Film: Rye Lane

This evening, I booked with The London Palestinian Rights Meetup Group for Taking Sides – A Conversation about Love, War, and Changing the World. Happening at Amnesty International UK. But you know, I thought I might just go to a film instead.. When the listings came out, top of the list was Rye Lane, a romcom set in South London. The trailer looked hilarious - this looked like much more fun than that talk, and since it was free, I had no problem in cancelling my attendance. Nearest place to me showing the film today was the Vue Islington (which, ironically, I passed yesterday evening) - which now has theatre-style pricing, with different seats at different prices. So I booked, to get a decent seat at the cheapest price possible..

No rain this evening - and it's a bit closer than the Almeida, so I had no excuse not to walk. Which meant I passed The Lucas Arms - so went in there to eat. I thought it'd be a disaster though - there was a crowd at the bar, and then the barman lost track of who was next. It was fully five minutes before I was served - and then, with a continuing crowd, no sign of him coming down with my cutlery. Which was fine, except that I had left it a bit tight.. I had a ticket for the early evening showing. Bless though, the kitchens here work speedily, and I had my dinner in no time - cutlery delivered at the same time. I gobbled it down a bit quicker than I'd have liked, and was glad of the excuse to walk it off!

At the cinema, where I arrived five minutes after the scheduled time, I figured I'd have time to grab some chocolate, which I fancied. The ads would still be showing. I picked up a bag of Maltesers, and queued. And queued and queued. A great, long queue, and only one person on the tills. As if they were listening to me, they belatedly opened another till. And another. It was still another five minutes before I got served, what with all those people wanting complicated foodstuffs that needed sauce pouring on them, or popcorn to be scooped from a machine..

Never mind, I still arrived in time for the trailers. Nice seat I had as well, at the front of the raised section, no-one in front of me - this was, mind you, as far back as I could get for the cheap price. I did notice that some cheap seats were still available - so, not everyone wants the cheapest price!

And so to the film. Well, it's as much a love letter to London as a romance between the two main characters. Mostly set in South London, it also has a brief foray to the centre, on a lovely sunny day. The South London bit is full of characters, OTT outfits, cool venues, lovingly portrayed as our characters weave their way through them on their business. Central London, when we see it, is about tourist boats and the lovely Thames-side vistas that I'm so familiar with.

The love story has its hilarious moments, as per the trailer - the main characters are adorable, and the chemistry between them really works. The writers and director - as well as the actors - are absolute stars at bringing out the comedy, which is perfectly timed. It's not quite a laugh-a-minute, but it is very funny, and very sweet. And I'm sure that was Colin Firth I saw, selling burritos.. Yep, I enjoyed it - go see for yourselves, if you get the chance.

Back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for the next two days - tomorrow, it's for comedian Rosie Holt at the Leicester Square Theatre.

On Thursday, I'm at Further Than the Furthest Thing, at the Young Vic. Then back to Ireland for the weekend again. Might get to see Scream VI at last, if it's not gone already..? Full listings not out yet, but what is there isn't encouraging..

On Monday, I booked with the Happy Positive Group! For their weekly Monday trivia night! They seem to be completely online. But wow, looking at it lately, they seemed to have switched that week to the next day! Although, having cancelled my attendance, I then noticed that all Meetups were displaying in the wrong time zone, so were shown as starting five hours later than they actually were.. I complained, and they did fix it. Well, I probably wouldn't have gone anyway. The best Meetup left for that day is with the Shanty Singers Colliers Wood. This is another of those things I once booked and ended up cancelling, so I'll hold off on booking that till nearer the time. As is becoming usual.

Next Tuesday, I've booked for Phaedra, at the National.

On the 29th, I'm going with UITCS to Sadler's Wells - first time in an age - for Creature, by Akram Khan! I absolutely love his work. Handily enough, I used my latest Theatre Token for this - would have used it for Phaedra, but while neither theatre takes them online (you have to phone if you want to use a token), the National charges extra for phone bookings. So I used it for this instead.

On the 30th, back with the London European Club, at somewhere called the Ugly Duck, for Synchrony, a female 12-piece string ensemble. Tickets from Eventbrite. As hosted by Eleanor Salter Thorn again! So glad to see her hosting events in more central locations..

I was keeping the 31st free because Ivan is feeling thirsty again. :-) And for once, he seems to be sticking to the date, having booked us a table at The Lucas Arms (which, as he pointed out, has a smoker's area). We're hoping to have Martin - my other friendly ex-boss - join us, but he has more family commitments, which he's trying to juggle - we've told him to join us whenever. And this looks like turning into the first zapoi in a while - Ivan is talking about booking a studio, where we can drink overnight. Oy ve, watch this space.. So, not pushed about doing anything extra on the 1st.

And on the 2nd, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, for Orpheus Dismembered, at the British Museum, courtesy of Ben Haggarty. The event there that I'd already heard of..