Play: Angel

Tonight, I was back with TAC - for a play called Angel, in the Hope Theatre. Based on the true story of the "Angel of Kobane", a young woman who fought against the encroaching forces of Islamic State. This is the final part of an "Arabian Nightmares" trilogy of plays by Henry Naylor.

So I thought - why not try The Bull again, I remember it being good! So I trudged all the way up there - it's in walking distance. I see the quirky bookshop en route is sadly closed due to flooding! At the pub, I got the same table - I fancied the chicken schnitzel, which is excellent; sadly, word must have got out, because they were out of it. Instead, I had the pie - which, I have to say, is excellent too! Very moreish. I look forward to having an excuse to come here again.

The theatre being above the Hope & Anchor pub, I figured I might as well drink there once I was finished eating - so off I went again. The poor barmaid was trying to eat a wrap - I assured her that I needed the loo first, I'd be back. The loo is upstairs, across from the theatre..

When I came back down, she was just sitting down to her wrap again. Oh dear.. I apologised for the timing, as I ordered a drink. Which I drank in a booth. The pub was pretty empty up to showtime.

When a queue finally formed at the desk at the foot of the stairs, I joined them and got my ticket:

And in due course, upstairs - where I decided to take front row centre:

The show is an hour long. I thought it'd be good.

I was right.

This is the story of a teenage girl. She's a pacifist, so not terribly impressed with her father's tales of fighting for Kurdistan. Neither does she want to inherit the family farm - she wants to study law. So she's less than impressed when he takes her out back to hone her shooting skills on cans of Orangina.

The day she finds out she's been accepted to law school is the same day the bombs start to fall, and her mother yells at her to grab her things, they're off to Europe! Daesh is on the march. However, her father has stayed behind to fight - and when she finds this out, she turns her back and heads back the way she's come. Into hell. To find him. And a legend is born.

First--person POV. It's so powerful. You live every moment through this energetic portrayal. I was in tears, the actor portraying her was in tears. The guy two seats down was in tears. And as for her ending - I was reminded of a scene in The Lion in Winter, where Prince Richard (in future to be known as The Lionheart) is talking about a good death, and his younger brother Geoffrey scorns the idea. "As if how you fall matters!" to which he replies, "When the fall is all there is, it matters."

Very, very highly recommended. Runs until the 17th. You will see few better.

Tomorrow, which no word from any prospective employers, I've signed up to another walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners: The Lady-Killer is an inventive renaming of London's most notorious serial killer.. (Ooh, and I'll have to get cash out again.) Failing that, if I have to work (sadly, a necessary evil eventually), I can always head back to the Soho Comedy Factory that evening.. (Be aware, Design My Night sells tickets to this for £5, but you can show up for free..!)