Play: Tiger Country

Today, as usual, I followed Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS)' lead in watching Hampstead Theatre's weekly offering, which this week was the currently topical Tiger Country, set in the NHS. Mind you, I left it late enough to start watching that I could probably have watched it with them! but I couldn't guarantee that, and their attendance list was full anyway.

It quickly became evident that this was something we've all seen before. Hands up, anyone who hasn't seen a hospital drama - harassed staff, impracticable workloads, impossible social lives, worried patients. Mix in a few life-or-death stories, a bit of workplace bullying, a staff health scare, some romance - yep, I've seen countless dramas quite the same. Film, tv film, hour-long tv programmes, half-hour tv programmes (one of the characters even unwinds by watching Doctors!) - now we have the play. Based on a book, it seems. Ho-hum.

Having said that, there's a reason why we keep seeing them - it makes for terrific drama. You can concoct the most tense storylines from completely believable scenarios - a staff member with a strange lump, another whose relative comes in as a patient, a newbie that's completely overwhelmed in the chaos of A&E! Life and death at the drop of a hat - and then take a breath, and on to the next one. The only problem with the format is that it never allows you time to process what's happened, or to empathise with the characters.

But then, that kind of reflects the reality, doesn't it? And to the credit of this play, towards the end, the stories become bigger, and we focus more on a couple that allow us to see another side of a few characters. I did find enough to keep me interested. Now finished, I'm afraid - but hey, there's always something medical on telly..

Tomorrow, London Literary Walks scheduled a continuation of the music quiz that was running.. a mistake on the organiser's part, he accidentally made the next bit a separate event! Glad he's still running it - when I saw the first event had ended, I was afraid he'd stopped, and I do enjoy them! He's now rescheduled that to next week, but I'm not yet sure whether that means a lull in the questions.

On Saturday, behold, London Social Detours has my attention again - they're doing an online murder mystery, where everyone chooses a character and (optionally) dresses up. Small fee. Cool! We get scripts, it seems.. And I've been chosen to be Sierra Tango, police constable! Seems it's been booking heavily, and that was all that was left. Fine by me. Must figure out what I'm doing by way of a character image, or fake background..

Next Sunday, back with Hampstead Theatre for The Arrest of Ai Weiwei. UITCS is, of course, seeing it that evening.

Now, the 8th is a bank holiday - so I'll need something to do that day as well. And I was thinking I'd follow UITCS' lead from earlier in the week, and have a look at a livestreamed Showstopper! show, filmed in the Lyric a month ago without an audience (!), now available on Facebook..

..and then they advertised Antony and Cleopatra, screened by the National Theatre from that day. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okenedo. Now, that does sound interesting..