The Boat Factory

Back to going to plays for a couple of days! Tonight's was The Boat Factory, in the King's Head, Islington. Now, I've been here before, and by a few different means, but this evening I opted for the Overground. It was going to take a little longer, but was easier, involving no changes going and just a change of trains coming back, rather than a train and a bus - and it's cheaper, by design, as it circles Zone 1 without entering. Mind you, this is the first public transport I've taken since Monday, and the first train since Sunday, and it wasn't a happy re-introduction, being at the tail end of rush hour, and packed - I never did get a seat on the outward journey, and spent half the journey in a part of the car where the only thing to hang onto was the overhead bar, which is uncomfortably high for me on the Overground. I was stiff and sore getting off..

It strikes me that Islington wouldn't be at all a bad place to live. Well, at least the bit I walked along this evening. Packed with bars and restaurants, and with two top class theatres - the King's Head and the Almeida - yes, not bad at all. Despite the website stating that doors would open at 6.45, they still hadn't when I arrived, just after 7, but I eventually got in. Now, here's a tip, if you're going here - I booked seat D4, which turns out to be one of those benches of which you get half. However, inside that (seats 1-3) are individual tip seats. And when our row filled up and someone asked whether I could move in, I duly moved to one of those and found it to be one of the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in. Take note. I think they're only to be found in row D.

Before the show started, we were regaled by a charming young lady, who explained that the theatre and bar are separate - indeed the theatre rents the room from the bar - and if they were to receive no funding, they'd not only need sold-out shows every night of the year, but also another £100k on top, per annum. So, we could become friends of the theatre, or she'd also be waiting at the end, with a bucket. Bless. She also told us how this is the oldest pub theatre in London (43 this week) and the first since Shakespearian times! Fancy..

And so the show began. A two-man show, it's a love poem to the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast. They built the Titanic, y'know.. and, as they say, there was nothing wrong with her when she left Belfast! Seriously, a better show you'd be hard pressed to find. It's stunning. The dialogue is beautifully written and evocative, and the acting is superb. The two men portray numerous characters, with the aid of some headgear as props, but mainly just by a change of expression, of gait, of voice. I am amazed to discover, looking it up just now, that the writer is one of the two actors! - Dan Gordon. The other, Michael Condron, is noteworthy for the expressiveness of his face, and how he can change character, and mood, so readily just by changing expression, leading us right along with him.

At the end, I was trapped in place by two elderly ladies, enthusing about the show. Mind you, I had to agree with them - I, too, felt lucky to have seen this. And I deposited some change in the bucket on my way out. Runs until Saturday 17th.

Tomorrow, it's the matinee of A Season in the Congo, for which I got the last (non-stool) seat a couple of weeks ago. Should be good - it should certainly be packed!