And as I trod the scruffy backstreets to the Arcola, I noted that it's been a very, very long time since I was here last! Over a year, I see.. and how different things were for me then. Anyway, I made my way in. The organiser had said she'd meet us in the bar, and I carried on until I saw her. Took a seat, and she gave me my rather flimsy ticket - as I remarked to one of the others, we'd have to be careful not to throw them out! They were just till receipts - the cheaper type. Anyway, I went to the bar for a drink - and one of the others, coming after me, added a packet of crisps to her bill. Ah! I though - that'd be nice. So I ordered a pack of chili flavour ones. Tyrrell's - chili and red pepper. Proceed with caution.. eye-wateringly spicy.
Not much conversation was had with our organiser beforehand, who was distracted by the group member who was both a mother (like her) and a landlady (like her). Well now, isn't that lovely? Nice that she has another member involved in the property market - when the last one moved away, I thought the rest of us might now get a word in edgeways, but no. I was relieved when we went to take our seats.
Front row:
I have to admit, it's a good set - all white, with a white-painted tree stretching up through a white bookcase. Some chairs under white dust sheets. A silvery finish to the stage. Kind of ghostly, and very simple.
I wish I could be as complimentary about the acting. Someone asked me at the interval what I thought - I said I felt like I was in English class. It was so stilted! The diction was consciously perfect, each word uttered so carefully - you can get that with old-fashioned text, but it behoves actors - and directors - to try to find a way around it, to make it sound a bit realistic. I guess they didn't get that memo.
So, I hated most of the first act. The speech was stilted, the humour un-funny. I kept thinking that each joke would have been funnier if it had been played in a different way.. I wasn't even sure, at points, that they understood the sentences they were speaking! At the interval, I damn near decided to leave, but held out, if only to keep the girl company who was sitting beside me, and all excited because she was right beside the action! I don't think she's been to many plays.
Things started to improve at the end of the first act, with the introduction of the intellectual, Peter Trofimov, played by Abhin Galeya. A welcome blast of seriousness in the midst of so much ridiculousness, if not for him I really would have left at the interval. And so I remembered that I do actually like Chekhov. The second act was an improvement, with the plot speeding up to match the frantic actors, who seemed more at home now.
So, runs until 25 March, but I can't really recommend it. Typically, of course, the rest of the group were perfectly happy with it - one because she just loves Chekhov, one because she doesn't get out enough, one because - as previously mentioned - she was just excited to be so up-close to a real life play! With nobody to agree with my opinion - as so often happens with this group - I was glad we didn't go for drinks after. And, as usual, as I was looking for my bus stop home, they legged it - I think they had an Overground to catch, but they tend not to wait for people anyway.
Oh, and remember the argument with the guy who couldn't make it and wanted to pass on his ticket? He wasn't allowed to pass it on directly, and was told (a) it couldn't change hands until the day of the event, and (b) he wouldn't get a refund, just credit at best. Anyway, seems he'll get neither - fully two people "bailed", as she put it. So, no passing on of ticket. Well, if you won't even countenance it until the day of the event, it's highly unlikely to happen, isn't it?
The rain that wasn't promised persisted all day, and drizzled on me as I took two buses home. Just in time to go to bed. Which, in turn, was just in time to be woken at 2am by the fire alarm, hundreds of us pouring onto the street, in whatever garb we could throw together in the meantime. Charming. That's twice, in about six weeks since I moved in.. occupational hazard of living in a building with so many other people.
Today has dawned windy, the sheeting rattling on all the scaffolding round these parts. Could make the journey to Crouch End interesting - tonight, the Crick Crack Club is back there, with The Fate We Bring Ourselves - finally advertised on their Meetup page! Ben Haggerty standing in for Claire Muireann Murphy, who's having a knee operation, it seems. I take it my ticket, purchased for the performance that's being replaced, will do for this. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.
Monday, the Man with the Hat and London for Less Than a Tenner are off to Two Man Show at Soho Theatre. I've seen it before, but it's worth seeing again. And so is the group!
Tuesday, Let's Do London - for less! is off to Sleeping Beauty, at the Opera House.
Wednesday - well lookee that, the same group is off to Roundelay, at Southwark Playhouse. Three in a row for the Man with the Hat - we'll have to carry him off on a stretcher. About time we got back to Southwark though - we've missed it!
Next Thursday, I was thinking of free comedy in Hammersmith - this time with London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Farringdon, and Random London. But then Walk, Talks and Treasure Hunts (and Walking Victorian London) announced a walk called True Spy Stories! So I thought that sounded more interesting, and booked.
Friday 3rd, again, Crick Crack is telling stories - Daniel Morden and Hugh Lupton are performing Metamorphoses at Rich Mix. However, the Rich Mix website doesn't seem to have heard of this.. The independent Crick Crack Club website has a link to buy tickets from Rich Mix though, and at the moment they're being sold at a discounted preview price. And now that the link is available, their Meetup group is advertising it too.
Saturday 4th, Let's Do London - for less! is back to see Sleeping Beauty - and so am I. Honestly, this was a mistake on my part - I was booking a lot at the time and forgot I was already going - but hell, I'd rather be doing this anyway than not. Amphitheatre, this time - it's been a while since I was there.
Sunday 5th, London for Less Than a Tenner advertised "Soho: the Roots of the Swinging Sixties - guided walk"! Now, this confused me, before I read deeper.. I do recall the Man With the Hat saying that, while he was interested in guided walks, he wasn't interested in actually guiding them. Turns out someone else is doing the actual guiding.. Anyway, I booked, but it seems not enough of us did, and he's cancelled the event. The walk is still going ahead though - check out Back in the Day Walks for more details. Me? I might just go to a film - we'll see what's on, closer to time.
Monday 6th, I'm off to see Russell Howard at the Albert Hall.
Tuesday 7th, jeez, the Man with the Hat is back again! Hard to keep up these days - so I'm going with Let's Do London - for less! to The Diary of a Teenage Girl at Southwark Playhouse.
Wednesday 8th, I finally get to go to something with the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club - not a book discussion this time, instead they're off to a play called The Machine Stops, at Jacksons Lane Theatre. Suitably post-apocalyptic. Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend.
Monday 13th, I'm with LDAM at the Royal Court, for The Kid Stays in the Picture. Not in any great hurry to see them again.
That rescheduled talk on Brexit Vs. Trump from last week is on Tuesday 14th. Unless I decide to go to a film instead - being Funzing, I can get my money back if I cancel at least 48 hours in advance.
On Wednesday 15th, the Man with the Hat is now taking London for Less Than a Tenner to Top Secret.
Thursday 16th, he's back to the Opera House for the opening night of a mixed bill of ballet. As usual, he's in the slips with London for Less Than a Tenner, and in the amphitheatre with Let's Do London - for Less!
Friday 17th, I got a cheap ticket to a very topical version of Twelfth Night, in the Drayton Arms. Ah, I remember when I was walking distance from there..
Saturday 18th, I'm back with Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts for an Oliver Twist walk. Back with Hazel, excellent!
Sunday 19th.. not a Man with the Hat event, but one he's advertised. One member of his group plays Spanish guitar, and is giving a concert that night - so I've booked a ticket. Well hey, I do love Spanish music..
Monday 20th, I'm off to a Funzing talk on The Science of Psychedelics. Courtesy of London Speaks Sessions, LDN Talks @ Night, and London for a Tenner or Less (nothing to do with the Man with the Hat). Unless I think of something better up to 48 hours beforehand..
Tuesday 21st, I'm with London European Club (LEC) for Carradine's Cockney Singalong, at Hoxton Hall. Had some fun with this yesterday, when I noticed another group member had confused it with something at a different venue, and thought it wasn't now happening..
Wednesday 22nd, I'm headed with LEC again - with a different organiser - to see 2 Cellos in concert in the London Palladium. Cool - never seen them before, never been there before, and I can probably walk there!
Thursday 23rd, another Funzing Talk, with the same three groups, on The Science of Hypnosis. Again, unless I get a better offer in the meantime. And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again..
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