This week on my Twitter feed, one theatre trip to Saved does my mental health no good at all, while a sunny day in Stratford Upon Avon and another theatre trip to Marat/Sade helps improve things; then the Daily Mail gets offended, meaning Marat/Sade must have been good. And Joss Whedon announces his Much Ado About Nothing movie, sending the ( Read more... )

Edward Bond's notorious 1965 play Saved is the most nightmarish thing I've ever seen on stage, and that's not even anything to do with its most infamous scene, in which a baby is stoned to death in its pram. If anything, the climax that ultraviolent scene gives the first act makes it more bearable - the second, lacking even that kind of catharsis, ( Read more... )

This one's tricky to review because although it's being sold as theatre it isn't, really. I was of course interested in Ruby Wax's Losing It as it deals with issues I've also had over the years, and as I'm all in favour of people talking about their mental illnesses in public to try and help remove the stigma still attached to it. After her stay in ( Read more... )

Yet again I've got a cold, so expect my Twitter feed to mainly consist of me grumbling about that for the next few days. In the meantime here's what was on my mind in the last week, starting off with one of those times Twitter really comes into its own with the #whatstigma hashtag, where everyone shared their mental health issues to help take away ( Read more... )

It's hard to say what I expected from the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral tackling a Doctor Who script. Whatever it was, "Vincent and the Doctor" took me by surprise - if there is a precedent for it in Richard Curtis' work, it's probably the legendary final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth. ( Spoilers for 'Vincent and the Doctor' )

Should the Donmar Warehouse be worried? Normally it's standing room only there but this is the second production in a row where the unsold seats must have been well into the double figures (which doesn't sound much but in a 250-seat theatre it's a larger percentage of the auditorium.) While not the unmitigated disaster that was Serenading Louie, I ( Read more... )

People who've seen me in "real life" lately may have had an inkling but yes, I have allowed my prescription to run out. Once again this hasn't been due to a deliberate death wish, but down to the fact that I keep meaning to book a doctor's appointment, then forget until it's too late and the surgery's closed. In theory (although of course I ( Read more... )

Apologies in advance, this post rambles like nobody's business ( Read more... )

Well as I briefly alluded to yesterday, last Saturday was not my best day off evah ( cut for a bit of a stressful day )

I think today's going to be one of those days when I write lots of short blog entries, partly 'cause in a couple of hours I'm going to go into the office to do some of the work I just don't have time for in the week, and that should have been done a couple of weeks ago. I can't stay late on weekdays 'cause Fearless Leader keeps turning up and ( Read more... )