Storytelling: The Nine Muses of Queen's Crescent

Tonight, 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 hadn't seen in an age! Last storytelling event until autumn.. Now, distance-wise, this is a curious one. There actually isn't much to choose between home and work as to which is handier for this - home is very slightly closer to walk, but still too far for me to walk (particularly in today's heat!): but the public transport option is ever so slightly quicker from work! So, what with the free food n all.. I was in the office again today.

A nice, short walk to catch the bus - and just as well, because stepping outside was like walking into an oven. The #8 was the first to arrive of those I could have taken - stifling, but at least I got a seat, albeit rear-facing - but wow, is the route messed up. Not one, but two diversions - neither of which really affected me, apart from making the journey half again as long as it should have been. Several people on the bus were to find, however, that where they wanted to get off wasn't on the route this evening.. and then there were the tourists who wanted to pay cash, and when they were told it had to be card, had trouble because not all of them had a card of any kind, and of course it has to be separate cards. I guess drivers see this all the time, because he let them off - but how, after all this time, do people not know this about London buses..?

So, I extracted myself from the bus at last, hoiked the laptop onto my back again, and into Rich Mix. I knew it was on the top floor - what I hadn't known in advance was that the lift was broken. Oh, whoopee. "So," as the nice lady at the box office said, "you - very slowly - climb up to the top floor. There's a bar on the first floor, if you need a break to get a drink of water. There's also a bar on the top floor - and aircon." "Ah!" I said, "heaven is upstairs.."

I had to take a short break - to breathe, rather than to get water - and there I was, on top of the building. Ordered a drink. A nice lady arrived, ordered a lager, which they have on tap. First, the internet connection dropped while they were trying to take our payment. (Speaking of which, at least I finally discovered the poster about Rich Mix WiFi, which I'd never noticed, scurrying out of the lift.) Second, the keg of lager ran out. Never fear, that was what one of the bar staff had anticipated, and had brought a replacement - she was now busily engaged in trying to troubleshoot the card payment problem. She suggested we could schlep back down to the first-floor bar and pay there (hah!).. my companion asked whether they take cash. Not everyone does, you know - but these folks do, and happily, for once, I had enough, because of one time I was getting cash out for one of Laurence's walks, and the machine made me take too much. And so we were served at last.

And had a lovely chat, waiting for the house to open - she turned out to run a festival, the East Anglian Storytelling Festival! Runs over our next bank holiday - well, you never know. Also a lot of storytellers in attendance this evening, as always - I was just worried that Clare would have got winded from all those stairs! When it came time to go in, we queued to have our names ticked off, and our wrists stamped - and the lady wisely wanted everyone to get stamped on the inside of the wrist, it's less easy to rub off accidentally. She also mentioned that she recognised me! Well gee, if I do keep coming back..! ;-)

Front row, of course. A short intro from Ben Haggarty, and Clare bounced on stage. And regaled us for the next 75 minutes. As she said, this show has been germinating since before lockdown.. couldn't develop without the energy of an audience. And wow, she hasn't lost the knack - as she shimmied and glided across the stage, her words did too, switching between modern style, and myth. That lady caught up with me again as I trudged for the bus home, and we agreed that we'd loved it - but, as she said, there are plenty who don't appreciate mixing formats, mixing traditions. But I think it keeps both traditions fresh. As for the content? There was much about the titans, much about memory. Much about the Goddess of Memory, Mnemosyne, and her daughters, the nine muses. And a very interesting analysis of what you do, if you're supposed to retain all the information in the world, and then you hit the information age..!

As ever, a joy to watch, and she took us down some unexpected paths. More audience participation than before from her, too! An effect of lockdown? Whatever, I was so glad to see her again - looking forward to the next time.

Tomorrow, I had booked with TAC for Haydn's Creation at St. Pancras Church, Euston. And then I saw that Bucket List London (BLL) had booked something for earlier in the day! 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. And he wants to start early, blast!

On Sunday, back with London Guided Walks (LGW) - 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 Monday, 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..

On Tuesday, 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..

On Wednesday, back with TAC for The Lark Ascending and Piano Quintet, a classical concert at St. Giles' Cripplegate, a church I've often passed but never been in! Part of the City Churches Music Festival.

On Thursday, back at the same festival - with CT, this time, for a concert of English Song at the lovely church of St. Bartholomew the Great. It's been too long.. Then back to Ireland for the weekend again.

On the 27th, booked with TAC to hear an interview with Chris Patten, the last UK governer of Hong Kong before it was handed back to China. Happening at Conway Hall.

On the 28th, back again with Free Stuff and Free Events, for their Free Tuesday Sing-a-Long for Health and Pleasure. Online, and one where you're muted, so you don't even have anyone hear you sing! Great for the shy.

On the 29th, I'm finally succumbing to Anything Goes, at the Barbican. Now, I got my ticket for this from Time Out, which is the first place I saw the offer - but it turns out that any number of outlets have £25 tickets! If they're all for the same seats as Time Out, then I'd have to feel sorry for people that bought tickets for £38, which is cheaper than the original price of £45 for the seats on offer! Assuming anyone did. Anyway, with no bad seats here, you'd have to be crazy to pay more.

On the 30th, back with BLL - who obligingly is doing something midweek! I'll have to skip off work early - this is for vespers in Westminster Cathedral, and starts at 4.30. He is actually in Westminster all day, attending Ministerial Question Time earlier - but not only do I have a job to go to, but jeez, I do believe this would just infuriate me! So that, I'm not attending..

On the 1st, back with Civilised London for dinner at Caravel. Terrific reviews..

That weekend, I'm back with the man with the famous name - Dr. Stephen King (not the writer) is guiding a couple of walks for LGW (courtesy of Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts). Sadly, not as yet advertised on TAC, so I booked them through the official site (discount of £3 with the code MEETUP3, as usual). Both topics / areas I've covered many times before, but gee, he's such a great guide! On the 2nd, it's his Southwark Walk.

On the 3rd, it's his Royal Coronation Walk. I just bet he comes up with something I didn't already know..

And on the 4th, I'm headed to A Doll's House Part 2, at Donmar Warehouse - sequel to the famous original, where the wife leaves an unhappy marriage; this sequel examines what happens when she returns.