Play: As You Like It

Last night, my only Meetup of the week - I was back with Up in the Cheap Seats, to see a performance of As You Like It at Wilton's. And, energetically, I could walk again! Went for a slightly more expensive seat than usual, this time - I'm sick of straining my neck.

I needed to eat somewhere - decided to try the other Indian restaurant on Leman Street: Red Chilli. An imposing entrance - and I seemed to be the first customer of the day. Service was unfailingly friendly, but boy, did the starter take a long time to come! What, did they not have the ovens turned on?

It was worth it, though. The samosas I found a bit too spicy for my taste - might try the onion bhaji if I'm here again. But wow, the main was a winner! I had my usuals, but they're not usually as good as this - butter chicken with beautifully rich sauce, pilau rice, peshwari naan that was hardly burnt at all, and utterly delicious. My, I wolfed it down - was only sorry that I had to rush off afterwards to meet the others. Again, a small delay with getting my bill - but I highly recommend this restaurant!

Only a short walk from there to Wilton's, where the others were chatting outside in the sunshine. Great to see them both, and especially the one I hadn't seen for years! So I had great fun giving them the lowdown on my flat hunting, before it was time to go in - as usual, a massive crowd at the bar, but the bar staff dealt with it efficiently and it didn't take too long.

We were all sat upstairs - appropriately for the name of the group! - but as the doors closed, the ever-friendly usher came over and whispered to me that they weren't full, so I could move more centrally if I wanted. And there were the others, beckoning me over. So, over I went! and had a lovely, straight-on view.

Well, and wouldn't that set design be an innovative approach to the problem of my lack of wardrobe space! From the start, this is an anarchic production - the costume changes being the most visible sign. Rosalind, the girl who dresses as a boy when she takes refuge in the forest, is perfectly played by a transgender, non-binary actor. Touchstone has possibly the wildest outfits, veering between genders - there is a lot of cross-dressing in general. The trees are represented by coat racks, the bushes by clothes rails.

I never appreciated this play when I was younger - I certainly did last night though! Being outlaws in the forest not only allows the characters to dress as they please, and assume different identities, but to play with their roles in life, and follow their true desires. So, imagine how revolutionary that would have been, back in the day! This is a vibrant and imaginative production, breathing a life into these old words that I'd never thought of before. The RSC it ain't! I loved it - as crazy as anything I've ever seen in the Globe. My personal favourite bit was watching the actors having great fun portraying goats.. Runs until tomorrow, highly recommended! Go see.

It ran too late to blog last night, because I had an open house viewing this morning - I hate those, you put your name down if you're interested, and they play eenie-meenie-minie-mo. Last time I was accommodation-hunting, a couple got around the queue of folks wanting one of the two rooms in a flat by simply paying for both themselves! Anyway, this morning I could have taken the bus, but ended up being late enough to take a Tube instead. Google Maps was somewhat confused about where I was going, but happily had been correct the last time, and I found my way.

Just as well I took the Tube, I ended up being the first there. There were three of us in the end, all acting awkward around each other until the agent arrived. It was easy to spot the rental, with the broken blind. First problem - the agent didn't know to turn the key the wrong way in the lock. She's obviously not used to rental properties, with the locks installed upside-down - if you have to put the key in upside-down, you turn it the wrong way! Second problem - massive step down into the hall. A step up to it from the landing as well, making this a real trip hazard. Third problem - as someone hinted, this was a very small kitchen for.. what, five people? The agent apologised for the state of it, the cleaner hadn't been yet. From the state of the floor, not for months..

But we're accommodating folks, all we were interested in really was the room itself. It is on the ground floor. The minute I walked in, I knew it was too small. We had a quick look - it didn't take long, there wasn't much to look at - and trooped out again. Whereupon someone pointed out to the agent that this wasn't the room advertised. She brought up the ad - wrong photos, wrong description. I've since reported it.

And so back, to another missed work meeting. Was supposed to view the possibly fake flat in the afternoon - I've already paid a security deposit, she then demanded three months' rent in advance. When she finally refused to show me the room until the money was received, I demanded my deposit back, which she had said she'd refund if I wanted, and I reported her to the fraud squad. Well, again, at least I'm saved the trip.

Later, back to Ireland for the weekend - would you believe it, I've exhausted the films showing locally that I'm interested in! So it'll be a quiet one. I could do with that - although last night was the best night's sleep I've had all week, finally being free of that (probably) fake landlady!

On Monday, headed to Middle, at the National.

On Tuesday, back with Civilised London for a meal at last - this one is at Mestizo (Mexican). Not usually my favourite, but I'll give it a shot. Meeting beforehand at the Crown & Anchor.

On Wednesday - well, I saw on Meetup that a group called Get a Tech Developer Job has a free webinar, Learn Web Scraping with Python! Now, we're expected to use Python in my new job, and I never have - so this could be very handy indeed.

On Thursday, I'm headed to the Crick Crack Club again, for Astray, at Rich Mix. A storytelling double bill, both Irish ladies telling Irish myths!

Next Friday, headed to Marys Seacole, at Donmar Warehouse. Based on a true story. I've heard mixed reviews - we shall see.

And on the 21st - well Lordy, I've booked for the Roman London Walk, with Walk About London (also advertised on Walks, Talks & Treasure Hunts - both linked to London Guided Walks). Now, I missed the last two I was booked on with this company - third time lucky?