Play: Rutherford and Son

Tonight, my only meeting with Up in the Cheap Seats this week - we were off to the National for Rutherford and Son. I got the last £32 seat, when I booked! although there were plenty later. It being a bank holiday, I took the opportunity to shift a couple of loads of stuff from the old flat to the new - pretty much exhausted myself in the process. I did, however, remember to leave myself enough time to eat.

Now, my new office is based in an area with quite a choice of eateries, and I've become a big fan of Wasabi's chicken katsu curry. In fact, there's a branch just down from where I now live - but wouldn't you know it, they were closed today. However, I discovered - from a search on Google Maps - that there's a branch in Waterloo, which they said was open. Which is just down from the National. Cool - I set off to get the bus there: and the journey was made even more enjoyable when I discovered that I didn't have to walk all the way down to where Google Maps was telling me to catch the bus, I actually passed another stop for it on the way! Honestly, what Google Maps is thinking sometimes, I do not know.

Sure enough, Wasabi was open, and I'd soon ordered. No seats left downstairs, but plenty upstairs - their chairs are high, transparent green plastic stools, but plenty comfortable, for all that. And boy, did I scoff that meal.. uniformly delicious throughout their branches, I see. As for the waste, they tell you to leave it on the table for collection - and I must say, I've never had trouble finding a clean table in a Wasabi. Highly recommended Japanese fast food!

I made it early to the theatre - picked up my ticket, once I'd shown them id. No bag check required of me, I noted, with my small bag. And they're trying their best to make it easier to navigate the building!

I had a glass of wine while I was waiting - the group met near the box office before we went in. Actually, most were in the Stalls tonight, having been smarter than I was in getting deals.. I was in the Circle:

That's a curtain of rain you can see, obscuring the stage - and a trio of singers on each side of the Circle entertained us at the beginning and end of each of the two acts. So, an interesting opening. You can also see, behind the rain, a living room - the entire play is set here, in what is obviously the main room of the Rutherford household, acting as sitting room, dining room, and office.

At the interval, I discovered that the play dates from, and is set in, 1912, and was apparently "astonishing" in its day! Probably because of the prominent female characters, in an age when - as mentioned on a flyer - women were rarely seen on the stage. Less astonishing now - in fact, we found the first act really dragged; several people in my section left, even before the interval, including from the middle of rows! I was borderline myself, but decided to give it a chance.

It reminded me of one of those tv miniseries - there have been several, focusing on some wealthy family, whose family business is often in industry, and based in the north of England. And sure enough, we have the gruff patriarch, whose children just won't act as he wants them to - the son and heir wants more respect and responsibility; he's married a woman from a lower class, of whom his father disapproves. The daughter is a bitter, ageing, under-appreciated spinster, not allowed to follow her heart. The younger son gave the whole thing up as a bad lot and joined the church - we see him very little throughout the play, as he prefers to avoid the "noise" of the main room. There's also a maiden aunt, bossing and annoying everyone.

It's a depressing atmosphere - very little affection to be found, no hope, and the pouring rain outside. And that's pretty much all you get for the first act - the interval comes after about an hour. Which leaves an hour and a half or so for the second act.. which does come as an improvement, with more plot development, and felt a lot shorter than the first, to be honest. On balance, I liked it - if that kind of drama is your thing, do stick around after the interval. Happily, both the people in front of me and beside me (predictably, as the woman beside me had her head in her hands for a long time in the first act) left at the interval, leaving me both with more space, and a better view. Runs till the 3rd of August.

Afterwards, I had a choice of buses home, and not long to wait. Tomorrow - film again! (Little enough on Meetup.) Of the films currently at the top of the list, I fancy After Life - a Japanese film (seems to be a Japanese week for me!) in which people who die are given a choice of selecting one memory to take with them into the afterlife. It's an old film, but has been getting showings in London for the last while - currently only showing in the Rio. It's an early showing, so I should get another flat run in.

On Wednesday, back with London Literary Walks for a Hammersmith Walk.

On Thursday, back for our monthly social with ex-colleagues from my last company - this month, gee, you'll never guess.. someone suggested Japanese! :-) So we're off to Shoryu - upon seeing the menu, my boss remarked that it seemed very good value - particularly for Covent Garden! And then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. Interestingly, my new company has an extra "bank holiday" - they brought in an extra day off some years ago as a reward for people who'd worked hard on a release - and they kept it! So we have two bank holidays in a row. Which means I coincide with Ireland, which has a bank holiday the first Monday in June instead of the last one in May..!