Play: Yeast Nation

Tonight, I was back with Up In The Cheap Seats - crikey, when's the last time that happened, twice with them in one week! This time, it was for Yeast Nation in Southwark Playhouse. Bless, they always put on something interesting.. Anyway, with my old payg subscription used up, I've taken out another - £60 gets you five tickets, over an unlimited period. Excellent value! and I have such good memories of evenings spent in the bar here. Doesn't happen any more, sadly.

Just missed one bus, but another was along within five minutes. Well, I have gotten into the habit of eating in the Mercato Metropolitano when attending a show here - it's just across the road - and did the same this evening. One of the first stalls I passed was the Gourmet Burger stall - with good memories from the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, I decided to try it. For each of their burgers, you get a choice of beef, chicken, brisket, or vegetarian - I chose a beef truffle burger (comes with truffle sauce). Double, while I was at it - with fries. Got a receipt, and was told it'd be about 10 minutes - nipped around the corner in the meantime for a glass of wine, there's a decent bar there.

Came back, sat down. The girls who had ordered ahead of me duly collected their order - and seeing a burger remaining there - which might have been mine - I went up with my receipt. She was rather surprised I had to ask - yes, this is your burger! Jeez, is it not the norm to announce a burger when it's ready?! Also, it would have been really nice to get some cultery - or at least a napkin. I'd been struggling for a while when I noticed they did have knives on the counter - but that was it. So I had the messiest meal I've had in years - finally gave up on the thing (I was a bit sick of all the truffle sauce anyway), left about a third of it. The fries were quite nice, but needed salt - that wasn't on offer either, of course. It was already past the time I was supposed to meet the others, so I dumped the rest and nicked some kitchen paper I'd spotted to wipe my hands. Won't be back there again..

At Southwark Playhouse, you have to check in. That's all - they don't give you a ticket or anything, just confirm your seat number. I spotted the others, queued for a drink - better wine here, TBH. Joined the others, and we moseyed in when we saw other people moving. Most of us were sitting together, one over the side:

We did wonder what the beanbags were for - I noted that they reminded me of characters in the excellent Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, but here, they're mainly for sitting on. The lighting, the sound effects, contribute the sensation of being under the sea. In the primordial soup, as one yeast character calls it later.

The yeasts are all called Jan - Jan the Second (son of the King), Jan the Wise, Jan the Sly, and Jan the Sweet are the main characters. And they all wear skintight costumes with bits of taffeta attached - not very well, as bits kept falling off. These have a green hue. The King has ordained that the Strictures must be maintained - to maintain stasis, because he's seen the alternative, and it ain't pretty. But his son (Jan the Second) has been to the surface, and sees a different future.. the yeasts split into two factions, those who want to preserve stasis, and those who want to - evolve. There's a lot of glooping.

:-) Emm.. The singing is very good. In fact, I'd have to say, the whole thing is very well performed - they could hardly have done better with the material. The material - is happily bonkers. What else would you expect, really. My only complaint was that the first half, in particular, felt very long.. evidently, practically the entire far side of the room felt the same, not coming back after the interval! But it's quite interesting. Even if one of the evolving sea creatures did take an unhealthy interest in my wine..

As noted afterwards, the cast seemed to have the best fun with this! I agree. Runs until Saturday, if you want to see for yourself. I got the bus back again - who would take the Tube, with views like this?

Tomorrow, I got a cheap ticket with TAC to the Cabaret All-Stars!

Saturday is going to be busy - I'm back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners for a walk called Glorious Greenwich. So popular, he's reached capacity and there are still 11 on the waitlist! He's finally found somewhere that can accommodate 20 of us, and is trying to get people to confirm whether they're going to lunch - since 34 have booked for the walk!

That evening, I was supposed to be meeting two ex-coworkers for dinner and drinks. But it turns out one got her wires crossed, and is now doing something else. Unfortunately, the other can only manage central London - Greenwich is too awkward for him. We're going back to Imad's Syrian Kitchen.. perfect location, great restaurant!

On Sunday, I'm off to Rye. London and Sussex Walking Tours - whom I joined during lockdown - are running a daytrip! called Rye - Pirates, Ports and Jazz (they also have a jazz festival this weekend): and I've never been. It's a bit of a palaver to get to, involving two trains - but well, it's about time I travelled a bit, and it's not too early a start. And the tour itself ends early in the day, so I have plenty of time to eat and explore before my train(s) back.

On Monday, thinking of film - and with the film listings (partially) out, finally, what it's looking like is M, a 1931 thriller set in Germany about the hunt for a murderer. Only showing in the BFI, which has a tendency to sell out - this isn't yet, but I'll have to keep an eye on it.

On Tuesday, I'm 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.

And on Wednesday - assuming I'm not working by then, I've signed up to another of Laurence's walks: The Lady-Killer is an inventive renaming of London's most notorious serial killer.. 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..!)