Some classic drama, some Shakespeare infused comedic theatre, a touch of street art and some live music...

27th February - March 5th 2017

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? - Harold Pinter Theatre

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - The Old Vic

D*Face VNA Ltd Edition Launch - Rebels Alliance

Charlotte Carpenter - The Victoria

A theatre-centric week this week with a bit of art and music thrown in for good measure, so on with the show...

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

So Mondays excursion into theatreland was to the Harold Pinter Theatre, just off of the Haymarket. We were here most recently for 'Nice Fish' with Mark Rylance, and before that for 'Sunny Afternoons', although the theatre is back to it's traditional configuration now. Luckily we had also managed to score a couple of proper bargains with £10 fourth row stalls tickets, sold as restricted view/legroom, although this just amounted to not being able to see the very back right hand corner of the stage, (not a problem as nothing happens there anyway, and the restricted legroom is just a column immediately adjacent the aisle seat which causes no issues either). For a play like this which relies so heavily on the performers, seeing them up close really enhances the experience.

There's been a bit of a buzz recently about this play too, as emails have been sent out to ticket holders informing them that food is forbidden to be consumed during the performance, and that late comers will not be admitted until the interval or the extended scene break between acts two and three, (why this is a problem I don't know as quite frankly this should be the rule in all theatres all the time, we've experienced enough bad audience behaviour to back this wholeheartedly!).

The play itself is around three and a quarter hours including the interval proper and mini break, however it never drags and holds the attention superbly.

Having not seen the play before or the movie, a brief read of the synopsis so as not to spoil anything was all we had. It's basically played out over an evening and centres on a middle-aged couple, Martha and George, (Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill) who invite a younger couple, Nick and Honey, (Luke Treadaway and Imogen Poots), over for drinks who are new to the university they work/live at, and examines the breakdown of their marriage throughout the evening which also draws in the younger couple and examines their seemingly idyllic relationship also.

This sounds a little heavy going we grant you, and can be, but there is a rich vein of black humour running throughout it all and the crackling script is delivered with aplomb by the whole cast, particularly Staunton and Hill who absolute shine in what can only be considered a masterclass in theatre.

The whole story line builds in tension and drama towards it's big climax which leaves you both emotionally drained but also sympathetic towards the characters and the journey we've taken with them.

This was a preview performance but it was performed impeccably and just proved what seasoned professionals the cast are.

It's on until the 27th of May, and really shouldn't be missed.

The Harold Pinter Theatre...

The fantastic cast of four...

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Our second theatre outing of the week was to The Old Vic for the revival of Tom Stoppard's 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead', another bargain-licious night out as we had scored some of the PwC £10 tickets as this was one of the first five previews, so we had some great seats in row J of the stalls.

Again this is one we haven't seen before, (although Miss Culture studied it in drama darling...).

Described as an 'absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy' this could put some off! It's based around two minor characters from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' and expands on the characters through seeing them in the scenes within 'Hamlet' and then what happens to them when not in that story line but 'in the wings' as such, however without any knowledge as to what's going on between their appearances as they have not story line written for them so they are left in a kind of limbo state.

It's quite confusing to try and describe and makes more sense when seen played out, although a knowledge of 'Hamlet' is probably quite important too as it helps keep up with what is playing out in the Shakespeare story line and how things are progressing.

This is quite a high profile revival due to the involvement of Daniel Radcliffe which has drawn in the Harry Potter crowds, which will hopefully be a good thing and get some younger audiences into the theatre.

Along with Radcliffe, Joshua McGuire makes up the lead duo, (we'd previously seen McGuire in 'Privacy' at the Donmar and 'Future Coneditional' at The Old Vic), and once again he was fantastic, providing the majority of the sarcasm and laughs. Radcliffe was also impressive playing the more clueless of the pair, although proved his comedy and acting chops too.

Although the play was stolen in our view by David Haig as The Player, who's exuberant and animated performance stole every scene he was in.

There are lots of laughs which come pretty steadily throughout, although as stated before if Shakespeare and the willingness to embrace the existential nature isn't your thing it could be a little hard going.

The lovely artwork for the show...

However if all this sounds like it floats your boat it well worth catching, although it won't be for everyone.

It's on until the 29th of April, but tickets are selling pretty quick so be fast.

D*Face VNA Ltd Edition Launch

Miss C was out on Thursday night doing some wedding planning related activities so on my way to a gig I stopped by the launch of the limited edition of the latest issue of Very Nearly Almost magazine, featuring street artist D*Face as the cover star, (you may recognise his work from the latest blink182 album cover).

I've purchased the magazine before but haven't attended a launch, however I was keen to get my hands on one of the 150 copies available with screen printed cover and print.

It was being held at D*Face's biker cafe, Rebels Alliance just off of Brick Lane and basically involved joining a queue of other fans, (and some inevitable 'flippers' hoping to buy a copy then flip for a massive profit on eBay).

A D*Face piece outside the cafe...

A D*Face Marilyn Monroe canvas with the iconic wings...

The limited edition in all it's glory...

Anywho, I managed to get one eventually, and didn't have to queue all afternoon like some people did apparently, and thought I'd bring his work to your attention if you like that kind of thing. Enjoy.

Charlotte Carpenter

So after my little detour to Shoreditch, it was on to Dalston and The Victoria pub/venue to see a show by a great singer/songwriter Charlotte Carpenter.

She's released a few EPs up until now, which can be found on the usual places for streaming/buying, my particular favourite being 'How Are We Ever To Know?' from last year.

The Victoria itself is quite a nice chilled venue, a pub in the front and the music is in a room in the back with a stage, quite intimate which was perfect for this type of music and the sound was pretty good too.

Charlotte herself, backed by her band comprising a guitarist and drummer, who also provided some backing vocals, was pretty darn great.

Her delicate but soulful voice compliments the bluesy, stripped back sound which allows the lyrics to shine, but always coupled with a nice memorable harmony.

Charlotte bathed by the pinky lighting...

However that's not to say she doesn't have more up tempo tunes, such as 'Electric' and 'Fire', which showcased a little Fiona Apple in her voice, but all the while showcasing a sound which deserves to be heard and celebrated.

A captivating stage presence...

The more delicate songs also allowed Carpenter to showcase her vulnerability and knack for an affecting story within her songs, such as 'Lately' and 'Contracts'.

Strong songs coupled with a beautiful voice meant the whole gig was captivating and shows that she's a talent to watch out for.

Check the link at the top of the page for more info.

That's it for this week, but next time we'll have some cult theatre, some art and more live music. Until then, get inspired...

Movie watching with dinosaurs, the ART of comedy, a festive film classic and a Hollywood star...

11th December 2016 - 17th December 2016

Activities :

Jurassic Park (Rooftop Film Club Screening) - Natural History Museum
Art - The Old Vic

It's A Wonderful Life - BFI Southbank
Danny Glover in Conversation - BFI Southbank

A quite film theme week last week, but also a fantastic night at the theatre full of laughs, so without further ado...

Jurassic Park (Rooftop Film Club Screening)

Monday night combined some film with a bit of museum going, which is never a bad thing, (although when a past excursion to the British Museum to watch 'The Princess Bride' coincided with torrential rain it all became a little more problematic, still enjoyed the film though).

The suitably Christmassy lights at the Natural History Museum...

It was for a screening of 'Jurassic Park' by the pop-up film screening outfit The Rooftop Film Club, and located aptly in the main hall of the Natural History Museum with the audience encompassing soon to be on tour national treasure Dippy the Diplodocus!

We remember visits here from school days and Dippy's always been a lasting memory of those trips, however he's due to be replaced shortly by the museum's real Blue Whale skeleton, (Dippy's actually just a plaster cast of the skeleton, however it is the a cast of the most complete skeleton ever found so he's still very special), so this was a nice setting and the ideal film to enjoy here.

There were two screenings that night, one at 7PM and one at 10PM, both fully sold out, we opted for the latter showing as work and eating meant the earlier start would be a rush, however attending later also meant that we got to enjoy the museum a bit as would could enter from 8PM and explore the Dinosaur and Mammal exhibits with very sparse crowds which was a treat in itself.

A nice touch of classic cinema signage...

After Hours access to the exhibits...

Strangely happy expressions on most of the staffed mammals...

The animated T Rex is a definite highlight...

The Statler and Waldorf of the Natural History Museum...

The exhibits are still impressive, despite being quite familiar from visits over the years and it's well worth a visit as watching footage online or on TV still doesn't allow you to fully appreciate the aesthetic qualities, although the taxidermy aspect can be a little disconcerting given it's no longer a common sight.

So after the usual schoolchild-like ooohhhing, aaahhhing and fiddling with moving parts of exhibits it was finally time to settle down to a modern classic!

A large screen was installed half way up the large staircase behind Dippy and chairs were arranged around him so we really were literally watching 'Jurassic Park' with a dinosaur basically, which is about as fitting a setting as you can get I guess!

The film itself surely needs no introduction, Spielberg's modern classic hits all the right notes, jumps and laughs expertly handled but one of cinema's masters. The CGI and animatronic effects still hold up today, in fact they're still better than most recent efforts, and along with the performances music and narrative it all adds up to an intelligent, summer blockbuster.

Our view from our seats back to the entrance and Dippy's head...

The silver screen...

A fond farewell at the end of the evening...

Although it was pretty late by the time the film started and ended it still managed to entertain us and there was free popcorn which is always a winner! http://rooftopfilmclub.com/london and http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

Now we had a couple of nights off before some theatre on Thursday...

Art

So on Thursday we headed over to the Southbank for the latest play to open at the Old Vic, a revival of Art by Tasmina Reza.

Translated from it's original French language, this had quite a run in the West End during the late nineties/early noughties, with many different ensemble casts, boasting quite a few impressive names such as Albert Finner, Tom Courtenay, Jack Dee, George Wendt and Frank Skinner.

This time around we have the accomplished line up of Rufus Sewell, (recently seen in 'Closer' at the Donmar Warehouse and 'Victoria' on TV), Tim Key, (Alan Partridge's hapless co-presenter and stand-up), and Paul Ritter, (the dad in 'Friday Night Dinner' and also to be seen in the latest Dan Brown film adaptation 'Inferno'), all three from different backgrounds within the industry but here they gelled fantastically and made for a truly entertaining night at the theatre.

We'd taken advantage of the Old Vic PWC preview ticket scheme for this one, which basically amounts to £10 tickets available for about half of the total seats, at all levels for the first five preview performances, some might be put off by the fact it's one of the initial performances and would prefer to see the play after it's fully hit it's stride, however we've done the £10 ticket deal for a few shows now and highly recommend it! It's live theatre after all, and sometimes the little ad-libs fumbling of words can actually add an air of reality to the show, however most times as on this occasion the cast were on top form.

That'll never wash out...

We'd managed to score third row stalls tickets, so the view was great and there were no problems with hearing anyone, we also had a clear view of the actors faces which is always a bonus as you get to feel the full performance.

It's basically a play about the idiosyncrasies of male friendships and attitudes concerning contemporary art, and revolves around one of the friends, Serge, (Sewell), having purchased an expensive basically blank white painting which his friend Marc, (Ritter), hates and their friend Yvan, (Key), who's caught in the middle trying to always please everybody, (usually at the cost of his own happiness).

The play is performed as a series of scenes which utilise the same main set, slightly enhanced to portray each of the character's own homes, and combines ensemble scenes with fourth wall breaking monologues addressed directly to the audience which verbalise the character's internal thoughts and feelings, a neat way to highlight commonly held view that men are reluctant to share such things in such relationships, (maybe a little bit of an old fashioned stereotype since the rise of the 'millennial male', but it's a play which although of it's time doesn't feel redundant in it's themes).

It deftly steps between witty 'banter', almost bordering on farcical situations and a bit of genuine drama, and was reminiscent of the tone of another French play, staged in the West End earlier this year at the Wyndhams Theatre, 'The Truth' , (which was another truly outstanding comedic drama examining themes of relationships and betrayal with razor sharp dialogue and pitch perfect performances from the ensemble cast).

Overall it's well worth catching, and at an economical 90 minutes with no interval it zips by and doesn't feel too heavy of an evening, superb!

It's A Wonderful Life

Currently on re-release for the festive season at the BFI Southbank, what more could you ask for in these cynical times than a welcome viewing of Frank Capra's relentlessly optimistic classic 'It's A Wonderful Life'.

So Saturday afternoon saw us settle into our favourite seats in screen NFT1 for our first viewing on the big screen. This was a pristine digital presentation, as I suspect any film prints are starting to really show their age, however it wasn't digitally toyed with so wasn't thankfully wasn't artificially polished.

For those that haven't seen it, (if not, why not!!), the plot simply put revolves around James Stewart's character George Bailey, operator of his late father's buildings and loan company in a small town Bedford Falls who despite lofty ambitions to travel the world and be someone who makes a difference in the world is forever held back by circumstances in life. Eventually when a dramatic misfortune befalls him and pushes him to the brink of suicide he makes a wish that he'd never been born, at which point a guardian angel named Clarence is dispatched to show him that despite feeling that he's a failure because his big dreams were unfulfilled, his very existence and actions within his small community in actual fact fulfil his hopes in greater way than he could ever imagine.

The candle adds a bit of a festive vibe...

The movie was actually a bit of a flop on it's initial release, maybe audiences found the even the merest suggestion of suicide a turn off, or maybe it was just a little ahead of it's time, the scenes of Clarence conversing with the chief angels, represented by sets of flashing stars seems quite a modern concept, however it' has subsequently found it's place as a mainstay during the Christmas season. 

Lets make no bones about it, the film is constructed explicitly to elicit the maximum amount of sentimentality from it's audience, both in it's storytelling and most notably through the performance of Stewart, always dependable to play the all-American everyman to a T, but you never feel manipulated, in fact it provides a comforting atmosphere, and had us both booing by the end.

If you get a chance to catch this classic on the silver screen do it, you won't be disappointed!

Danny Glover in Conversation

After a spot of dinner, it was straight back into the screen for one of many events programmed as part of the BFI's 'Black Star' season of films celebrating the range and versatility of black actors, an in conversation event with Danny Glover.

Being big fans of the 'Lethal Weapon' franchise and his performance in 'The Color Purple' in particular meant we were looking forward to seeing the man in person and hearing his reminiscences on his career.

Obviously not yet too old for this s*#!...

Arriving on stage to rapturous applause Glover came across as someone clearly and rightly proud of his varied output over a long successful career and also immensely proud of the opportunities it's afforded him in forming his own production company to produce projects which satisfy his humanitarian pursuits and bring other more personal projects to fruition.

He also touched on his belief in the power of people to be better citizens and therefore better people, Glover for President!

The audience Q & A touched on the status of a couple of other projects he's been linked with as producer, including an intriguing little known story about Albert Einstein and his involvement in some Civil Rights activities in America, and of course he was quizzed on the possibility of a Lethal Weapon 5, to which he replied it looks unlikely but if the right script did come along, then he would be on board.

Glover deep in conversation...

Glover proved to be a very eloquent and passionate character, certainly very appreciative of the opportunities afforded to him and his continued popularity.

That's it for this week, we'll be back soon!