Play: The Father and the Assassin

Headed off today to rescue the last of the stuff from my old place. Things took longer than expected, and what with having to run back to the new place first with my case, it was a rush to get to this evening's event! Tonight, I was headed to The Father and the Assassin, at the National. Based on the story of the man who murdered Ghandhi, I'd heard excellent reports! I was actually originally booked to go to this last Wednesday, but then of course, Civilised London advertised a dinner, and I changed my plans! Happily, the National lets you exchange tickets for credit, so I used mine to rebook for tonight. I see CT now has tickets for this, too - but they wouldn't have been so accommodating! Now, the new office is a hop skip and jump from there, so it would have made sense to head in today. But then it occurred to me that if I did, it wouldn't be as easy to head back to my old place to rescue my remaining stuff. So I'm still waitnig to visit the office..

I discovered I could take three different buses - and as I approached the stop, so did each of the three! As I jogged up to them, two managed to escape, but I caught the third. It's a really quick trip, a very straight run, and I was at the theatre in no time. As I headed for the entrance, I came across a food court, just outside! Haven't seen one of those here before - and what a shame I didn't have time to explore. Popped into the lift and pretty much straight into the theatre, just stopping for a bar of ridiculously overpriced chocolate.

And wasn't I lovely and close?! Row C, third from the front. Slightly cramped seats though, both in terms of legroom and in having no armrests - but that's what you get for budget. Note the backdrop, reminiscent of cloth on a loom - obviously a nod to Ghandhi and his idea that Indians should make their own clothes, rather than buying British. Also note the oversized bullets, hanging from the ceiling.

This is told from the assassin's perspective, and he is a charming chap. A brilliant comic actor, he interacts with the audience, tells the story in a humourous way - and with a script that sparkles. Honestly, he's more personally engaging than the fellow playing Ghandhi. Now, I got chatting to the lady beside me, and asked her at the interval what she thought. She wasn't terribly impressed - said it seemed very "worthy", and felt like a history lesson. To be fair, as I remarked, doesn't it have to be, to explain the assassin's motives? After all, this was a political act.

There were several points at which I felt like I was watching the Ghandhi film again. It manages to convey successfully the impression of large crowds, without having so many people on stage. And yes, the first half pretty much describes the energising effect that he had on the people, including our protagonist, who hero-worhipped him. I was left wondering what it was that so changed his mind!

Wait for the second half, though - it soon becomes a familiar story of a young, idealistic man whose hero lets him down, so he finally becomes radicalised to a much more violent solution. In fact, the transformation is disturbing - and just you wait for his final words, at the end, which are chilling. The lady beside me isn't a huge fan of Ghandhi, it transpired - she found the hero-worship of him in the first half irritating, but I think that was necessary, to show us what the young rebel was initially seduced by, and ended up bitterly opposed to. If you don't understand the effect that Ghandhi had on people, then you can't understand what made this young man do such a terrible thing.

This topic, of radicalisation, suspicion of "the other", is highly topical today.. and this play provides a valuable lesson that it didn't start with the extremists of recent years. But it's so much more than that - with the comedy, with the audience interaction, it's hugely entertaining, and very engrossing. Beautiful Indian music plays in the background throughout, getting us in the right mindset. I adored it. Runs until the 18th - highly recommended!

And so home, on another of the three buses.. and was reading in the paper - which I'd forgotten to read at the interval - about how Johnny Depp has been apparently flaunting his recent court win on social media. And as I finished and turned the page, the lady beside me started opining about how she thinks he was guilty. Anyway, turned into an interesting chat - once I managed to deflect her from that topic! Ah, buses are the most sociable way to travel..

Tomorrow, heading to Britannicus at the Lyric Hammersmith (and damned if CT doesn't now have tickets for this as well!). A political thriller, set in modern-day Rome. Thought I might make my initial office trip tomorrow, it'd shorten the journey. But then, I'll be wanting to change clothes, so it'd be handier to be at home.. and anyway, I'd have to be up half an hour earlier! So..

Then back to Ireland for the weekend. And with a couple of films showing that I'd be interested in seeing, the higher rated is a horror film (yay!) called Men, in which Jessie Buckley decides to take a trip on her own through the English countryside, following her ex-husband's suicide. She rents a country manor from an odd chap, played by Rory Kinnear - and he ain't the only odd man she meets! England can be a rich trove of horror stories - certainly, the books are hardcore. Let's hope the film is as well. Written and directed by Alex Garland, who has an impressive pedigree as a writer. Has a slightly earlier showing in the Omniplex, so I'll think about heading there.

On Monday, I've booked for Tony! The Tony Blair Musical, at the Park Theatre.

On Tuesday, booked for Girl on an Altar, at the Kiln Theatre. This is the story of Clytemnestra and her husband, Agamemnon, following his sacrifice of their daughter to the gods.

Next Wednesday, I'm going to a concert in the City Churches Music series. This is Brilliant Brass, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Brass Quintet in the church of St. Stephen Walbrook. This day has tied with the following day as the preferred day for our work dinner - I got my ticket for the concert from CT, though, and would rather not blot my copybook with them by cancelling - they're very picky about that sort of thing.

On the 16th, headed to Mad House at the Ambassadors Theatre. Unless I'm not..

On the 17th, back with the Crick Crack Club! for The Nine Muses of Queen's Crescent, at Rich Mix. Courtesy of my favourite storyteller, Clare Murphy, whom I haven't seen in an age!

On the 18th, I had booked with TAC for Haydn's Creation at St. Pancras Church, Euston. And then I saw that Bucket List London had booked something for that afternoon! specifically, a trip to Greenwich Royal Observatory and/or the Ranger's House. Ah well now, I haven't been out with this group since January! Ironically, that's where I first met Laurence, on so many of whose walks I've subsequently been - and who knows when I'll see him again?! since he seems only to run walks on weekdays, now. I seem to be swapping one for the other.. So anyway, I'm now going to all of the above. One of those busy days.

On the 19th, back with London Guided Walks - but, armed with the information that they now advertise through TAC, I've booked through them instead! This is the Secrets of St. James Walk, and given how I booked, I must remember to bring £3 cash on the day. I have to admit, the standard of these walks is excellent.

On the 20th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Jitney, at The Old Vic. I didn't fancy the cheapest seats - but gee, SFF had seats in all but the most expensive price bands, for very little more! So I now find myself in the central Stalls for this..

And on the 21st, I'm at the Royal Court for That Is Not Who I Am, a play about identity theft, from a mysterious writer about whom we have few details, except that he has worked most of his life in the security industry. Ooh..