👿 Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love horror. And am really excited that Darkfield is doing onsite shows this month. Mwa-ha-haa.. Five of them, in fact. I booked the first of them for today, the first day I was free - the first they're showing, it's Intravene, nearby the BFI (actually, outside the National Theatre, as I confirmed on Thursday). These are all held in shipping containers, and the unifying idea for all Darkfield shows is that they're aural - you have headphones, which are your main sensory input. The shows all take place in complete darkness. This one is about drug abuse, and focuses on the drug problem in Vancouver. And wow, seeing the container in person finally, last week, just stoked my anticipation..
Ate at O' Neill's again, of course - they have live music on Mondays, he was really loud, and sure enough, all the tables near him were free. Everyone had squished against the far wall. Happily, I managed to squish into a small table over there as well - it's not that the guy was bad, he was just a smidgeon too loud! Decent tracklist, though.
Interestingly, after he'd finished and they'd turned on the recorded music, the last track as I was going through the door was Stuck in the Middle with You. Now, for anyone who's seen Reservoir Dogs, you'll know what I mean when I say, that song will forever be synonymous, for me, with that scene..
There was no-one else on the bus for a lot of the way, I'm sure. And as we crossed the bridge, there was the most beautiful view of the full moon.. sadly, I couldn't have taken a decent shot, through the window. Anyway, I alighted outside the National, quite early. There was someone sat outside the container, looking, I might say, a bit bored. Well, obviously I couldn't just stay there for 40 minutes - I decided to go for a drink.
This show is actually running as part of the London Film Festival - ironic, for something you can't see! Well, I tried the BFI bar, but it was chock-a-block. The National was pretty empty though, everyone having gone in for the evening's performances - so I went and had a drink there, and moseyed over to the container about 15 minutes early. The previous show had finished, the guys were standing and chatting - I stood and chatted with them! It turned out there was just one other audience member for this performance - they waited for her to come back from the loo before starting! which I thought was nice.
I see they have a blackout curtain over the door - they asked us to turn off anything that could emit a light, and showed us in. One guy controls the show, the other is for meet & greet. For this one, it's rows of desks - a partition between each pair, a mirror in front of you, a chair to sit on, a pair of headphones. A bottle on the desk claims to contain a hazardous substance. We were advised beforehand that there'd be a test - what they do for this is just turn off the lights briefly, after you put on the headphones, then turn them on again after a minute or so to indicate your chance to leave, if you so choose. We didn't.
This show is set in some kind of emergency medical centre in Vancouver, where they treat opiate addicts. They had told us in advance that the voices we hear are verbatim, from real people with real experiences. Several sequences are repeated - the feeling is really intense, with frequent booming sounds, just to jar the nerves. A dog barks repeatedly - I swear, I could nearly see it. More to the point, after a prolonged barking session, I was half scared it was going to bite me. So - does it work? O yes. My nerves were very jangly afterwards - and this was just a 20-minute session. I really wouldn't recommend it for people of a nervous disposition. And I think the other lady there was quite shaken..
Runs till Sunday. Approach with caution.
On Wednesday.. heehee. Back with Darkfield. (Cue scary music.) They're also doing shows in Canary Wharf this year - three, in fact. This is the first night for those.. and yes, I'm doing all three, that night. In fact, they allow for that when you're booking. So, I'm doing them in the following order: first is Eulogy, an unusual Darkfield concept in that it's somewhat interactive, at various points you have to say "yes" or "no"..
Second up, I chose Coma (they all have multiple showings, so you can decide exactly what you want to go to, and when. They just ask that you leave at least 15 minutes between, which I have.) For this one, we get to lie down, I think - which is nice - and get an option to take a pill. :-)
Final for the night is the one I've heard the best reviews of - Flight is a reconstruction of an aircraft cabin, and the show is based around - well, a plane crash! Booked all of these while waiting for an eternally delayed flight - as I say, every cloud has a silver lining..
Thursday is the next of my busy days. See, first I booked with Civilised London (CL) for Tango After Dark, at the Peacock. All good, no-brainer. Then I was messaged by an ex-colleague - another ex-colleague is having leaving drinks that same night, in the Pelt Trader! Hellfire.. so, what I'm going to do is skip drinks with CL after the show and leg it over to the Pelt Trader - I've ordered her not to stop drinking till I get there!
On Friday, something advertised with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) - they're celebrating all things Mexican in Kew Gardens, with Mexico After Hours! With something about the Day of the Dead, no doubt..
Saturday is another of those busy days. So.. first I'm headed on a walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners - this one is Paddington - Proud, Perky & Picturesque.
But, for nearly a year now, I've had tickets booked, for me and Helen, for Dara O' Briain in the Hammersmith Apollo that night! Crikey, I'd never even have thought of it if it hadn't been noted in my calendar. So anyway, she can't come to the walk, but we'll meet for dinner beforehand in Bill's of Hammersmith. I can only hope for better service than I got in Bill's of Clink Street..
On Sunday, back with the CCC for Inisfáil, Irish storytelling courtesy of the wonderful Clare Murphy, in the British Museum.
Next Monday, I originally booked a free online talk about Railways of Surrey, from the Surrey History Meetup. But I just recently saw (despite the fact that it was evidently posted months ago) an event from Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - Samsara is inspired by the Chinese novel, Journey to the West, and contains partial nudity, we're told. Tickets for this are quite cheap, and we're all in the Stalls, for once - they haven't even opened the Second Circle, where we normally are! So, no stairs, for a change!
On the 18th, I've booked for Iphigenia in Splott, in the Lyric Hammersmith.
On the 19th, supposed to have drinks with Ivan! Might go to O' Neill's, we could do worse.
On the 20th, back with CL for dinner at Le Sacré Coeur. Always good.
On the 21st, back to Ireland again - and the following Monday, it's my mother's birthday, so I'm staying in Ireland for that and flying back on Tuesday 25th. I've already cleared it with work.
And on the 26th, I've booked with UITCS again - for Mary, at Hampstead Theatre again. Political machinations in the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Funny thing - there were two seats in the main seating section at the cheapest price, but the site objected to me just booking one of them. No problem booking an equivalent seat in a higher price bracket, though! So I booked one of the high seats, at the back, instead. At the lower price.
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