Play: Gloria

Helen's finished her course, but bought a weekly train ticket - so she came up to town today and we went for lunch. She met me at the office, and well, the most convenient place was Cafe Milano, just downstairs, which does good and cheap Italian food, and is always my first choice for takeaway lunches. I'd never eaten in before, mind, so this was a new experience for me.

They split three levels of seating over two floors, and we sat in what you might call the mezzanine level, in the window. I fancied some garlic bread, which ended up coming with the mains - presented in a novel way, two slices of panini bread with a garlic sauce in between, and a little pot of olive oil to dip it in - it arrived on a wooden platter, cut into thin slices. She had pasta with gorgonzola - optional parmesan on top made this a hefty dish. Me, for lunch I always have the carbonara, so this time I opted for the pollo a la crema - who could've guessed it'd be a pasta bake, in a pie! Neither of us could finish our mains, which didn't stop us having dessert, of course. Strawberry cheesecake for her, chocolate fudge cake for me, natch - which I had cold, to avoid the fudge running all over the plate! I give it a 6 - good, but not spectacular. But then, I'm very picky with chocolate fudge cake.. In all, we were very well fed, and at a very good price - especially considering the area. Most impressive, and I'd happily go back.

Tonight, London Dramatic Arts saw Gloria in Hampstead Theatre - and since they got us to buy our own tickets for once, so did I! Pulitzer-Prize-winning, apparently. The organiser messaged me on Wednesday to check I'd bought a ticket - she's used to buying them for us, and it seems a number of people left it too late and it was sold out. I caught the bus - well, two of them - and had an uneventful stroll up to the stop. Unlike yesterday then, when I was caught behind a merry bunch of singing, dancing and drum-beating Hare Krishnas - or indeed, the night before, when, walking back late, I found myself dodging a motorcycle that was weaving in and out among crowds of pedestrians, swerving onto and off of pavements at speed as the mood took the rider.. well, I guess that's local excitement for you.

Not so much today - the most eventful thing to happen on my journey (apart from the tempestuous toddler in a pushchair who belted his long-suffering mother when she tried to stop him accessing something on her mobile) was getting off at Camden Town Station to change buses, seeing the bus I wanted approaching right behind, then seeing it sail past my outstretched arm! Turned out, despite what Google Maps said, that I didn't just catch it at the same stop - it was the next one along. I think he waited for me, mind, but by the time I figured out where I should be, I'd have had to run, which wasn't an option, with this heavy laptop I was carrying home for the weekend.

So, that added 10 minutes to my journey, waiting for the next bus - I was eventually let off just across the road from the theatre. Despite arriving 25 minutes after the agreed meeting time, of course, I was still there before the organiser and her husband. We all congregated in the lobby bar - but I didn't feel like a drink (probably the heat). Few of us did, in fact. As we chatted, prior to going in, I was amused to find that, predictably, they hadn't liked Common, which I attended the same night they did, but on my own. I did like it, of course. Figures.

Tonight, I was in the very back row of the upper level (just like that other occasion) - but this is a small theatre, and the view was perfectly fine. In fact, there was a very convenient gap right beside my seat, where I could leave my bags and coat - as though a seat was missing from there. And, as usual, the play started quite late..

You know how offices are said to make you sick? There's the dog eat dog mentality, the twofacedness, the backstabbing. Not to mention the noisiness of open plan, the irritation of being around someone who skives off all the time (or someone who works harder than you) - oh, and Lord preserve us from "mood music". It all appears in this play. A very well informed look at modern life, it's quite frequently hilarious, as we recognise the different office types. It's funny because it's true - the intern who works harder than anyone else, the people who get in late, the gossips, the disgruntled IT guy. The quiet one that everyone ignores.

It starts off feeling like a sitcom, and I was beginning to wonder what the point was. Until the last scene before the interval, which makes everyone sit up and take notice. The ramifications of that scene are felt for the rest of the play, as we step outside the office for a bit, then back to a completely different office environment. Or - is it so different? Slicker - with mood music: more modern, in a more modern industry: but the same people are back, in different roles, just as bitchy and soul-destroying as ever. Yeah, I can see why it won an award. As the notice outside warns, "Contains sudden loud noises." Runs until 22 July - booking recommended.

Afterwards, we stayed for a chat, but this time, no-one was drinking. Just too hot, even with all the doors open. I managed a direct bus home, at least (handy, with delays on the Piccadilly Line, which I'd have had to get once) - and for once, it did actually continue past Oxford Circus to my stop, near Margaret Street! They hardly ever do. Tomorrow, I had my eye on Day Trips from London, who are headed on a Lulworth Cove Heritage Site, Corfe Castle Village + Warhead Quay Day Trip. But I was busy when the email came through to advertise it, and wouldn't you know it, by the time I got around to it, it had booked out! Always popular, it seems. Never mind - while I was at Soho Theatre the other night, I was facing the screen advertising future events, and what should I see but that Andrew Maxwell is performing a run there, ending that day. Now, I saw him live once before, and he was fall-off-your-seat hilarious! So I've booked. So much for my Westminster Residents' Card though, which is supposed to give £1 off at this venue - there was no mention of it when I came to book! Bah humbug.. Well, at least it means I can have a lie-in in the morning..

And on Sunday, I was thinking of a film. After I deleted all the stuff at the top of the list that isn't showing that day, I was left with The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. Never heard of this person, but it turns out to be the story of a transgender gay activist, who died in mysterious circumstances. I couldn't even find a trailer, but the story sounds interesting enough. Showing at the Curzon Aldgate only, and practically sold out when I checked - so I booked.

For Monday, I'm thinking of a film again - and it could be something interesting. Watch this space..