Left a little bit late - but then, they always start late. I had planned to walk to Bank, given the busyness of the Central Line (even at 6.30pm), but since I was a little late I decided to risk taking the Central Line there. And it actually wasn't that bad - I squeezed onto the second train, which was literally 1 minute behind the first. Couldn't actually breathe very well, it was so crowded, but never mind - I was only on for one stop. And the Northern Line, which came immediately, was much less crowded - I even got a seat, after one stop!
I only made one wrong turn, walking to the pub - to be fair, all I had to do was pick the right road and walk straight along it! So, after picking the wrong road - I realised my mistake pretty quickly - I was ok. I arrived at about 7.15 - my ticket said 7pm, but I know they never start the performance for at least half an hour after the scheduled time anyway. Turned out we were downstairs - with no bar down there, I could've brought a drink down with me, but those steep stairs were off-putting. Besides, I got one of the last two of four actual chairs in the place, and it being a high one, I had enough trouble getting onto it and staying there. I kept feeling as though the thing was lurching forwards, and trying to secure myself - it was ages before I felt like I wasn't going to fall off!
Sarah Liisa Wilkinson was on the door, checking us off the list - I don't think they were selling tickets on the door. The place eventually filled to bursting anyway. As she said, she didn't have a real stamp, so she'd give me a virtual one - making the motion, and a kind of thonking sound. The stage itself is where that enormous half-mask is.. and the pictures you can just see, arranged around the base, belong to the act of the first person to appear - Sarah Randall, I think her name was, was actually the person who offered me the last of the high seats! Started late, even assuming they wouldn't get going till 7.30 - but anyway.
It was enjoyable enough, her bit - although I did get the feeling that it was also used for schoolkids. She used the drawings - which were interesting in themselves - to illustrate her story, which was a Japanese legend - as she explained to us, Japanese mythology has two mischievous characters: fox and badger (well, not really a badger, but that's what she'd call it), the latter being better at shapeshifting. So they were the "wild beasts" in her story. She was followed by the excellent Jordan Campbell, who gave us one I already knew, about the princess who disguises herself in bearskin. But he's always a pleasure to listen to, with a lovely, gentle voice.
Mind you, it's an awful venue. The gentler voiced performers were difficult to hear, what with all the noise from upstairs - the ceiling was quite close to my head, and I could hear music, talking, and a loud thud every time someone dropped a glass. Sound also carried quite well down both sets of stairs, front and back - I was right beside the back ones. Seating, as I say, was less than comfortable - the alternatives to the high chairs were very low squat stools, and large cushions scattered about. The last to arrive ended up sitting on the stairs.
Two booths - one at either end - housed a number of people, how many depending on how they chose to arrange themselves. Some chose to kind of lie on top of each other. A very touchy feely audience in general - there was more than one couple, and the guy in front of me was completely incapable of keeping his hands off his girlfriend. Indeed, one hand was pretty permanently stuck down the back of her trousers - where I could get the best view of it. I think he was getting more of a thrill out of doing that in public than she was - she stuck on an overcoat for the second half. His hand was still in position, of course.
With no food on site, a lot of people went across the road for food at the interval - the pub had no problem with them bringing it back. The Red Spice takeaway, it was, and they proclaimed it excellent.
The second half was less successful - Sarah Liisa gave us a Baba Yaga story I'd heard before (and I wasn't quite sure what it had to do with beasts!), and Sarah Randall was back with yet more pictures, and yet another tale of shapeshifting Japanese creatures. It was cute the first time - but by the second round, I'd been on that seat for long enough, and was praying for the end. Which came right after - and boy, was I stiff. I'd hesitate to go back there again. Happily, the buses would now run fast enough to be an option to get home - and wouldn't you know it, it rained on me again as I was making my way. Again, not predicted. But the buses were nice and relaxing - much better than the Tube, any day.
Tomorrow, I've booked for the Troy: Myth and Reality exhibition at the British Museum. Should be interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment