Roots

(Fanfare:) So, after much suspense, tonight's offering was.. "Roots"! Playing at Donmar Warehouse, near Covent Garden. Can't actually remember whether I've been here before, but I looked it up, as usual, on Google Maps Streetview before I left.

So, after an unscheduled stop on the District Line (almost inevitable), I changed to the Piccadilly Line, glad that the delay announcement, as I was on the platform, related to trains west of where I was, and that I was headed east. And I managed to get a seat, as we weren't yet in the centre. And settled down for quite a long trip, sighing inwardly that I didn't have anything to occupy me. I needn't have worried - the red-haired lady, in the red coat, who happened to be sitting beside me, proved the most talkative person I've yet met on the Tube! We got to talking, I must have told her half my life story, and I only just had a chance to get a word in edgeways as I was getting off to ask her what she did for a living. Belinda, from New Zealand, with the corporate social networking business, if you're listening, it was lovely chatting with you!

Right, anyway. Found the place with no problems, and produced my debit card, as required, to collect my ticket. Then he made me sign a receipt, and then there was a problem, as he was supposed to check my signature, and I hadn't yet signed my new debit card. Oops.. so I dug around for something else with my signature on it, aware that I had no ID on me - then I remembered I also had a credit card, which was signed. Phew. Made sure to sign the debit card while I remembered.

After something of a climb - I was in the cheap seats in the circle - I turned left, as that was where I was to go for my seat number. And utter confusion ensued. I vaguely remembered, from the seating plan, that I was in the very back row - but not where my seat was. So I asked the people who had just sat down what numbers they were. 36 & 37 - well, I was 35, so I must be beside them. Turned out, at the interval, when I found the seat numbers discreetly printed on the seat backs, that they were in the wrong seats and I should have been on their other side. But it doesn't really matter.

This play is set in Norfolk, in the 50s. Simple country folk, to whom the youngest daughter returns from London to visit, full of tales of her socialist boyfriend and quoting his ideas to them, to their increasing irritation. There are two intervals, allowing three different sets to be staged, representing three different rooms - first, the kitchen of her sister, whom she always visits first, then her parents' kitchen, and finally, her parents' front room, whose table is laden with food, in preparation for the visit of the famous boyfriend of whom we've heard so much.

So much of this rang true! The country life is realistically and charmingly presented, with birdsong, rain effects, a backdrop with images of nature. I recognised so many of the characters from my own childhood - farm labourers, men in cloth caps who get in from work exhausted, put their feet up and read the paper. Women who are so busy with housework they never sit down. There are long silences while women in the play cook, tidy or do the washing up, and men read the paper. Beautifully done. And the young woman, back from the big city, alight with all the new ideas she's acquired, resentful that her parents never showed her these things when she was growing up and frustrated that they can't understand them now. Ah yes, met her somewhere.. Her soliloquy at the end is profoundly thought-provoking.

She, in particular, is electrifying. They all ring true. One touch I liked is that the stage hands, who move the props in the intervals, although not taking part in the play, are still dressed as though they are, in the clothes of the period. I absolutely loved this - would have given it a standing ovation if I hadn't known I'd then have the spotlights at eye-level and not be able to see the actors I was applauding. Very highly recommended - runs until the end of next month.

Coming out, I was glad I'd remembered the street names - it was dark, and the streets around there are confusing and narrow. Be warned.. you can get lost here very easily.

Right - no films for me this week, ironically considering that the BFI Film Festival is on. Well, bad timing.. Next (Tuesday), I'm going to see Black Jesus at the Finborough Theatre, so can walk there. It's about a Truth and Justice Commission enquiry in Zimbabwe, as part of which a man is interviewed who is known as the "Black Jesus" because he decides who lives and who dies. It's supposed to be a powerful analysis of the political complexity of Zimbabwe. I can imagine it will be powerful indeed, in such a small venue. Then, on Wednesday, I'm going to see The Light Princess, at the National Theatre. It's a musical fantasy, apparently, written by Tori Amos, and it's getting rave reviews. I'm so glad I'm going to see it at last - every time I logged onto the National's website, for the last several weeks, it was the first thing I saw, and it looks gorgeous. And then it's back to Ireland for a ballet. Then there are two operas, a London Dungeon trip, a Christmas party and Christmas dinner. The remaining days this year have yet to be filled. ;-)