Following straight on from the 10-year-old blog post, London Rocks! Folks, I have had the most atrocious week - on Wednesday, I lost my phone - and therefore, my only means of authenticating to my Gmail account.. which is how I get into this blog site. So I can now only log into my old email - and therefore my old blog - from a device on which I have logged in before. Of which there are now two in the world - one of which is my mother's computer in Ireland. My own laptop broke down a while ago, and on Wednesday morning, I returned my work laptop - so that was it! apart from one place.. see, I don't have a working printer. So when they emailed me a shipping label to attach to the box the laptop was going back in, I had to find somewhere to print it. The nearest place was a print shop around the corner, where - on Tuesday - I went and logged into my email, so I could print the label. That shop is now the only place in London where I can access my old email / blog. Cue me nipping in constantly ever since, for a couple of minutes a time, to forward important emails to myself.. I kid you not, Google provides no alternative method. I cannot log in anywhere else, despite knowing the password. Atrocious, indeed..
Well, that stressed me out no end - I spent most of Wednesday afternoon organising a new phone, and trying to see how many passwords I could remember, then contacting people any way I could - I lost all my contacts as well, you see. Have now got most of them back, have a new Gmail account - and, as you can see, a new blog. Microsoft, mind you, was a bit more obliging - I don't remember my password, but they sometimes just ask me for a PIN that I've just set up, and they did allow me to add a second email address - which I've now made my primary contact. Of course, before that got set up, I had to make innumerable quick trips to the print shop, to pick up codes sent by email. Honestly, it's embarrassing, nipping in and out all the time, using free internet - nothing I can do about it though.
Well, Wednesday and Thursday were with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - they do book so much stuff! On Wednesday, it was Robin Hood: The Legend - Rewritten, at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. The rain held off - but it was colder than we could have wished. With hardly any time left to eat after all the fuss, I headed for Pret, then made the theatre with minutes to spare, meeting the group briefly before we went in. Blasted new phone took its time sourcing internet access, too..
I was right in the back row, at the top. I also appeared to be the only person there - with several empty seats, I considered changing, but decided I'd stay where I was for now.
Hem. We were at kind of a loss what to say about this, at the interval and afterwards - someone remarked that alcohol would help, whereupon I nipped to the bar and got some. Interestingly, we noticed that the show was playing on a screen in the bar - which, frankly, looked like a superior option! with drinks to hand, and even if the volume was turned down, you were close enough to the auditorium to hear it - plus, it was a bit warmer than out in the stands. But hey, we returned anyway - I did take a lower seat for the second half, just four rows down, chosen because that section was completely empty.
Oh Lordy, where to begin. So - kind of predictably, this now basically ascribes all the plot points to women. Pretty much all. The King shows up as a kind of endearing idiot, the Sherriff of Nottingham the real schemer. Gisborne, however, proves the real villain of the piece - and, as many remarked, this is not a show for kids. Quite gory, with Gisborne proving quite menacing. In fact, the misery meted out to the peasants at the beginning is almost cartoonishly awful.
So - where is Robin Hood in all this? Eh, kind of everywhere. We soon meet the Hollywood version, lean and lithe with the cap with the feather in it. He hangs out with the Robin that Clannad sang about - I did wonder when he'd show up, it's not until the second half. They seem to be there for cultural reference - then there's the actual Robin, the wannabe Robin, the menacing multiple Robins that crowd around the Sherriff at one point. An embarrassment of Robins, in fact.
The main famous bits are there - plus an intriguing box with squeaky voices, and a side plot about how the Sherriff is keeping the King under his thumb. Especially with the multiple Robins, it seems as though they're trying to encompass every single cultural reference - I get it, it's hard to come up with a new angle on this familiar tale. But the consensus in our group was that it was too much, and we were, frankly, glad to get out of there. Decent set though, and the setting, amongst the trees, with birds twittering in them, was lovely. Runs till the 22nd, if you're curious.
On Thursday, it was School Girls: Or, the African Mean Girls Play, at the Lyric Hammersmith. A less stressful day, but with all the organising that goes with having to get a new phone, and email, and change your details everywhere, I was - again - tight for time, and ate in Pret. It's a long way out there anyway! I found the group sunning themselves on the theatre terrace - it was a much warmer day - and we chatted away happily until showtime - when I was in the Upper Circle, fully three floors up from the cafe, which is itself upstairs from the entrance! Phew.. was I winded by the time I made it up there.
A lovely African sunset decorates the back of the stage, and the fans start once the performance does. It turns out to be set in Ghana - following the basic Mean Girls story, it centres on a secondary school, with a group of girls led by the most popular, whose comfortable existence is threatened when an attractive newcomer arrives in their midst. As it happens, the selector for the Miss Ghana pageant is due imminently, the head of the "mean girls" fully expecting to be crowned. Except.. the new girl is lighter skinned, her father is one of the richest men in the country - and she grew up in the States, so brings an international flavour. Jeez, what's a Miss Popular to do?
Ah now, this is funny in a way that Robin Hood can only try to be. The script is packed with zingers, the audience reaction hilarious as they gasp at the meaner and meaner things the girls say to each other. It's set in the 80s, so we can forgive some naivety in their attitudes towards the States. We really engage with the characters, making this a great watch. One poignant moment at the end, when they're watching the pageant on tv - Ghana doesn't win (spoiler) and the tv is turned off, sadly, to the strains of the commentator gushing that we're seeing the "most beautiful girls on the planet". Yeah, just not from Ghana, huh? So, this is a fun night out - also runs till the 22nd. Recommended.
Afterwards, we hung around for a couple of drinks in the bar - a lovely, chilled evening, which I really needed, and an escape for an hour or so.
She'd mentioned an "upstairs cafe", but I had no idea what she meant, and there was nothing on the website - I moseyed around to the back, and discovered her at an outdoor cafe, with a bar area, tables, and live music! Apparently it's a thing in summer - I never knew. Anyway, unfortunately, they had no decent food offerings - I headed downstairs, where she shortly joined me. Have to say, the service was lackadaisical, the food lukewarm. The wine was nice. We couldn't see the group organiser before the concert started, so just went to take our seats - I was in the Gallery, without a view. But you know, that didn't make a difference to me for the coronation either, it was the music I came to hear!
And it was absolutely stunning - more so, I think, heard in the setting for which it was composed, but it's still spine-tingling, as it mentioned on the website. I didn't take any photos inside - have taken too many in my day - just spent my time dreamily listening. Although I did leave before the encore - but then, I've always hated sitting through applause.
Afterwards, our organiser had a yen to go to Venchi, in Covent Garden - the queue outside told a tale.
They were nearly out of several by the time we got there - principally various shades of chocolate - so I had strawberry, first time in an age. And yes, it is worth paying the extra to get your cone dipped in chocolate flakes! We sat at a spare bench in Covent Garden afterwards, and talked music - a lovely evening.
Saturday was a landmark moment - my three ex-colleagues, and myself, together in a room at the same time! One was worried about the planned train strikes, but managed to stay for a good while, leaving early. And although I'm already supposed to have moved, well, I'm between places - particularly with the constant mix-ups with my keys! so I just booked The Lucas Arms again. A good night was had by all - although, again, I just couldn't manage my steak and ale pie; the weather is just too clammy! but what with Ivan inviting an old friend and her family along as well, it was a really sociable day.
Yesterday, was supposed to head with Cultureseekers, for a Historic Hampstead Treasure Hunt. We were to be split into groups, apparently, and the clues related to historical plaques and the likes in the area. Official guides not allowed to participate. Hmm - I wondered how much I could remember from Laurence's walk there.. In the end, of course, I just wasn't up to it - it was raining at the scheduled time anyway. Wish Meetup hadn't kept sending endless reminders to rate the event, is all! Nah, I just headed to GBK for dinner - TBH, I wasn't feeling the best after the night before, a bit fragile - quite happy just to chill at home. And actually, I had a metallic taste in my mouth that meant I couldn't taste anything until halfway through..
Now, I couldn't log into the blog site until I managed to log into Microsoft - which meant getting a recovery email (to my old email) - which meant going to the print shop - which meant that, even though I got my new laptop over the weekend, I couldn't actually blog until today. Which - as you can imagine - has taken some time.
This evening, booked with TAC for an interesting-sounding show - Blood, Gold and Oil is about Lawrence of Arabia, and showing at Riverside Studios. Part of their "Bitesize Theatre" series. Pret again - I honestly couldn't manage anything heavier in the heat - and then Tube. Just as well I left early - a "passenger incident" down the line meant severe delays on the Piccadilly Line, which had looked like the fastest option. The driver eventually suggested we take the option to change - and as this was Gloucester Road, the District Line was an option for me - and a host of others. So I had the unfamiliar task of checking to see which of its many destinations was up next.. it's like the many-headed Hydra, and not all destinations suited.
Arrived at Riverside just in decent time - checked my confirmation, only to discover that the theatre was to have emailed me the ticket this afternoon. To my old email, of course. Well, blast.. I explained at the desk that my email had been changed, and she wrote me out a ticket without problem. I got a drink at the bar - they serve take-away drinks at the side, in plastic if you want to take them into a show. With the ridiculous price of sauvignon blanc, I got chardonnay - which I found a little sour. Or perhaps my taste still isn't back to normal..
I had a bar of chocolate too, and waited for the studio to open. Seating was unassigned, with some seats at the front marked as "reserved":
Robes adorn a mannequin to the side, with sundry stands representing what actually are museum exhibits - we get to peer at them at the end! And as we file in, the beautiful strains of Spiegel im Spiegel fill the air - kudos to Shazam for identifying that to me over the hubbub, BTW!
Three characters in this - two from the present day, one an archaeologist with a lifetime obsession with Lawrence, the other a worker in the museum where they're setting up an exhibition about Lawrence. He's of Middle Eastern extraction himself. The third, naturally, is Lawrence himself, who stalks the stage as a tortured soul, desperately guilty over his role in the colonisation of the region. In the beginning, the others are unaware of him - later, they can see him and talk to him, as he makes them aware of the awful reality behind the myth.
Only an hour long, but this is so powerful. The performance of the actor that plays Lawrence is so intense.. literally breathtaking in parts, as we feel with him the aching injustice done to the region. And along the way, he both awakens his admirer from her crush on him, and begs pardon of the other guy, being from the region. Really feels like a much longer play, there's so much in it. Runs till Thursday - highly recommended!
Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again - where it looks like I might finally get to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny! This sees Harrison Ford, back again as the coolest archaeologist in the Western world. And yes, your eyes don't deceive you - that is Phoebe Waller-Bridge, tagging along as the female interest (his god-daughter). So, expect some good lines. Antonio Banderas shows up as - someone scruffy-lookin'. Mads Mikkelsen is the baddie, Toby Jones a professor. And I'd be happy to see it - if only for the CGI that makes Harrison Ford look young and gorgeous again.. (there's some time travel, I believe). Showing in Ennis at a convenient time - remains to be seen what the showings in the Omniplex are, they're still not out.
Next Monday, back with UITCS for Song from Far Away, at Hampstead Theatre. I suspect this is one that Meetup just declined to notify me about.. I don't remember seeing it advertised before, although it's been up for a while.
On the 20th, LBML again showed an unerring instinct for hitting a day I didn't have anything booked! So I'm going with them to a concert (& social) called Handel: Abandonment Issues, at the Foundling Museum. Well, when I say "going with them", I might well be the only one, as the organiser apparently can't go. Tickets from Eventbrite, with a discount for people booking through the group!
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