Here today, gone tomorrow
I keep meaning to make an entry, keep failing to do so and have now realised we're off on holiday again tomorrow. My excuse is that we've been really busy and are still trying to clear our house for the Great Boiler Replacement Disruption. This was supposed to take place in April but we had to cancel it as we were nowhere near ready, and still aren't, but it is now going to happen in July as we must not cancel again, however tempted we are.
I am vaguely horrified to see that my last entry was on April 1st. Since then we have been on holiday to Spain which was wonderfully relaxing until we encountered the British Airways check in queue at Malaga airport on the way home; celebrated J's birthday, which was a large one with a 0 on the end, discovered the joys of ballet, been to exhibitions various and several plays.
None of our theatre trips have been very serious. We went to see Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie which was deeply silly but great fun as it was staged in the old council chamber of County Hall and it was well worth going to to see that. They made great use of the space which could easily have doubled as an actual court room with some audience members acting as the jury. Very slight but well done.
J got some cheap tickets for Quiz by the very prolific James Graham. We didn't really know very much about it and went with no expectations but were highly entertained by an examination of the British love of quizzes through the case of "the coughing major" on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. It was excellently performed by an ensemble cast with much audience interaction as we had to give our verdict on the innocence or guilt of Major Charles Ingram, accused of cheating to win the million pound prize. It was all done very light-heartedly but did touch on serious themes such as the way show business was influencing the legal case and how facts can be manipulated.
We've also been to see An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde with a fabulous cast including Nathaniel Parker, Susan Hampshire, Edward Fox and Freddie Fox. They were all excellent and the production was a delight, with both Foxes playing father and son nearly stealing the show though the ageless Susan Hampshire did her damnedest to steal it back. Edward Fox as the Earl of Caversham was naughtily trying his hardest to make Freddie Fox (Lord Goring) laugh and the fact that an actual father and son were playing the roles gave an element of extra warmth to the Wildean witticisms.
Last week we tried for a bit more seriousness with Mood Music by Joe Penhall at the Old Vic. This is about the conflict over intellectual property between a veteran music producer (Ben Chaplin) and a young female singer (Seana Kerslake) who both see their hit song as all their own work and not a collaboration. In the context of #me too it felt very timely as it strongly highlighted the appalling treatment of women in the music industry and how their voices can be surpressed. Clever and uncomfortable with plenty of food for thought.
And now I must go and pack for a week away. I hope it won't be another two months before an update but at the rate I'm going it will probably be longer. I am still here and still reading though even if not contributing very much.
I am vaguely horrified to see that my last entry was on April 1st. Since then we have been on holiday to Spain which was wonderfully relaxing until we encountered the British Airways check in queue at Malaga airport on the way home; celebrated J's birthday, which was a large one with a 0 on the end, discovered the joys of ballet, been to exhibitions various and several plays.
None of our theatre trips have been very serious. We went to see Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie which was deeply silly but great fun as it was staged in the old council chamber of County Hall and it was well worth going to to see that. They made great use of the space which could easily have doubled as an actual court room with some audience members acting as the jury. Very slight but well done.
J got some cheap tickets for Quiz by the very prolific James Graham. We didn't really know very much about it and went with no expectations but were highly entertained by an examination of the British love of quizzes through the case of "the coughing major" on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. It was excellently performed by an ensemble cast with much audience interaction as we had to give our verdict on the innocence or guilt of Major Charles Ingram, accused of cheating to win the million pound prize. It was all done very light-heartedly but did touch on serious themes such as the way show business was influencing the legal case and how facts can be manipulated.
We've also been to see An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde with a fabulous cast including Nathaniel Parker, Susan Hampshire, Edward Fox and Freddie Fox. They were all excellent and the production was a delight, with both Foxes playing father and son nearly stealing the show though the ageless Susan Hampshire did her damnedest to steal it back. Edward Fox as the Earl of Caversham was naughtily trying his hardest to make Freddie Fox (Lord Goring) laugh and the fact that an actual father and son were playing the roles gave an element of extra warmth to the Wildean witticisms.
Last week we tried for a bit more seriousness with Mood Music by Joe Penhall at the Old Vic. This is about the conflict over intellectual property between a veteran music producer (Ben Chaplin) and a young female singer (Seana Kerslake) who both see their hit song as all their own work and not a collaboration. In the context of #me too it felt very timely as it strongly highlighted the appalling treatment of women in the music industry and how their voices can be surpressed. Clever and uncomfortable with plenty of food for thought.
And now I must go and pack for a week away. I hope it won't be another two months before an update but at the rate I'm going it will probably be longer. I am still here and still reading though even if not contributing very much.