Tonight, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) were off to The Vaults Festival - specifically, The Welsh Lxdies, a bilingual show about the women of Wales. My sometime companion from this group is in town, and fancied doing something, so agreed to come to this - she suggested food, and I looked for what was around. There are plenty of places, you understand - but getting one a few hours in advance, on a Thursday, isn't always easy.. I would have gone for The Archduke, but it had nothing at the right time. So we went to a steakhouse called Black and Blue. Turns out it's the same chain!
Handily, my bus passed right outside, so I knew where I was. Surprisingly, given that the place was quite busy, I was given a booth! Which would have seated four. Ah, the luxury of space.. She arrived right after I did. We had a very nice bottle of South African chenin blanc - I had chicken skewers to start, with some lovely dips. Very nearly too much food, actually.. but I managed. She hadn't wanted a starter to begin with, but after mine came, she changed her mind, and went for a dish on the cocktail menu - nachos with an artichoke dip. She liked the dip, I think, if not the nachos - I never did like them, myself.
For mains, I thought about not having steak - but it's been too long since I had one, and I knew they'd be lovely, here. So I had a sirloin - she had chicken. Both plates were cleared - my steak was divine. And now that I know it's the same chain as The Archduke, I'm not surprised. We also got a complementary salad, to share - perhaps it'd been left over? Anyway, I also liked how the chips were done, nicely crispy and just the right amount of salt. In the truest sense of the word, I felt restored, after what was a drudge of a day, chasing people for information about council tax. Only quibble was the nonexistent WiFi..
Well, it was but a short walk to Leake Street..
Happily, as the lady on the door said, they don't check your actual ticket, but instead just check off your name. Because, what with everything else today, I simply hadn't had time to download my ticket beforehand, and reception down here is iffy at best. Our organiser had messaged us though, to say they were in the Leakey Bar.
It wasn't long before the house opened, and we trotted across the hall. Seating is on upholstered, rough wood benches - not the most comfortable, I have to say. A guy at the end had a camera on a tripod, and also seemed to be filming it on his phone..? Dunno why the double recording, but whatever.
Four women took part - one explained at the end that one had just earlier come down with food poisoning, and there was another they couldn't get funding for. Never mind, they set to it with gusto.. This is basically a peep into the lives of different Welsh women. We hear audio footage of someone describing what it's like to be Jewish and Welsh, or of Indian extraction and Welsh.. but we also get sketches in classrooms, or among teenage girls discussing sexuality. There's a bit of chatter in a bar. There's some lovely music and singing. They even produce a couple of Welsh cakes..
There were a few problems with the production. They need to turn down the volume of the audio when people are speaking - they were very hard to hear! When sat on the floor, they were equally hard to see. And a couple of long tracts, completely in Welsh, left the non-Welsh speakers among us bemused! I expected to hear Welsh, but not so much in a row that I'd have no idea what was going on..
It's interesting, and well-written. With a couple of tweaks, it'd be a very good show! Also runs tomorrow, if you're around.
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