I hadn't realised he's Kosovan! My fault, it is stated in the blurb about the play. Well, the story starts with his father teaching him to defend himself, how to shoot - trying to teach him English, but he isn't keen. All to prepare him for what is to come - in the chaos that ensues during the breakup of Yugoslavia.

What went on there is the shame of Europe. Massacres, atrocities - nobody who was in power could defend their actions at this time. The Yugoslav wars resulted in tens of thousands of deaths - no wonder this fellow's father decides the only thing for his little boy is to equip him as well as possible, and send him off to an uncertain future abroad. His brother is in England, so he sends him there - as much money as his dad can scrape together is secured on his small person, and off he goes, into the night. To face unsafe vessels, unscrupulous men who try to rob him, and scary border guards who treat him as a criminal. He's 11.

Getting to England isn't the end of his woes - he's ripped from his 17-year-old brother, who, it's decided, isn't old enough to care for him - and dumped into an uncaring social care system. Now he wishes he learned English.. and as he grows, he discovers that he's neither at home in England, where most people treat him as the enemy, and even the people who seem to care are only helping him because they're being paid, nor in Kosovo, after having spent years out of it and forgotten much of his native language. A true refugee, he belongs nowhere..

Told from the simple perspective of a little boy, this is really moving. So many people are to blame for what happened to him.. so there isn't a single bogeyman to point the finger at. Perhaps the best we can do with this piece is to take away a sense of the feeling of otherness that was forced on him - and try to remember that when we think about refugees in future. A powerful piece, highly recommended - runs till Saturday.

Now, I've often complained about Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) hanging around for half an hour after the show, in the cold, to discuss it, when they could do so more comfortably sitting down somewhere. Well jeez, at least they stay to discuss it! This group literally legged it - they waited for me to come out of the loo, and we were off! And the thing finished at 9pm, you know.. God, the organiser even remarked to another group member that it's nice to come out, but so much nicer to get back home.. and she agreed! Oh heaven preserve us, I'm glad they didn't ask me what I thought. Surreal. I'm surprised they come out at all. Well, I'll know what to expect from them in future - if I ever meet them in future..

Well, I took the Elizabeth Line home for the first time. Spacious, nice purple decor, fewer stops. And it cost no more than the Tube, as I was taking it between the same stops..

Tomorrow, excited to be headed to see Derren Brown in Showman, at the Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue. Cheapest tickets with Official London Theatre again. And frankly, after tonight, I'm rather glad to be going on my own.

On Wednesday, off to The Lehman Trilogy, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Based on the true story of the bank that collapsed. Got the last £39.50 ticket!

On Thursday, back with UITCS for Winner's Curse, at the Park Theatre - an interactive show about a peace negotiation. Turns out North London Friends are headed to it the same night - what, are they now copying this group, as another group did some time ago? (since closed down). I'll appreciate any chat we have after. And then I'm back to Ireland again.

And next Monday, I'm headed to Allegiance, starring George Takei in a musical based on the true story of his time in an American internment camp during the Second World War. Showing at the Charing Cross Theatre.