Play: The Shatter Box

Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for The Shatter Box, at the Lion and Unicorn. Where I could be reasonably assured of getting food. Another hot walk to the station - stopped off in Caffe Nero for a bottle of water, almost all of which I drank on my journey. Also passed any number of World Cup references - and also Vinegar Yard, which I'd never noticed before, but is apparently showing it on a big screen!

This time, I was catching the Northern Line. Which, at least, was decently air-conditioned.. just as well, considering the long stop at Euston, where we were finally told that there was an unidentified problem on the Edgware branch, which we had been supposed to take, so all trains were being rerouted the other way. Happily, I was getting off at Camden Town - the next stop - anyway, which is common to both. The usual police presence greeted me in Camden Town.. unhappily, I'd forgotten that it's a little bit of a walk from there to the pub. And my sometime UITCS companion had beaten me there and was wondering where I was..

Well, when I got there, she'd secured a table in the garden. Lovely! Gee, it's months since I was last here.. Anyway, I went to order food, and decided bar snacks would be lighter and quicker. I remembered thinking the mains were a little uppity here the last time, anyway! So I had "popcorn cod" - bitesize pieces in breadcrumbs with a sauce on the side that I probably should have tried, but didn't - and buttermilk chicken - which came with sauce drizzled on, and was utterly delicious! Highly recommended. Anyway, I left a message that we were in the garden, and the others duly joined us there. Which is about when I suddenly realised how much nicer it was, now that the sun wasn't actually shining on us anymore.. it's been overcast all day, I think.

So, when it was nearly time, we headed in - seating was unassigned. The theatre wasn't quite ready - so we got to watch a bit of the spectacular World Cup opening ceremony on the TV in the bar. Have to say, it seemed lovely and - bouncy! Everyone seemed really into it. Nice start. Well, when they opened the door, up we went, and had our names checked off - they don't really do tickets.

The play's advertising description doesn't really tell you what to expect at all. What you actually get is a guy in a cage, hooked up to a sensor that reads and analyses his brain patterns and vital signs. Before the play even starts, he is lying in the cage, and a pair of voices - one male, one female - are describing the results; have to say, I could barely hear what the male voice was saying for the shrillness of the female. Anyway, basically, for the play's 70-minute duration, a questioner keeps coming in and - rather sarcastically - urging him to tell them what they want to know; but he doesn't know what it is they want to know! If he gets a bit sarky, he gets "zapped" - that sensor they've hooked up to his head also acts as a torture device. Plenty of inspiration from Guantánamo Bay, there. We also meet a couple of people looking after him - the nurse, to make sure nothing goes wrong, and the security guard, who provides almost the play's only light relief as he jokes his way through a job he hates as much as the nurse hates hers. The play keeps switching to them, to give us their perspective.

Two things - had it been me in the cage, I'd have been a lot ruder and a lot more vocal - I HATE being told what to do. And I spent practically the entire thing fantasising about the prisoner breaking out of the cage and throttling the questioner with his bare hands. The script has him trying various tactics to sway her and get her to let him out, each of which attempts is batted away by her ice-cool, and perfectly logical, arguments. But as the play wears on, and it becomes apparent that he isn't going to cooperate, things begin to become more desperate..

Basically, I found most of it frustrating - but absolutely loved the ending, which I don't think any of us saw coming! And hey, a good ending is (more than) half the battle. In this case, I think it changed my entire idea of what the play was about. Highly recommended - on again tomorrow, but somehow I can't see how to book on the website! Well anyway, as our organiser said, we HAD to have a chat about what we'd just seen - so most of us got another drink and headed out to the garden again. Where - we all wondered what we'd just seen. But the chat was good, and the night balmy.

As to the World Cup - we'd seen a little of the opening game - France v New Zealand - which, when we came out of the play, was a very tight-run thing. We could hear people cheering as we sat in the garden. In fact.. this ended up being New Zealand's first-ever pool loss! Well done, France - has to be said.

Ironically, I'd just mentioned to a couple of the group that I don't have mice in my new place, and hoped that whoever had rented my old room was enjoying the mice there.. ironic, because I met yet another cheeky one, back at the station.. no trouble on the way home, the walk of the last part was nice and cool, and I managed to shop at my local store for the first time in ages! Just as well - I was running low on water, of all things..

Tomorrow, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners - this walk is Barnet- Royalty, Boozers & a Civil War . Up around his area! Despite some drop-outs, doubtless due to the intense heat. Well, I'll brave it. Should get to bed rapidly, though. Wonder whether lunch afterwards will encompass the Ireland-Romania match..?!

On Sunday, I booked with Cultureseekers - it's Open House, and they're off to the London Scottish House and the Banqueting House.  However, I then got (yet another) message from the organiser, encouraging me to become a "full member" - pay a yearly fee, and you can waive the fee for paid events throughout the year. Fair enough - except, frankly, there are groups I would pay to be with, and this is not one of them. I never go to paid events with them. So, I think I might become a shadow member of this group, as I sometimes do with others - I know he's not asked me to pay for this event specifically, but I'm tired of the hard sell, and there is nothing stopping me going to these venues on my own - at my own pace. Not a terribly sociable group, anyway.

On Monday, I'm off to The Effect at the National.

Then - for the first time in a long time - there's a run of Meetup events - and specifically, UITCS! On Tuesday, back with them to see Russell Howard for the last night of his run at the Palladium - terrible trouble finding a decent seat in the Grand Circle, which was all that was left! And since I now have three (!) online interviews scheduled for that day, some comedy will be just what I need.

On Wednesday, I was to be back with Laurence and the 45+s for The Long and Winding Road, a walk about, of course, The Beatles! Personal commitments, however, have meant he's postponed it. So now I'm going with UITCS to It's Headed Straight Towards Us! (a comedy about a volcano), at Park Theatre.

On Thursday, back with them for Anthropology, at Hampstead Theatre. Cheap tickets from TodayTix. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

The next two days are with UITCS again - on the 18th, it's Crazy for You, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

On the 19th, it's Octopolis, at Hampstead Theatre again!

And on the 20th, I'm with CT for a classical concert - a Chamber Recital at St. Mark's, Hamilton Terrace. Regular tickets from TicketSource.