Play: The Great Wave

Tonight and tomorrow, I'm back with Meetup, and Up in the Cheap Seats; tonight was The Great Wave, in the Dorfman. The day started with a trip to my nearest watch battery replacement centre, The Watch Service Centre - a traditional place, tiny but unmissable with its canary-yellow frontage, cash-only, and run by an elderly couple. Fascinating, and the cheapest battery I've had replaced in years! Later, again, I left in good time, and again, my bus was at the stop as I approached. This time, I knew I wouldn't make it, even if I ran - so I didn't. Had under five minutes to wait, anyway.

A moment's hesitation, as usual, when I got off - they really should move that bus stop! Not that that would make any difference to the fact that, since they erected the terrorist-proof barriers on the bridges last year, you can no longer get off right at the steps here, but must walk back for them. Passed what looked like a fitness bootcamp on the way - ick. Anyway, apart from the organiser, I was the first to arrive (again) - she was conspicuously-enough positioned just inside the entrance to the foyer, and had worn a leopard-print scarf to be identifiable to the new person coming along. So, as we arrived one by one, we chatted away until it was time to go in - one making his usual pilgrimage upstairs to see what was what. He came back with tales of frantic goings-on behind the scenes, where things weren't finalised - despite this play being on its fifth night! Hmm..

I'd bought my seat from someone else in the group, who'd cancelled - and I must say, I had a good seat, if a bit of a sideways view:

Set in Japan, the story begins in 1979, and is the story of a teenage girl who goes missing after going out on the beach one stormy night. (I must say, the storm is marvellously portrayed, with flashing lights and clever lighting that suggests rain.) But the plot thickens - it's not much of a spoiler to say that, as we discover when the stage revolves, she's actually been kidnapped by the North Koreans, who proceed to use her to Westernise their citizens as spies! Her family refuses to give up on her.. the question is, will they ever find out what happened to her, and will she be able to return home?

As I remarked to one of the group at the interval, were this written, I'd say it was a real page-turner; I, for one, was dying to get back in and find out what happened! There was so much detail that I figured it had to be based on fact - sure enough, there's a Wikipedia article on how this sort of thing happened at around that time. In fact, I think the main character was inspired by the real-life tale of Yaeko Taguchi. Damnit, with cash on me from my trip to the watch place in the morning, I could easily have bought a programme, and meant to, what with reports that it contained several interesting articles. Never mind.. this is an enthralling tale, highly recommended. Runs till the 14th of next month - booking strongly recommended, Monday's performance (press night) is sold out, it seems, and most other dates have limited availability.

As usual, several buses would take me back home - happily, the first to come was also the quickest, and I got there in time to hit Tesco before they closed. Tomorrow, the opening night of Ballet Black, at the Barbican, so I can walk, yay. Sold out now.

On Friday, Funzing - via Walking in London - has The Hidden Horrors Haunted History London Ghost Walk. Hell, the alliteration alone got me interested! Got it for free, what with a combination of my loyalty discount, and the crazy_fun 10% discount code.

On Saturday, London European Club organised a trip to a ceilidh for St. Patrick's Day - however, it was subsequently cancelled, for essential ongoing maintenance work on the building. Which, mind you, worked out perfectly for me, as after booking it, I discovered I'm travelling to the company's Silicon Valley office that day, where I'll be for most of next week. It'll be my first time in California. And when I get back, I'll be turning straight around and flying to Ireland for the weekend.