Tonight, the Crick Crack Club (CCC) was back after the summer! Tricksters & Fools was at Rich Mix - it was another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and starred Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix. Google Maps started out saying I could walk there in half an hour, then increased its estimate - I decided to take the bus.
Well, the bus came a few minutes early - which, given the awful traffic and slow, slow traffic lights, was just as well! And was so crowded that I spent half the trip standing (quite illegally) just inside the front door. Along with a whole load of others, including a woman with a buggy. Mercifully, a huge swathe of people disembarked at Liverpool Street. I even got a seat - which gave me a great vantage point from which to watch all the people who slipped on at the rear and centre doors, which they're no longer supposed to do on this route, mingling with the disembarking passengers, and not bothering to pay at all. (The card readers to the rear have been disabled, of course.) The driver noticed too, and quite irately demanded that they come to the front instead of the rear, and pay - they all quite literally ignored him, and the journey duly proceeded. Really, it isn't easy being a London bus driver.
Happily, the bus stops just past Rich Mix, so it was a short trot once I got off. And I made it in on time - although not in time to get a front-row seat. Never mind, the view was good from the third. A large number of latecomers this time - some very late indeed; perhaps they mistook the time, or perhaps they were caught up in the transport problems in London this evening - ongoing flooding in Liverpool Street combined with awful traffic.. not an easy evening to get around.
Ah, but it was good to be back with the CCC, though! With Ben Haggarty as MC, the others took turns for two sessions of roughly an hour each, one story per person. And we started with the ever-melodic TUUP, who as usual was my favourite of the night - he brought a hypnotic rhythm to proceedings, always tapping away on a bongo drum during Nell's performances, speaking in - as he put it - a Ghanaian twang during his own. Nell had a couple I'd heard before, delivered in her inimitable style - always enjoyable to listen to. Tim did fantastic impressions of both a fox and a wolf for his story about a kind of battle of wits between them - he also let us in on the fact that he'd studied physics and philosophy in college. Gee, I know someone else who did that - Man with the Hat, if you happen to be reading, look at what you could have done for a living! And lastly, but by no means least, Sarah Liisa was as charmingly entertaining as ever in her tale, having very obviously enjoyed all the others' as they were performing! Really, it was an enchanting evening - the CCC has such a large bank of talent to draw on.
The Q+A afterwards was fascinating, as usual, with insights into the idea of the trickster as a character that gives us license to break the rules - as Nell pointed out, the actions of the "trickster sisters" in her story, who dressed as men to perform their trickery, echo the actions of real-life women in restrictive societies, not allowed out without a male relative; she said that she knew women who told her that they often dressed as men to go out on their own! On a lighter note, one audience member recognised one of Sarah Liisa's stories, saying she remembered it as being associated with a particular pub!
Another terrific night - and I could walk home afterwards.
Tomorrow, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On Friday, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff (LLTAMS) is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
On Saturday, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then Civilised London (CL) organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
Sunday is film - hence the delay with the blog, I was doing the film list! What came up top was - appropriately for the weather - something for the last day of the Raindance Festival, at the Vue Piccadilly. Booking seems to be on the Raindance website, rather than the Vue's - tickets with Eventbrite. And I'm going to Babysplitters - a comedy about two couples who can't decide whether they want a baby, so decide to have one they can split amongst them all! Since tickets are only available until Saturday, I'd have had to book anyway - so I just went ahead and booked straight away.
On Monday, I'm back with UITCS for Ballet Preljocaj - La Fresque at Sadler's Wells.
On Tuesday, we have a slightly delayed September social for ex-employees (and current, if they want) of the company I last worked for - Ivan is away till Sunday, and of course I'm busy on Monday. So, on Tuesday we're headed to Imperial China - the new Chinese restaurant I discovered via CL. Booked for six people, it probably won't exceed that. Getting an answer out of people is predictably difficult.
Next Wednesday, I'm headed to The Merry Wives of Windsor, at the Globe.
On the 3rd, I'm back with CL - this should be interesting. Red Palace is an immersive cabaret experience - lots of fairytale characters, I believe - at the Vaults. And I really hope the weather is ok, because I sourced the most fantastic outfit for it..! Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend - the start of another brief hiatus from Meetup.
On the 7th, I'm off to Shushkin's Stories, at the Barbican. Performed in Russian, with English surtitles, it's a dramatisation of the short stories of Vasily Shushkin.
On the 8th, off to Wilton's, for Lady of Jazz.
On the 9th, heading to the Turbine Theatre, for Torch Song. This is the inaugural show at the new theatre in the revamped Battersea Power Station!
On the 10th, back with Meetup - North London Friends is off to A History of Water in the Middle East, at the Royal Court. Another where I got my ticket from the organiser.
On the 11th, back with UITCS - to Southwark Playhouse this time, for Preludes. D' you know, I bought their passport a while ago, which entitles you to cheap tickets to five shows - and of the last three I booked, something else came up for every single one! Hope I make this one..
On the 12th, seeing the matinee of Solaris at the Lyric Hammersmith. Turns out that both UITCS and LLTAMS are going - so I booked with both! Why not? Each requires you to buy your own ticket. And since only the organiser and I are going from LLTAMS, what it effectively means is that I'm slipping her into the UITCS group. What harm..
On the 13th, joining the London Improvisation Community Group for the first time - they have a show called Happily Never After at the Pleasance - part of the London Horror Festival.
On the 14th, I'm seeing Mother of Him, at the Park.
On the 15th, UITCS is off to the Albert Hall for Symphonic Queen - the Royal Philharmonic is performing Queen.
Then begins a long period of non-Meetup stuff. On the 16th, I'm heading to the ballet Manon, at the Opera House.
On the 17th, the CCC is back at Rich mix, with Melusine. TUUP is the headliner on this occasion, which should be terrific!
On the 18th, Helen's in town, heading to a Midge Ure concert at the Palladium - we're meeting for dinner beforehand. Now, that's the day I should be flying back to Ireland - so I'm going the next day instead. And with my mother's birthday during the week - and not having any major holidays booked - I said, why not just take the week off and spend it in Ireland? So I am.
On the 28th of next month, the CCC is back again - Ben Haggarty is in Soho Theatre with Grim Grimms - a dark take on fairytales, highlighting four lesser-known tales of the brothers Grimm. With musical accompaniment. Tickets weren't available when I noted this in my calendar - they are now, and will likely sell out.
On the 29th of next month, I'm trying to persuade the aforementioned social group from my former company to come with me to a Design My Night event - Fright Night Cinema is showing Hallowe'en in the Rivoli ballroom, with a themed cocktail bar and people dressed in spooky costumes. Now, that sounds like fun..
On the 30th of next month, back with Meetup at last - UITCS is at a mixed programme by Birmingham Royal Ballet, at Sadler's Wells. I've seen part of it before, and it's excellent.
And for Hallowe'en, The Embers Collective stepped up to the plate, with a storytelling performance called Witch, at The Jago.
Last night, back with North London Friends (NLF), to Donmar Warehouse, for Appropriate. I'd heard mixed reviews.. Anyhoo, happily the persistent rain stopped for me to walk to the bus. And I arrived at the theatre in good time, just before the organiser - she'd bought our tickets for us, and what a luxury it was not to have to worry about that! After I'd got mine though, I headed upstairs, while she waited for stragglers - there's a bar on each level, and the lobby was getting crowded. (It was sold out.) Oh, and who knew - there's a sofa in the corner of the Circle Bar! I don't tend to come in that side, so hadn't realised that before. It made it very comfy for us, as we had an overpriced drink and waited.
We were in the second row of the circle - I'd have taken a photo, but what with manoeuvring a drink as well, and having nowhere to leave anything, it was tricky! Anyway, we agreed that the seats are quite comfy - if a bit snug - with a bar to rest your feet on. And once in position - and once everyone inside of us had squeezed past - we had time to admire the incredible clutter on stage (ah, just like home!). We were on the side, but that's just fine - all the action happens at the centre, and all we missed, in the near corner, were some details of the clutter.
You see, this is about the clearing out of an old plantation house, somewhere in deepest Arkansas. Huh, I'd never thought about them having plantations there.. anyway, the family is gathering in time for the auction of the estate. The stage is set in the living room of the house - a door leads from the side to the kitchen, and there's a grand staircase. And that clutter should really have been cleared away by now - as the older of the brothers remarks, how are they going to get anyone to buy a place in such a mess?!
There ain't much of a plot, and what there is is mostly predictable. Where there's a will, there's a relative - as they say; cue the arrival of the younger brother, whom nobody's heard from in years, and nobody could find in time for the funeral. He managed to get there in time for the auction, of course.. and arrives with a much younger female in tow. Very hippy dippy type, into mindfulness and the like. The other characters are the aforementioned (rather stressed) older brother, complete with bossy wife and pretty uncontrollable kids, and the sister, who's the oldest of the three, divorced, and there with her son.
Let the arguments begin! This is the play for you if you enjoy a good argument - from the sidelines. And I do. So I really enjoyed the verbal sparring - the exasperated older sister is a perfect foil for the younger brother's vegan girlfriend (who's sensitive to spirits), and the shrill neuroticism of the sister-in-law. The kids wander around being delightfully disobedient, and the brothers have angst of their own. All very realistic, all very sparky. The "appropriate" of the title refers to something of their late father's that they find in the clutter - they spend a lot of time discussing whether he was racist. And that does provide a good backdrop to all the rowing, giving them something solid to focus on. I dunno about the spooky element, though, which was laid on a bit thick, considering that it really comes to nothing - could maybe have been handled a bit more subtly. But I did enjoy the play.
Runs till the 5th, but sold out apart from tomorrow's matinee, which has limited availability. As I say, recommended if you like a good row. And afterwards, some of us repaired - in pouring rain - to Brown's, where one was good enough to stump up for a very nice bottle of red. Good company and a nice venue - just beware of your surroundings, they're not the quickest at cleaning up.
Tonight, the Crick Crack Club (CCC) is back after the summer! Tricksters & Fools is at Rich Mix - it's another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and stars Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix. Google Maps started out saying I could walk there in half an hour, then increased its estimate - I'll take the bus.
Tomorrow, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On Friday, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff (LLTAMS) is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
On Saturday, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then Civilised London (CL) organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
Sunday is film - hence the delay with the blog, I was doing the film list! What came up top was - appropriately for the weather - something for the last day of the Raindance Festival, at the Vue Piccadilly. Booking seems to be on the Raindance website, rather than the Vue's - tickets with Eventbrite. And I'm going to Babysplitters - a comedy about two couples who can't decide whether they want a baby, so decide to have one they can split amongst them all! Since tickets are only available until Saturday, I'd have had to book anyway - so I just went ahead and booked straight away.
On Monday, I'm back with UITCS for Ballet Preljocaj - La Fresque at Sadler's Wells.
On Tuesday, we have a slightly delayed September social for ex-employees (and current, if they want) of the company I last worked for - Ivan is away till Sunday, and of course I'm busy on Monday. So, on Tuesday we're headed to Imperial China - the new Chinese restaurant I discovered via CL. Booked for six people, it probably won't exceed that. Getting an answer out of people is predictably difficult.
Next Wednesday, I'm headed to The Merry Wives of Windsor, at the Globe.
On the 3rd, I'm back with CL - this should be interesting. Red Palace is an immersive cabaret experience - lots of fairytale characters, I believe - at the Vaults. And I really hope the weather is ok, because I sourced the most fantastic outfit for it..! Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend - the start of another brief hiatus from Meetup.
On the 7th, I'm off to Shushkin's Stories, at the Barbican. Performed in Russian, with English surtitles, it's a dramatisation of the short stories of Vasily Shushkin.
On the 8th, off to Wilton's, for Lady of Jazz.
On the 9th, heading to the Turbine Theatre, for Torch Song. This is the inaugural show at the new theatre in the revamped Battersea Power Station!
On the 10th, back with Meetup - NLF is off to A History of Water in the Middle East, at the Royal Court. Another where I got my ticket from the organiser.
On the 11th, back with UITCS - to Southwark Playhouse this time, for Preludes. D' you know, I bought their passport a while ago, which entitles you to cheap tickets to five shows - and of the last three I booked, something else came up for every single one! Hope I make this one..
On the 12th, seeing the matinee of Solaris at the Lyric Hammersmith. Turns out that both UITCS and LLTAMS are going - so I booked with both! Why not? Each requires you to buy your own ticket. And since only the organiser and I are going from LLTAMS, what it effectively means is that I'm slipping her into the UITCS group. What harm..
On the 13th, joining the London Improvisation Community Group for the first time - they have a show called Happily Never After at the Pleasance - part of the London Horror Festival.
On the 14th, I'm seeing Mother of Him, at the Park.
On the 15th, UITCS is off to the Albert Hall for Symphonic Queen - the Royal Philharmonic is performing Queen.
Then begins a long period of non-Meetup stuff. On the 16th, I'm heading to the ballet Manon, at the Opera House.
On the 17th, the CCC is back at Rich mix, with Melusine. TUUP is the headliner on this occasion, which should be terrific!
On the 18th, Helen's in town, heading to a Midge Ure concert at the Palladium - we're meeting for dinner beforehand. Now, that's the day I should be flying back to Ireland - so I'm going the next day instead. And with my mother's birthday during the week - and not having any major holidays booked - I said, why not just take the week off and spend it in Ireland? So I am.
On the 28th of next month, the CCC is back again - Ben Haggarty is in Soho Theatre with Grim Grimms - a dark take on fairytales, highlighting four lesser-known tales of the brothers Grimm. With musical accompaniment. Tickets weren't available when I noted this in my calendar - they are now, and will likely sell out.
On the 29th of next month, I'm trying to persuade the aforementioned social group from my former company to come with me to a Design My Night event - Fright Night Cinema is showing Hallowe'en in the Rivoli ballroom, with a themed cocktail bar and people dressed in spooky costumes. Now, that sounds like fun..
On the 30th of next month, back with Meetup at last - UITCS is at a mixed programme by Birmingham Royal Ballet, at Sadler's Wells. I've seen part of it before, and it's excellent.
And for Hallowe'en, The Embers Collective stepped up to the plate, with a storytelling performance called Witch, at The Jago.
Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - again, it's been nearly three weeks since I was last with them! The occasion was a production of Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at Sadler's Wells. Choreographed by Akram Khan.
Work is so boring right now, I actually couldn't wait to get out of there. So I left earlier than I should have needed to - even walking to the theatre. In drizzle that persisted all evening. And it's a good thing I did, considering the detour I had to make for the ubiquitous roadworks. (Not counting the stress involved in dodging cyclists - two this evening: one on the pavement, one sailing through the pedestrian crossing when the light was in my favour. Seriously, they should be banned.)
Well, after a long weekend of mainly doing nothing, I really needed the exercise - and I got it, climbing all the way upstairs at the theatre. And gee, I arrived first of the group! And it was really nice to have someone to talk to - all day in the office, hardly a word passed between me and anyone. Going in to the office is becoming a real drag.
And I duly settled in my comfy "restricted view" seat. Yeah, major restriction, that teeny rail - I mean, the lady stood in front of it obviously took her own seat shortly after. I adore those "restricted view" side seats - fewer people around you, as well. Mind you, I had four sat around me tonight - and their conversation was interesting. Seems they'd all seen it before, and were back because they loved it. And were glad to be seeing it from higher than where they'd been sitting before - they remarked how you'd get a better view of the choreography from on high. So there..
It varies the original story somewhat - it starts by being set in a factory, which is obvious from the industrial decor and the rhythmic motion of the dancers. So, somewhat darker than the original, which has everyone frolicking in the countryside. After that opening section, it does help to know the story - one of the local lads is in love with Giselle, but she prefers the seductive out-of-towner. Unfortunately, he turns out to be - not only a prince - but involved with someone of much higher standing than poor Giselle. Thus spurned, she turns mad, and at the end of the first act dies of a heart attack. Not really a spoiler.
Ok, now that you know the story, you can settle down to the spectacle. Because this has the most amazing score.. as one of the group remarked, she could happily have closed her eyes and enjoyed the score on its own. It's dramatic, it's ominous, it's hypnotising. But please don't close your eyes - because my seating companions were also right about the choreography, which is absolutely stunning. Never mind the most dramatic set I've seen in a ballet. Really, at the interval we didn't know where to start to praise it.
Oh, and the second act? The mood completely changes, becomes very sinister, as the stage fills with "wilis" (ghosts). All the wilis, incidentally, spend every moment on stage en pointe - most impressive. And this is followed by the most moving pas de deux between Giselle's ghost and the man she loves - throughout, the dancing is evocative, and this part I found overwhelming. I cried - and I don't cry at ballet. I've never before seen a standing ovation in the Second Circle..
Again, I hardly knew what to say afterwards - defies description. I was glad to get the bus home though, after all my exertions (and it was still drizzling). This runs till Saturday, but tickets only left for the next two days. My new favourite ballet.. I can't wait to see it again - have ordered the dvd on Amazon! for which I used that voucher I had to go to all that trouble to pick up, last month.
Tomorrow, back with North London Friends, to Donmar Warehouse, for Appropriate. Mixed reviews, I hear.
On Wednesday, the Crick Crack Club is back after the summer! Tricksters & Fools is at Rich Mix - it's another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and stars Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix.
On Thursday, UITCS is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On Friday, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
And on Saturday, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then Civilised London organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
Last Wednesday, back with Civilised London (CL) for a Lebanese meal at Al Waha, meeting beforehand at the Prince Alfred. My only Meetup of the week! I had to take the Tube - buses at that time of day would take too long.
Well, so it proved, and I arrived at the pub around the stated time - to find just one of the group there before me. The others weren't long in arriving though, and we chatted merrily until it was time to take the relatively short walk to the restaurant - past many other ethnic ones. Diverse dining indeed!
A pretty small place, we got a table just inside the door, beside the window - and in common with the rest, it included a wine holder sort of integral to the table. An extensive menu occupied us for a while - I have to say, in summary, it'd be hard to go wrong here. Starters and mains were excellent, I think we all agreed. Caveat: they do like to feed you here, and in my case, I was served far too much. I had the chicken for main course, and I swear, I had two chicken breasts on my plate, along with a portion of chips.. never mind having shared starters with the others. Impossible to finish, and none of us wanted dessert - although we were served a complimentary dish of a selection of mini desserts. Friendly service though, and a decent price - just beware the portions!
Having been to the Prince Alfred, we then schlepped along to a pub named for his brother, the Prince Edward. Where there was a massive picture of him, and plenty of seating. And we whiled away some more of the night most pleasantly.
Got the bus back - partly why I was back too late to blog - and Thursday was hectic at work. Then I came back to Ireland for a long weekend - and honestly, I've been too busy (and in between, too tired) to blog until now!
On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - again, it'll have been nearly three weeks since I was last with them! The occasion is a production of Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at Sadler's Wells.
On Tuesday, back with North London Friends, to Donmar Warehouse, for Appropriate.
On Wednesday, the Crick Crack Club is back after the summer! Tricksters & Fools is at Rich Mix - it's another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and stars Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix.
On Thursday, UITCS is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On Friday, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
And next Saturday, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then CL organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
Tonight, some comedy, with Shappi Khorsandi, at Soho Theatre. And as usual, I was torn between leaving - and staying to finish something. What finally budged me from my seat was when I was trying to do something delicate with an image, and the cleaner came around wiping, and jiggling the desks - I took that as my cue.
I caught the suggested bus - but it wasn't until the journey was underway that I noticed that Google Maps' journey suggestion (to get there by 7.30) actually predicted I'd get there just after! Oh dear me no, this wasn't good. Despite terrible traffic, though, the bus made good time, and arrived early - I still had something of a walk, and galloped off. It also helped that I noticed that Google Maps' suggested walking route was more convoluted than it needed to be, which saved me a little time. I arrived just before showtime.. and picking up my ticket, had the usual confusion about my postcode. She said it was different to the one I quoted - I couldn't for the life of me remember the old one on the spot, but given that I remembered the first line of the address, she let me off. I had moved by the time I booked this, but I seem to remember their system didn't want to change my address..
So I trotted off downstairs, where they were, of course, late starting. Took my seat at the back, and had time to take off my coat and turn off my phone. This was, apparently, the first night of her run, lasting about an hour - and sure enough, she did seem a bit unprepared. But hey, she's one of those naturally funny people - and as she said, she's been in the business 20 years, so she can pull something out of the bag. She has a seemingly endless store of anecdotes about her family - much of which centred on her father, a famous anti-establishment poet in Iran, forced to flee into exile. Her kids came up, her mis-spent youth came up. And throughout, her delivery is deadpan, with a perfectly clipped English accent. Looks effortless, and is very effective. I think she's quietly hilarious. Runs till the 28th, recommended.
Gee, I haven't been here all summer! Must be autumn then, I guess. And in getting here, I do miss the buses that go straight to Oxford Street - doesn't work so handily from where I'm based now. Tomorrow, back with Civilised London (CL) for a Lebanese meal at Al Waha, meeting beforehand at the Prince Alfred. My only Meetup of the week! I might have to take the Tube - buses at that time of day might take too long. Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend.
On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - again, it'll have been nearly three weeks since I was last with them! The occasion is a production of Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at Sadler's Wells.
Next Tuesday, back with North London Friends, to Donmar Warehouse, for Appropriate.
On the 25th, the Crick Crack Club is back! Tricksters & Fools is at Rich Mix - it's another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and stars Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix.
On the 26th, UITCS is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On the 27th, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
And on the 28th, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then CL organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
Tonight, I finally went to see Waitress, which I had to cancel earlier in the year. It's at the Adelphi. And lo, Google Maps said I could walk there from the office in under half an hour - so I did, just arriving in nice time. I could have done without the usher outside the theatre, mind, who confused absolutely everyone by saying that people with tickets should join the queue to his right, while those collecting should join the queue to his left. Now, given that both queues were beside each other, to his left.. well. More informative would have been to say to join the queue by the wall if you were collecting, as that's where the ticket booths had been conveniently plonked. (I think he meant to say the queue to the left as he looked at them..)
Well, bags were duly checked and I was in, and had lots of stairs to climb. Last week's cold still hasn't completely cleared my chest, and all the climbing did aggravate it a bit - happily, the show is loud enough that I managed a few discreet coughs without causing too much of a disturbance. And yes, I was right at the top of the house - I'd noticed that a few seats in the very back row have the advantage of being right at the top of a flight of stairs. So there's literally no-one in front of you (for a long way down, at any rate), and nothing to impede your legroom. Bliss - as long as you don't suffer from vertigo! Best cheap tickets in the house.
There's a character in this - a doctor - who's been off sugar for ages. So when he's offered a pie, he demurs - oh no, it'd be too sweet. But gee, when prevailed upon to take a piece - all of a sudden, he just cannot get enough. As the lead character, who gives him the pie, says - "Life is hard enough". And that pretty much summarises what happened to me at this show. I was a bit dubious to begin with - the story concerns a waitress in a diner, who bakes the most amazing pies, apparently. And gee, every five minutes there's a baking reference, and as a non-baker myself, I wasn't really looking forward to what was coming. Seemed like it was going to be sickly sweet.
Well, more fool me. Because it's just marvellous.. the story is very sweet, without being sickeningly so, the music is catchy, the singing tremendous. Speaking of which, the guy beside me - who also had one of those seats with no-one in front - was obviously a major fan, had obviously been before; he spent the interval softly singing the main chorus to himself (in a fine voice), and the whooping and cheering that came from him was like what you'd get at a rock concert. Mind you, he wasn't alone - almost every song got a round of applause, and we were all up in a standing ovation at the end.
It's a simple-enough story of female empowerment - she discovers, at the beginning, that she's pregnant. To her good-for-nothing husband, who takes all her money, tries to control whom she sees and where she goes, and is borderline violent. Oh, and shortly gets himself fired. Now, in many parts of the world, the first thing she'd be advised to do would be to take herself down the abortion clinic: but of course, then there'd be no story. No, she decides to keep the baby - but she realises she can't go on as before. So wait and see what she does next..
It's sweet, it's funny, it's damn catchy. And we come to know and love all the main characters - well, except the good-for-nothing waste of space she's married to. Absolutely terrific night out - absolutely recommended. Currently booking till the 4th of January. I am so glad I made it in the end. Oh, and I was far enough away to get the bus home - incidentally, I do think it's rather mean to have the #11 to Liverpool Street terminate where it does. I mean, when you get off, the station is nowhere in sight - it's over a 5-minute walk away, zig-zagging through streets that, if you're not familiar with the area, can be utterly confusing. Happy were the people getting off with me, to be able to get directions there from me.. ("yes, you go straight up there, and hang a left where you see that bus just going now..").
Tomorrow, some comedy, with Shappi Khorsandi, at Soho Theatre.
On Wednesday, back with Civilised London (CL) for a Lebanese meal at Al Waha, meeting beforehand at the Prince Alfred. My only Meetup of the week! Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend.
Next Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - again, it'll have been nearly three weeks since I was last with them! The occasion is a production of Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at Sadler's Wells.
On the 24th, back with North London Friends, to Donmar Warehouse, for Appropriate.
On the 25th, the Crick Crack Club is back! Tricksters & Fools is at Rich Mix - it's another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and stars Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix.
On the 26th, UITCS is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On the 27th, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
And on the 28th, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then CL organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
Tonight, back with The Embers Collective - they took a while to reveal the venue for Mischief on the Marshes! despite initially saying they'd tell me when I booked. They did say, when I asked, that they'd tell me midweek. In the event, they told me on Friday morning. And then on Friday evening, they changed their minds. Anyway, final decision was we were meeting at 6.30 sharp (!) outside the Princess of Wales pub in Clapton, for a short walk to our destination. Heh, true for the man that said we'd be on Hackney marshes! Bus is the best transport option. We were told to bring whatever we wanted to eat and drink, and musicians were to bring instruments for a jamming session after. Again, glad they weren't starting early.
KFC again beforehand, which was basically as good as yesterday (with even faster service) - apart from not being offered a dip. And the aircon was freezing! but I enjoyed my meal. It turns out that the #48 goes straight from around the corner from me, to across the road from the pub - and gee, one was waiting as I crossed the road from KFC! So I ended up arriving 40 minutes early. FYI, there's a small off-licence and grocery, just down the road, where you can buy supplies if you're heading out into the marshes.
The pub itself - which I didn't spend any money in (I'd brought my own wine) - backs onto the river, and was thronged outside on this sunny, mild evening; to have a chance of a seat, you needed to go inside. Me, I mooched around on the river path - dodging any number of cyclists from both directions - and ate the chocolate I'd bought in the shop. About 10 minutes before the scheduled time, I heard a yell from further down the path - sure enough, there was Lonan Jenkins in a much-decorated top hat. After greeting lots of colourfully dressed people he knew (I felt positively dowdy in comparison!), he explained that there'd been some confusion about the location (huh!), that some people had only just been informed where it was, and that the other storytellers - Sarah Liisa Wilkinson and Carol Bevan, who turns out to be one of the duo that so entertained us last time - would lead us down, while he waited there for latecomers.
And so it transpired, with the ladies leading a large crowd into the marshes.. where we were headed for was, would you believe, a stone circle! It didn't look terribly ancient, but is still very atmospheric, and they'd thoughtfully put down a groundsheet. Which most of us fitted on. It turns out to be an art installation, called Nature's Throne - more details available here. Anyway, they'd covered the "throne" in the middle with a blanket, and it provided a wonderful stage for the storytellers, with musicians sat in front. Location roughly marked by the cross on this map:
So, comfortably ensconced (well, except my legs kept complaining), we settled down for some storytelling. Lonan and Sarah Liisa gave us two renditions each - his were all about the Norse trickster god, Loki:
..which seem to have been influenced, to an extent, by the recent Thor films. Which, given their jokey nature, is not at all a bad thing, I think!
Sarah Liisa, on the other hand, gave us two very different offerings - I have to say, I think her first was the winner of the night, the tale of a poor Finnish chap in love with a rich man's daughter (she's half-Finnish herself, it seems). Turned away from the man's door when he comes a-courting, on his desolate way home, he rescues a witch from trouble. In thanks, she gives him a magic stone with the power to.. make people fart. You wouldn't believe how useful such a thing can be..
Carol Bevan gave us a musical number, where she acted the part of a tree, complaining about the way we were treating it. A nice end to the first half.
As Lonan remarked, he'd forgotten how quickly the nights are drawing in now - plus, he had an idea they lock the gates at 9pm. So, there was a short interval. At the end of which, nobody could see much! Never mind, mobile phones are handy for that, and some were volunteered to provide lighting:
After the storytelling, they wanted to stay for a jam - but well, I hadn't brought anything, we wouldn't be able to stay long, I didn't know anyone - so I just left, my phone providing me with a handy torchlight. And wow, today I didn't drop it anywhere! well, until I got home..
Tomorrow, finally going to see Waitress, which I had to cancel earlier in the year. It's at the Adelphi.
On Tuesday, some comedy, with Shappi Khorsandi, at Soho Theatre.
On Wednesday, back with Civilised London (CL) for a Lebanese meal at Al Waha, meeting beforehand at the Prince Alfred. Then I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend.
On the 23rd, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - again, it'll have been nearly three weeks since I was last with them! The occasion is a production of Giselle, by the English National Ballet, at Sadler's Wells.
On the 24th, back with North London Friends, to Donmar Warehouse, for Appropriate.
On the 25th, the Crick Crack Club is back! Tricksters & Fools is at Rich Mix - it's another in Crick Crack's Archetypes series, and stars Sarah Liisa Wilkinson (hello again!), Tim Ralphs, TUUP, and Nell Phoenix.
On the 26th, UITCS is back with Groan Ups, at the Vaudeville.
On the 27th, Love London Theatre, Arts, Music & Stuff is at Our Lady of Kibeho, at the Theatre Royal Stratford. Ahah, I knew I'd booked something else with them!
And on the 28th, I booked for the matinee of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. at the Royal Court. And then CL organised an outing to see London Concertante perform the Four Seasons at Southwark Cathedral. What the hey, I figure I can make both! It's ages since I heard it, in fact.. and it'll be a nostalgic trip for me, as my very first Meetup with the Man with the Hat was to listen to Concertante in Southwark Cathedral. He's much missed.
