Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for a play called Women, Beware the Devil, set in the year 1640 - showing in the Almeida.
Islington, where the theatre is, has many restaurants - so I said I'd eat up there. Saw Sichuan House, just around the corner, and said - gee, I don't eat much Chinese these days - so I decided to go there. Could have walked, but I was glad I got the bus - that uphill walk in persistent drizzle would have been miserable! Mind you, as it was pulling in, we were waiting for another to pull out - and for all it had a "low emissions" sticker on its rear, such emissions as it had sure were stinky!
In the restaurant, I sat facing the road - and it's interesting to note that I could see two restaurants across the road from me. And there was one next door. Yes, they are well served in Islington! (This is it - note the theatre-style booths for seating!)
Anyway - my (house) wine was a bit insipid, but the food was excellent. Once I picked all the chilli peppers from my forkfuls of kung po (yes, I use a fork - otherwise, my food would decorate the walls and ceiling). Good service too. At one point, a lady at a nearby table asked for salt, and was shocked to hear they didn't have any! So she complained tetchily to her companions about how "people have different tastes, you know". Yes, and I'm guessing she's more used to over-salted Chinese takeaways. Ah well..
At the theatre, I queued for a wine - again, I had the house white - from a barrel, this time!
Blast if it wasn't insipid again! Anyway, I located the others, near the back of the lobby - and gee, guess who showed up unexpectedly (hadn't booked with us, but had been in the area and came on a whim) but one of the organisers of the London Classical Music and Theatre Group! who hung out with us until it was time to go in. Nice to see him - and rare, just at the moment - his events keep clashing with others!
I was in Row B of the Stalls, as it happens - I always book in the Stalls here, so as to be able to take in a drink. Anyway. This pentacle was an encouraging start - I do love my witchcraft, and the 17th Century is just the period for it! The first - and, I think, longer - part of the play is a pretty straightforward witchy play, the poor stablemaid whose mother was a witch is accused of the same, but is taken into the great house because the noble lady who lives there has a plot of her own.. there's a witchfinder, there's blood sacrifice.. you know, a standard evening down the local stately home..
At the interval, I queued for another wine, and this time plumped for the most expensive - the chardonnay. Damned if it wasn't as insipid as the others! Is it me? Have I suddenly lost my sense of taste? Anyway, as I remarked to people, I'd read a review of this as being rather confusing. We couldn't see why, on the basis of what we'd seen so far..
It becomes clear in the second act why the reviewer was confused. So, we're ok with whom the witch is by now. In the second act, she seems to have sold her soul, so to be free to spout whatever she likes. Such as modernist, feminist, free-thinking, "live your best life", republican ideas - heavens, who knew that a stablegirl from 1640 (presumably lacking a formal education) could even imagine such notions? Maybe the Devil was instructing her.. So I'm guessing that this is the culmination of her demonic reincarnation. Heaven forbid that a woman should harbour notions of equality - or that a servant to a great house should have republican ideals. Well, the times were surely a-changing..
Whatever you might think about the switch in emphasis in the second act, this is undeniably beautifully staged. The Devil - an attractive demon, to be sure - appears in an assortment of different guises, almost always in the background somewhere. The set is made to look like a reception room in a stately home, with wood-panelled walls, leaded windows, and a chequered floor. A four-poster bed pops up and down through a trapdoor - rather like a periscope, as the review describes - whenever the action is required to take place in a bedroom. And for mealtimes, two halves of a table are pushed in, one from each side, to form one enormous dining table - decorated sumptuously, but slightly differently, each time, and really setting a scene of decadence.
I'm not too sure about her modernist makeover, but otherwise, this is an excellent watch. Runs till Saturday, if you're interested - and I do love the simple drama of the theatre's webpage for this play, which just has the witch turning her head to look at you..
I walked home. It wasn't raining as much, plus it's downhill!
Tomorrow, 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 looks hilarious - this looks like much more fun than that talk, and since it is free, I have no problem in cancelling my attendance. Nearest place to me showing the film that day is the Vue Islington (which, ironically, I passed this 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..
Back with UITCS for the next two days - on Wednesday, 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..
Next 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.
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..
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