Musical: The Secret Life of Bees

Well, from last week with no Meetups to this week with (almost) nothing else! Today, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for The Secret Life of Bees, at the Almeida - no seats left in the stalls, when I booked! Seatplan made me wary of the cheapest seats, so I was in the next bracket up..

Ah now, I don't get up this way often enough. And one place that's good to eat up by this theatre is The Bull.. I love their chicken schnitzel, but as I see from my blog entry from the last time I ate there, I was too late for it on that occasion! It's close enough to walk.. but just as I was gearing up to go, the rain started to thunder down. Really, thunder. Yeah - no. I took the bus(es) - just in time to miss one, of course! And then, when I changed, we were diverted.. I was wondering how Google Maps came to predict a 15-minute journey to travel two stops! Well, I wasn't too late to the pub - which was pretty full, but I found a free table by the bar. Secured it with my coat and grabbed the barman, asking hopefully for the chicken schnitzel. Well gee, if I didn't get the last one! As I said, that's revenge for the last time I was there.. And it was served quickly, and was lovely.

A short walk then, to the theatre, and met the others in the lobby (where I didn't notice immediately, but they've introduced a couple of low-level tables, complete with chairs!). They could do with them.. there is a perpetual shortage of seating, here. And we chatted before we went in. Ah me, my first Meetup chat in over a week.. And so to our seats. Seems that those of us in the Circle were in the minority in our group - there seemed to have been a last-minute release of Stalls tickets. Ah well, out into the rain again with us.. (the Circle entrances are outside..)

Decent seat, well done Seatplan! The seats are raised, and there's a bar to rest your feet on. Also a decent view, although we had to lean a few times to catch action happening right under us, and I'd have pitied anyone sat behind us! except there wasn't - the row behind us (Row C) was completely empty. So, the theatre wasn't completely sold out, then - just mainly!

Justifiably. I can't quite remember when I last saw something this good - not this year, I think. An incendiary story, set in South Carolina in 1964, sees a young white girl, abused by her father, run away with the black housekeeper - only to find the bee farming community that once took her mother in. Combine that with the racial issues, the movement to get black people registered to vote - and a story interwoven with the events that inspired Mississippi Burning - in a blistering hot summer, and you get a tale that will get your blood boiling.

The staging is excellent, with a revolving pathway on the outside edge, and simple props providing the backdrop throughout. Everything is lit in a wonderful, golden light - honey-coloured, you might say.

But for me, what swung it was the music - catchy and more upbeat than you might expect from this desperately serious story, it was half musical, half gospel concert! A glorious score - and wow, I have never heard better singers in a musical than I heard tonight. The sheer power of the performance blew me away. As someone remarked afterwards, this will probably transfer to the West End - as far as I'm concerned, it's a given!

Runs till the 27th of next month - you'd be mad to miss it! before it transfers, and ticket prices soar..

Tomorrow, I was to be back with Over 40 Living the Life, for dinner at the Greenwich Yacht Club again. Until I got a message this evening to say that everyone had pulled out - dunno why - and it's been cancelled! Ah well - Plan B, as usual, is a film. Now, I already had the film list done for this week - but that blasted listings site is so unreliable, I had to do it again. And sure enough, I came up with a whole heap of films at the top of the list that weren't even on the list, last time I looked! Standout among them is the NT Live production of Good. This stars David Tennant as a German professor at the outbreak of the Second World War, who is forced to examine his conscience.. Closest showing to me is in the Vue at the O2, which I've booked, to get one of the cheapest seats, under their new theatre-style seating. So delighted to have the chance to see this - I missed it when it was showing live.

On Wednesday, I was thinking film again - couldn't see anything better coming up than what's advertised by The London Movie Club and The Hideout: Horror Sci-Fi Club London! both of which I'm a member of. And both of which, it transpires, are run by the same people! So I've signed up with the Hideout. Specifically, what's happening is Alien Day - a special double bill of the classic, Alien, and its sequel, Aliens, at the BFI Imax! See, the first planet where the aliens land is named LV-426.. So, you know, 26th of the 4th.. Now, I've never even been to the Imax, so this'll be interesting! Also good to meet these folks again - apparently, there'll be a break between films as well, when we can have a chat.

And on Thursday, Helen's in town for a conference - we're meeting for dinner at Colosseo, before I head off to join UITCS again, for The Good Person of Szechwan, by Brecht, at the Lyric Hammersmith! 

Play: Angel

Tonight, I was 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.

So I thought - why not try The Bull again, I remember it being good! So I trudged all the way up there - it's in walking distance. I see the quirky bookshop en route is sadly closed due to flooding! At the pub, I got the same table - I fancied the chicken schnitzel, which is excellent; sadly, word must have got out, because they were out of it. Instead, I had the pie - which, I have to say, is excellent too! Very moreish. I look forward to having an excuse to come here again.

The theatre being above the Hope & Anchor pub, I figured I might as well drink there once I was finished eating - so off I went again. The poor barmaid was trying to eat a wrap - I assured her that I needed the loo first, I'd be back. The loo is upstairs, across from the theatre..

When I came back down, she was just sitting down to her wrap again. Oh dear.. I apologised for the timing, as I ordered a drink. Which I drank in a booth. The pub was pretty empty up to showtime.

When a queue finally formed at the desk at the foot of the stairs, I joined them and got my ticket:

And in due course, upstairs - where I decided to take front row centre:

The show is an hour long. I thought it'd be good.

I was right.

This is the story of a teenage girl. She's a pacifist, so not terribly impressed with her father's tales of fighting for Kurdistan. Neither does she want to inherit the family farm - she wants to study law. So she's less than impressed when he takes her out back to hone her shooting skills on cans of Orangina.

The day she finds out she's been accepted to law school is the same day the bombs start to fall, and her mother yells at her to grab her things, they're off to Europe! Daesh is on the march. However, her father has stayed behind to fight - and when she finds this out, she turns her back and heads back the way she's come. Into hell. To find him. And a legend is born.

First--person POV. It's so powerful. You live every moment through this energetic portrayal. I was in tears, the actor portraying her was in tears. The guy two seats down was in tears. And as for her ending - I was reminded of a scene in The Lion in Winter, where Prince Richard (in future to be known as The Lionheart) is talking about a good death, and his younger brother Geoffrey scorns the idea. "As if how you fall matters!" to which he replies, "When the fall is all there is, it matters."

Very, very highly recommended. Runs until the 17th. You will see few better.

Tomorrow, which no word from any prospective employers, I've signed up to another walk with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners: The Lady-Killer is an inventive renaming of London's most notorious serial killer.. (Ooh, and I'll have to get cash out again.) 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..!)

Play: Mediocre White Male

For today, I finally gave up on Meetup - the best things coming up were walks, and it was supposed to rain. Instead, I headed with TAC to a show called Mediocre White Male, at the King's Head (another place I hadn't been to in years!). Mercifully, the temperature was supposed to drop a bit as well.

Well, the temperature might have dropped, but it remained really clammy. No rain had yet been seen when I set out, although I did take a raincoat, just in case - I could walk to this. Checked beforehand, and discovered that the King's Head only does snacks, sandwiches, that sort of thing - so, looking around the area, I came up with The Bull, just down the road, which does full meals. En route, dodged two cyclists cycling on the pavement, and two cyclists and one motorcyclist that ran red lights, so I had to be careful when crossing at the green pedestrian signal.

Nice area this, lots of interesting shops - like the bookshop that hates people judging books by their covers:

And so to The Bull, where I ordered from the bar, rather than the app, it not being too busy:

Had a really nice chicken schnitzel, with some piping hot fries and a nice dip - which went better with the fries than with the chicken. And was finished just in nice time to schlep a few doors up to the King's Head, ordered a drink because someone was already chatting to the person at the box office, and then went up myself. She had to dig for my confirmation - remembered my name, but it wasn't on her list. Anyway, she didn't have a ticket to give me, but gave me a seat number - which I saved on my phone, just in case. And when it was time, we all filed in.

So, this is a monologue from a guy who earns a living acting the part of the statue of a historical personage who was murdered. Hence the plinth, which he hops up on whenever it's time to deliver his tourist spiel. The show is about 70 minutes long, and during the course of it, we find out about his job, his workmates, and his relationship with his ex.

Now, he has a lot to say about "wokeness", about non-binary gender identity - he comes up against it at work, and also against prejudices when we're talking about his ex - he's being left behind by a world he doesn't understand, and he delivers the material quite well. However, I am SO sick of personal rants, based on lived experiences. Which is what this sounds like. It's a brilliant portrayal of one man's experience in a hostile work environment, with a tragic portrayal of his relationship with a girl - but for something that apparently purports to have a wider agenda, I saw little evidence of it. The story was too focused on his experience to have much to say about the wider world. It could be quite moving - but I was glad when it finished. Runs till the 2nd, if you're interested.

Well, that rain caught up with me on the way home - I took shelter for the worst of it, but was still soaked through, and had to take everything off when I got in. Oh, and just one cyclist cycling on the pavement, and one running a red light, as I went home. The rest must have stayed in from the rain:

Tomorrow morning - having heard nothing in the meantime from that company I'm waiting on - I have an interview for a well-paying contract. In the evening, I'm back with Civilised London - for a Syrian meal this time, at Imad's Syrian Kitchen. Meeting beforehand at The Clachan. So I can update them with the latest news in this ongoing saga.

On Wednesday - well, I've signed up with Soho Comedy Factory Shows and Socials, which organises free events on Wednesdays at the aforementioned Soho Comedy Factory. Again. And again, this is subject to change. Watch this space..

On Thursday, I've decided on film. Having garnered all the available films this week, I had an interesting choice to make: ended up eliminating lots of films from the top of the list for sheer lack of interest! Basically, the decision process ran like - if this came on TV, would I watch it or turn it off? And so I came down to the one I really wanted to see. Nope is the latest from the excellent Jordan Peele, and stars Daniel Kaluuya (again) as the hapless victim of horrific events - extra-terrestrials this time. With Jordan Peele's typical injection of humour, this promises to be fun! And it's on at my local, so I get to see it for free.

And then, of course, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again. Planned film for the weekend is looking - finally - like Thor: Love and Thunder. Well, if I see Nope in the meantime, I'll have seen everything better - no longer showing in Ennis, so I'll see it at the Omniplex.

Restaurant: Le Sacré Coeur

Tonight, I was back with Let's Do This (LDT), for another restaurant trial. This time it was French - Le Sacré Coeur - and we were again meeting in The Crown beforehand. These Meetups are proving very handy for my knowledge of London restaurants!

So, as usual, when the time came to leave, I was caught up in doing something. So I left a bit later than ideal - took the Tube, to compensate. So crowded that I had to let two pass, before one came that I could reasonably get onto. Now, the last time I was headed for The Crown, I remember doing the same - and having Google Maps forget my route when I got off, and not being able to find an internet connection..! Fortunately, I had no such problems this time, and it seemed to take so much less time to schlep up the road.

So, we stayed there for one, and chatted convivially. In due course, it was time to head for the restaurant - a charming bistro, where we were shown to a table at the back. And perused a detailed menu:

Lots of starters, lots of mains, lots of changing of minds. For starters, I finally went for the mushrooms stuffed with garlic and topped with cheese. Yum. You could tell straight away that they know their sauces. Others had camembert, escargots, frogs' legs (for the sake of it!).

Main course for a couple of us was beef Bourguignon. Others had steak, or coq au vin, or one of a decent variety of vegetarian dishes. And..? Plates were finished, compliments were uttered, we stuffed ourselves and cleared our plates. Dessert was kind of obligatory, after such a good meal.. I was torn, but went for the lemon sorbet with vodka (Coupe Colonel). Which was excellent. My alternative would have been the chocolate mousse, which a couple of our group had, and which was good enough that they ran their fingers around the bowl so as not to miss any. Such desserts are worth piling on top of an already stuffed stomach. For sheer visual appeal, I'd have to recommend the Café Gourmand that one had, which is a selection of desserts, including an espresso.

Most had a Côte de Rhône to accompany the meal - I was on white. There are two choices for which you can get a carafe, which I did, being the only one - I had the Chardonnay, and perhaps it's all the Virgin wines I've had lately, but I wasn't hugely impressed. However, the complementary digestifs afterwards were most welcome - I had limoncello, for the first time in years. Gorgeous!

Afterwards, in the interest of not walking too far, most of us repaired to The Bull, where our organiser was kind enough to buy a round. And we repaired to the pleasant upstairs level, which we were chucked out of at 11 - we had time to finish drinking downstairs, though.

Back by bus. Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend - had holiday days left over from last year that I had to use by the end of this month. Well, that's what the system said..! and who am I to argue? I fly back on Monday night, and on Tuesday, LDT just advertised discount tickets for The Crown Dual, in the King's Head! Well yes please, sign me up! And so now I'm going to that.

Next Wednesday, back with the Crick Crack Club! This is a performance by Jan Blake, at King's Place - and da boss having liked a clip of hers that he saw previously, he's taking the spare ticket I accidentally booked. Should be a good night.

And on the 28th, our team has our monthly social. This time, we're off to Tas.