Dance: Creature

Tonight, I was back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) to Sadler's Wells - feels like ages, but it's not that long - for Creature, by Akram Khan! I absolutely love his work. Handily enough, I used my latest Theatre Token for this - would have used it for Phaedra, last night, but while neither theatre takes them online (you have to phone if you want to use a token), the National charges extra for phone bookings. So I used it for this instead.

Again, to The Lucas Arms - and I notice the first time I went here was the last time I was in Sadler's Wells! It was busy, but mercifully, not as much as last night, and I got a better located table. And the dinner was excellent - happily, accompanying the pie, they seem to have swapped out the cabbage for peas, which I much prefer! Still quite busy, mind - I got the impression the staff were eyeing my table, although they didn't try to hurry me. And as I was packing up, a group of three approached to ask whether I was leaving. So, business continues to boom..

As I was walking along Acton Street afterwards, would you believe, as I approached each of the two bus stops, a bus pulled up to it! Lordy, I wouldn't have such service if I needed it..

My, but it's a taxing walk from there to Sadler's Wells, a substantial amount uphill - and, as usual, I had the stairs to climb there. I certainly worked off that dinner! Got myself an interesting pinot grigio from the bar - yes, I generally prefer sauvignon, but I wasn't sure the one they had was worth it, so I just went with this. Which was cheaper, and fine. Better queue management than the National last night, I might point out - I neglected to mention it in last night's blog, but our queue was cut in on last night, and neither queue-jumpers nor the barman paid the slightest attention to the apoplectic reaction of people on all sides of me.. you have been warned. Much more civilised here. And we all chatted happily until it was time to go in - no problem taking my glass in, either.

I was in one of those handy seats to the side, one with no other seats beside it (N30):

Wow. After tonight, yes, I still love Akram Khan. The booming score is compelling, the imagery striking. Basically, some kind of creature is experimented on by an openly agressive regime - we are left in no doubt about the regime's ferocity, nor the creature's essential humanity.. The vision of the synchronised marching of the regime's soldiers bearing down on the creature is absolutely overwhelming. And as someone remarked, kudos to the dancer portraying the creature, who works visibly harder than anyone else on that stage! The set falling to pieces at the end is a nice touch.. you can kind of see how the structure lends itself to that.. Mind you, again as someone remarked, we were lucky to be sat up high, what with the live orchestra - it was loud enough for us, but must have been deafening to be closer to the stage!

Runs until Saturday. V highly recommended.. Contains strobe lighting.

Tomorrow, back with the London European Club, at somewhere called the Ugly Duck, for Synchrony, a female 12-piece string ensemble. Tickets from Eventbrite. As hosted by Eleanor Salter Thorn again! So glad to see her hosting events in more central locations..

I was keeping Friday free because Ivan is feeling thirsty again. :-) And for once, he seems to be sticking to the date, having booked us a table at The Lucas Arms (which, as he pointed out, has a smoker's area). We're hoping to have Martin - my other friendly ex-boss - join us, but he has more family commitments, which he's trying to juggle - we've told him to join us whenever. And this looks like turning into the first zapoi in a while - Ivan is talking about booking a studio, where we can drink overnight. Oy ve, watch this space.. So, not pushed about doing anything extra on Saturday.

On Sunday, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, for Orpheus Dismembered, at the British Museum, courtesy of Ben Haggarty. The event there that I'd already heard of..

Monday is film, so I was waiting for the film listings - and I'm delighted with what's come up. Far ahead of anything else on the list at this point - and rising in ratings - is Tetris, would you believe! Now, this is a game I used to love - and it seems it also has an interesting backstory! The chameleon-like Taron Egerton plays the American businessman who wants the rights, but it seems the inventor is actually a programmer in Soviet Russia. Cue lots of Cold War-style intrigue - right when the USSR was collapsing, in 1989. So, also looking forward to sights and sounds I remember from then! Also stars Toby Jones. Seems the real story wasn't quite as exciting as depicted - but you know what they say about not letting the truth get in the way of a good story! Anyway, the trailer looks fantastic. Streaming on Apple TV+ from Friday, if you have it.. In cinemas, it seems to be exclusively in the Everyman - not all of them though, and the closest showing to me is in the Screen on the Green. 

Tuesday, back with UITCS for The Unfriend, in The Criterion Theatre. A comedy about a British family that befriend an American lady while on holiday over there, and agree to keep in touch. Now she's on a plane over to see them - and they've discovered a terrible secret about her! How to they get rid of her - politely..? Sounds excellent. My though, I had terrible trouble trying to find a decent seat - everything left that was cheap seemed to be behind a pillar! and they aren't small pillars, as I discovered thanks to Seatplan. I finally plumped for something in the back row of the Dress Circle, where the pillars are thinner. Hey, you never know, I might be upgraded..

Next Wednesday, back with the Horror Book Club, at the Prince of Wales in Drury Lane, as usual. And wow, this month's book is a doozy - House of Leaves is a massive tome, which I started reading years ago and never did get finished. I couldn't find that copy, so ended up buying it again - but am I finding the time to read it? Well, I'm doing my best, and it is a cracking read. Here's hoping I get it finished in time, as it's quite dense.. I'm still only about 110 pages through a nearly 700-page story..

On the 6th, with a bank holiday next day, flying back to Ireland. Aer Lingus, because I left it too late to book with Ryanair, and the evening flights were gone. Now, I have an old friend, Vicki, in Cork, whom I usually go down to see once a year, staying the night - usually at Christmas, but she was too busy for me last Christmas. So we've arranged for me to go and stay on the 11th this year, coming back the next day. Now, that realistically means I can't fly to London before the 13th - but with nothing unmissable on the 14th, I'm flying back that day instead. I haven't yet had a chance to put in a holiday request though, and now the system security isn't letting me in! Honestly, you couldn't make it up.. Well, if I am denied the holiday, I'll just have to take the laptop with me. Which could get interesting, as I'd have to have it on in the car on the road to Cork..

I definitely have to be back for the 15th though, when I'm booked on another walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners! This one is A City built by a Genius - Wren's London. And as of now, he's scheduling walks I haven't done for days I can make them! Very cool.. because I do love his walks. And lunches.

Now, I'm not exactly clear on what's happening on the 16th, when my boss suggested - quite a while ago - that we might have a jaunt to the head office in Tel Aviv! I haven't heard anything since, though - I must get around to asking him. The dates suggested were out on the 16th, back on the 21st. Watch this space..

Play: Ravenscourt

Today, I was thinking film - but what was coming up wasn't as interesting as what Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) was advertising in Hampstead Theatre. So I booked to go and see Ravenscourt with them - a medical drama, centred on the failings of the mental healthcare system. And yay, for this I finally used my Theatre Token! Well, that's a weight off..

I'd eaten in Ye Olde Swiss Cottage before, so decided to travel up there first and do that again. And I could do that with a combination of buses. Unfortunately, the second bus - the #31 - was on diversion. And what a whopping diversion it turned out to be.. one poor elderly man, on crutches and appearing quite feeble, was promised by the driver that we'd be going near Belsize Park, as per the original route: well, I always follow our route on Google Maps when we're on diversion, and all I can say is, he could have let this guy off a lot closer to where he wanted to be! Happily, I fared better, and got off just up from Ye Olde Swiss Cottage.

Got the same table as last time! This place is going to be very nice, coming towards winter - very cosy interior. Anyway, I fancied the chicken, but was told they had none - so I had a steak and ale pie instead, which was very moreish. Mash could have been tastier, but otherwise I was well pleased.

In the theatre, my wine was a lot pricier - I met the others in the downstairs lobby, and we had a nice chat until it was time to go in. Unallocated seating.

(I would have put a picture in here, but the site is playing up!)

Well, this is quite an intense drama, set in a mental health facility. A young psychiatrist has just started there, having come from private practice, and finds it hard to square her previous experience with the reality of her new job - the limited time, limited number of sessions. Neither does she really gel with her work colleagues, who have something of a different outlook from hers. But when she takes on a difficult patient, we begin to see the cracks in her careful demeanour..

Very well-acted, and an interesting story. Also interesting was the discussion we had afterwards, people raising points such as how nice it was to see a mental health patient who was so articulate. And, indeed, the point was raised that this is NOT how a mental health facility operates! But hey, it is a good play, and worth a look - as in general, here. Runs till the 29th.

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland again, because of the dates I have weekend things in London this month, and the date of my mother's birthday, which I want to be back in Ireland for. It all works out - but only if I switch weekends, which I'm doing by coming back to Ireland again this weekend. Film for the weekend? Currently looking like The Lost King, a comedy co-written by, and starring, Steve Coogan as the husband of the woman who found the remains of Richard III. Under a car park.. Only showing in the Omniplex, and a little late. Ah well.

Monday. Well. 👿 Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love horror. And am really excited that Darkfield is doing onsite shows this month. Mwa-ha-haa.. Five of them, in fact. I've booked the first of them for Monday, the first day I was free - the first they're showing, it's Intravene, nearby the BFI (actually, outside the National Theatre, as I confirmed yesterday). These are all held in shipping containers, and the unifying idea for all Darkfield shows is that they're aural - you have headphones, which are your main sensory input. The shows all take place in complete darkness. This one is about drug abuse, and focuses on the drug problem in Vancouver. And wow, seeing the container in person finally, last night, has just stoked my anticipation..

On Tuesday, signed up for another of The Garden Talks' free online talks - this one is Does Dark Matter Really Matter?

On Wednesday.. heehee. Back with Darkfield. (Cue scary music.) They're also doing shows in Canary Wharf this year - three, in fact. This is the first night for those.. and yes, I'm doing all three, that night. In fact, they allow for that when you're booking. So, I'm doing them in the following order: first is Eulogy, an unusual Darkfield concept in that it's somewhat interactive, at various points you have to say "yes" or "no"..

Second up, I chose Coma (they all have multiple showings, so you can decide exactly what you want to go to, and when. They just ask that you leave at least 15 minutes between, which I have.) For this one, we get to lie down, I think - which is nice - and get an option to take a pill. :-)

Final for the night is the one I've heard the best reviews of - Flight is a reconstruction of an aircraft cabin, and the show is based around - well, a plane crash! Booked all of these while waiting for my eternally delayed flight on Sunday - as I say, every cloud has a silver lining..

Next Thursday is the next of my busy days. See, first I booked with Civilised London (CL) for Tango After Dark, at the Peacock. All good, no-brainer. Then I was messaged by an ex-colleague - another ex-colleague is having leaving drinks that same night, in the Pelt Trader! Hellfire.. so, what I'm going to do is skip drinks with CL after the show and leg it over to the Pelt Trader - I've ordered her not to stop drinking till I get there!

On the 14th, something advertised with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) - they're celebrating all things Mexican in Kew Gardens, with Mexico After Hours! With something about the Day of the Dead, no doubt..

The 15th is another of those busy days. So.. first I'm headed on a walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners - this one is Paddington - Proud, Perky & Picturesque.

But, for nearly a year now, I've had tickets booked, for me and Helen, for Dara O' Briain in the Hammersmith Apollo that night! Crikey, I'd never even have thought of it if it hadn't been noted in my calendar. So anyway, she can't come to the walk, but we'll meet for dinner beforehand in Bill's of Hammersmith. I can only hope for better service than I got in Bill's of Clink Street..

On the 16th, back with the CCC for Inisfáil, Irish storytelling courtesy of the wonderful Clare Murphy, in the British Museum.

On the 17th, I originally booked a free online talk about Railways of Surrey, from the Surrey History Meetup. But I just recently saw (despite the fact that it was evidently posted months ago) an event from UITCS - Samsara is inspired by the Chinese novel, Journey to the West, and contains partial nudity, we're told. Tickets for this are quite cheap, and we're all in the Stalls, for once - they haven't even opened the Second Circle, where we normally are! So, no stairs, for a change!

On the 18th, I've booked for Iphigenia in Splott, in the Lyric Hammersmith.

On the 19th, supposed to have drinks with Ivan! Might go to O' Neill's, we could do worse.

On the 20th, back with CL for dinner at Le Sacré Coeur. Always good.

On the 21st, back to Ireland again - and the following Monday, it's my mother's birthday, so I'm staying in Ireland for that and flying back on Tuesday 25th. I've already cleared it with work.

And on the 26th, I've booked with UITCS again - for Mary, at Hampstead Theatre again. Political machinations in the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Funny thing - there were two seats in the main seating section at the cheapest price, but the site objected to me just booking one of them. No problem booking an equivalent seat in a higher price bracket, though! So I booked one of the high seats, at the back, instead. At the lower price.

Play: The Welkin

Tonight, I've had it in mind for the longest time to accompany Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) to see The Welkin at the National. But you see, I had a Seatplan theatre token that I wanted to use - and the bind is that they still haven't introduced web bookings for those, and so I had to ring. During office hours. And whenever I thought of doing it was outside of office hours. Until last week.. and in the meantime, of the £47 tickets that had sold out, three more became available - in the back row of the stalls. So I booked one of those, getting a discount for my voucher. And despite the dire warning from the automated voice, that I'd be charged an extra £3 for booking this way.. well, she obviously completely forgot about that, because I wasn't. Handily, they sent me an e-ticket. Which took some time to find in my email.

I walked there - and only realised how freezing cold my face was when I got into the - in comparison - extreme warmth of the lobby! Where we chatted until it was time to go in. Most of us were in the stalls - one upstairs, who changed at the interval. The stalls were pretty packed, but there were some free seats. Interestingly, although my ticket was for seat 22 of the back row, I had to go in the side that said Seats 1-18.. the sound booth was over to the side, meaning I couldn't have entered that way! I was, actually, about dead centre - and the overhang isn't a problem at all. Handily enough, there was one free seat to my left - and the couple beside me duly moved over one, giving us all a bit of room!

The welkin translates as "sky" - and this story takes place around the time of an apparition of Halley's Comet, in 1759. Told in six chapters - only one of which takes place after the interval - it has a striking production; at the start, a group of women appears, one silhouetted in each of a dozen outlined squares, stacked on top of each other. Each woman is performing a different household task. The message is clear - this is the lot of ordinary women at this time.

Next, we see quite a darkened scene, where a bloodstained woman returns to her husband, having been missing for some months. He's about to beat her when she tells him she's carrying a child - that isn't his. He is devastated.

A much brighter scene greets us as we meet the local midwife - a fount of common sense, as it transpires - who's busily making butter, among what appear to be sheets hug out to dry, when the local bailiff comes to fetch her to appear at the assizes, where the woman of the previous scene has been found guilty of murder and would be hanged, except that she's claiming to be pregnant. Well, with medical knowledge not as great as that of the present day, they've decided that they need a jury of twelve matrons (mature women) to make the judgement as to whether she's telling the truth - she doesn't look pregnant, but they can't hang her if she is. Reluctantly, the midwife heads off.

There's one scene where we're introduced to the characters - as the judge solemnly intones the oath they have to swear with their hand on the bible, they give us a potted biography of themselves: number of children and what their husbands do. Well, what else would they say? (Oh, and there's one who doesn't speak at all - hasn't for years, since the birth of her son, it seems.) The bailiff is then set off with his instructions - he's to confine them in a room in the courthouse until they come to a decision, not permit them food, drink, or fire, and not speak to them except to ask whether they've reached a verdict. And that room is where the rest of the play takes place.

The whole thing is claustrophobic - like their lives. And the first half of what is a very long play does drag a bit - with so much exposition, not much happens. But straight away, I took to it - the characters are beautifully drawn, and regardless of what they have to say for themselves while taking the oath, it's in the jury room that their true characters are revealed. The interactions are fascinating. Then, of course, the prisoner is introduced to the mix - she has to be there, for them to perform whatever examinations they see fit.

The midwife remains the pillar of sense, and later makes a very good point - in a world where both gender and class divisions work against them, this room is a rare opportunity for them to exercise some real power. But how will they use it - bickering? Gossiping? Praying for guidance? Or making fun of the hapless bailiff, who has to stay in the room while his prisoner is there, but isn't allowed to say a word..

With so much energy passing among them, and so much discussion from the different personalities, it comes as quite a shock when a male presence is introduced, near the end - the change in the group dynamic is startling. As is the conclusion - the second half is much pacier than the first, as the issues get resolved and the truth will out. Several truths, as it happens. Highly recommended - very thought-provoking, as we agreed afterwards. But you need to book - as I say, tonight was pretty full. Runs till the 23rd of May.

On the bus home afterwards (and boy was that more comfortable than walking), I have to give due credit to the driver, who wouldn't let a passenger away with not paying. He made an announcement to the man sitting upstairs who hadn't paid, repeated it, and then sat there and wouldn't move until the guy came down, made some show of looking for a payment card, and then just disembarked. Don't see that very often, so kudos.

Tomorrow, I had film in mind at first. But top of the film list - when I had time to look at it - was Outside the City, a documentary about trappist monks, whose numbers are dwindling, and whose members are ageing, so they can no longer run the farm, and have taken to brewing beer instead. Yeah.. I'm sure it's very good, very interesting - but I'm not that enthused. I'm not even a beer drinker.

Instead, I noted that UITCS are off to see Leopoldstadt, which I found much more interesting. 'Tis the season for Holocaust memorials, indeed.. well, it's the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the majority of the camps. Anyway, it seems to be popular - when I checked the official website for Wyndham's, only three premium tickets remained in the whole theatre! However, checking the event page, I noted that someone was trying to sell a ticket, as he could no longer go, and didn't seem to be having any luck. Well, I got in touch - and it worked out well for both of us, as I'm now going in his place! for a much lower price. The ticket arrived on Monday morning. Oh, and they've extricated that unexploded bomb, so it should be ok to head to the area.

On Friday, Helen is coming to town and we're having lunch - in Byron Burger again. And that evening, I'm off to see Faustus: That Damned Woman, at the Lyric Hammersmith.

On Saturday - why, I finally get to a UITCS social! They have them every now and again, but they're generally sometime I can't make. I go to so much with them, I'm delighted finally to be able to go to a social as well. This is on in the Phoenix Arts Club - ah, memories of happier days, when I worked in the next building over..

And on Sunday, well, initially I was thinking of film again. But wouldn't you know it, that damn film is still showing - that day only, next week! Never mind, UITCS again came to the rescue - and I'm now going with them to an operatic treatment of Alice's Adventures in the Underground, at the Opera House! We would go for a meal as well, but so many are keen that it might be difficult.. ah, the perils of popularity.

Play: Education, Education, Education

Last night, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Education, Education, Education at Trafalgar Studios. Set in an English school in '97, it looked like great fun. And just a couple of days ago, ShowFilmFirst advertised an offer on it, damnit! All tickets £20 for shows up to the 22nd. Ah well.. Never mind, I used a Seatplan Theatre Token as part payment, so got it a bit cheaper than full price. With my cold having moved from my head to my throat - and threatening my chest - I hoped I wouldn't get a troublesome cough! Still, didn't sound like a quiet show.

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.

Play: The Starry Messenger

Last night and tonight, I booked with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS). Last night, it was for The Starry Messenger, at Wyndham's, starring Matthew Broderick. I waited the longest time to book this, because I had theatre tokens, earned from posting photos to Seatplan, and every time I thought of booking it, I was either away from where my tokens were, or it was out of office hours - and they have to be booked by phone, or in person. Well, I was to be glad I waited - they finally released really cheap front row seats in the stalls! (Restricted view, it's a tall stage.) And I was within arms' reach of my tokens, mid-afternoon. After being kept forever on hold, I was put through to someone who had to have everything spelled out for her, and emitted a big sigh when I told her I had a theatre token. So she had to log into that site. But it was all worth it, to get a ticket for that price..

Of course, I knew something would go wrong: and then the office social was scheduled for last night. Ah well - curry night it was then, venue TBD. Anyway, I sold my ticket to another of the group. And then I found out that there were leaving drinks on last night that most people were going to (honestly, they couldn't organise an escape from a paper bag) - so I ended up booking another seat to The Starry Messenger! in the same row. Just as well - I could pick them both up myself, and they are supposed to be collected by the person that made the booking. Technically. Some of us are arranged to meet for food in the Bear and Staff, across the road, beforehand.

I headed off in good time, in brilliant sunshine. My bus arrived as I waited to cross the road - never mind. Another arrived as I approached the stop - to be followed by yet another! So I hopped in the back door of that one, and didn't have to run at all. Four of us arrived at the allotted time, one a little later. Which did make a difference.. anyway, it was really lovely, sat in the upstairs dining room, with a view of the theatre:

And the food was lovely, too! Well, when it arrived.. at least you know it's cooked from fresh, and the chicken was indeed done to a turn. They have a range of pies and burgers too, and I think we were all well fed. Caveat - it did take 45 minutes for our food to arrive (we only had mains). Happily, when we headed across to queue for the box office, we spied two of our group near the head of the queue - which saved us a lot of time. Not enough to meet the group beforehand, unfortunately. And when I'd collected the tickets, I soon found the person who'd bought one, and we made our way down to the stalls.

Hard to tell what you're looking at, here. Well, the "starry messenger" of the title is a middle-aged astronomy professor, played by Matthew Broderick. Calling him a "starry messenger" is pushing it a bit, but anyway. What you see here - and periodically through the play - is his classroom, where he teaches an introductory course. Interestingly - I have a background in this - the maths on the blackboard, which is based on real-life material, is an awful lot more advanced than the easy-peasy stuff he's feeding his class.

I liked the classroom scenes - for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they rang very true, with the annoying students - the middle-aged lady who can't understand the simplest concepts, and complains loudly about it, is hilarious. Oh, I'm so glad I'm out of that. Secondly.. for the classroom, they lower a wall, on which the blackboard and screen are hung. This is positioned very close to the front of the stage. It makes it a bit cramped for them, but it does mean that the action is all close to the edge of the stage - which means that the front two rows of the stalls can actually see what's going on! Seriously, for the rest of the performance, we could only see people from the waist up if they were standing - if they sat, we could see the tops of their heads only. I took to hoiking myself up on my elbows at the start of each scene, to see what the set looked like.. Well, we were warned. This is a very high stage, and a very restricted view.

When I was asked, at the interval, what Matthew Broderick had been in, I could honestly only remember him as Ferris Bueller. Someone later reminded me he'd been Inspector Gadget too - true, although I didn't see that. Anyway, not so much - but for what I've seen him in, I wasn't surprised at last night's performance. He's always seemed wooden to me - it's just that, in other things, it suited. Lordy, he's WEIRD in this! Now, I was as close as anyone in the theatre, and I can testify that he's just as wooden up close. Heavens, he raised his eyebrows in one scene near the end of the first half, and gave me an awful shock! It was like he had to remind himself to have human expressions.. His expression doesn't generally change throughout, he seems very stiff in his movements, and his delivery of lines has absolutely no emotion behind it, seeming as though he is working through a logical script of what intonation is appropriate for any given sentence. Seriously, he's like a robot - it was fascinating to watch.

The rest of the cast seemed perfectly human, and played their parts excellently. When we could see them. As someone remarked later, it was weird to have Elizabeth McGovern have second billing (as his wife), when she wasn't on stage as much as Rosalind Eleazar, the (much younger) single mother for whom he develops feelings. Well, assuming he's capable of feelings, which I doubt. She's a trainee nurse, and we get some hospital scenes with her which are the best in the play - the elderly guy she's caring for is played by the terrific Jim Norton; for all that he's supposed to be dying, he has more life than anyone else in this. He must also suffer the ministrations of his fussy, bossy daughter (Sinead Matthews) - terrific, as are the rest of the cast.

Just as well they are, or this would be utterly unwatchable. Not to mention there seems to be no point to the story, in which very little happens and there's no real conclusion - oddly, for an award-winning writer. The best part of the production, we all agreed, is the projected star display at the end, which spills over the whole ceiling of the auditorium - worth staying for, all on its own. Indeed, an interesting, astronomical background lies behind the set throughout, and provided very pleasant gazing, for those of us who could hardly see anything else. Runs till the 10th August - you'd be better off staying home and watching an astronomical documentary though. Ah well, it was good to see everyone - Facebook is alive today with group members slating the production.

Tonight, I'm off, with UITCS, to Jude, at Hampstead Theatre. Fifth day in a row I'll have seen the organiser, who also came along on Wednesday.

And tomorrow, back - for the first time in a ridiculously long time - with London Dramatic Arts! We're at King Hedley II, with Lenny Henry, at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. As usual, she closed RSVPs too early, but I asked, and she reopened them. Be good to see them again!