Play: The Hills of California
Tonight, I headed to The Hills of California, at the Harold Pinter. Another of those great value Seatplan vouchers.. Looking around for somewhere to eat beforehand near the theatre, I saw there was an Italian across the road - the menu I saw on Google Maps (albeit a year old) looked ok, and I booked. Just about had time to get there, and I'd just about have time to eat - the show is a long one, and starts at 7.
I arrived a bit early, actually - to find the place practically empty. From the decor, you wouldn't really guess it's Italian - apart from a picture of Venice (and a couple of Venetian masks), it looks more like many Indian restaurants I've visited. Not specifically, I hasten to add - it's just something about the style. Anyway, service was friendly to a fault - and wow, were they quick! Granted, there was hardly anyone there, but still..
I had my old staples - garlic bread (focaccia here) to start, and a chicken in white wine and mushroom sauce for main (with sauté potatoes). Unfortunately - as is clearly stated on the menu - glasses of wine are 125ml! Which explains why prices per glass (of white, anyway) range from £6-£8.. and means, if you're used to a glass twice the size, it works out quite expensive! Ah well, when in Venice.. of course I had two.
Wow though, the food is the business.. every bite was delicious! And I'd been worried about the chicken, which can often be tough - nope, tender as you might wish it. And after I'd polished off my main, well, I still had an hour or so to go! So I had dessert - lemon sorbet. At, I might add, £5 per scoop - but the scoops are a good size. I could have stuck to one, though - I had two, and was stuffed! And you know, apart from the wine and the ice cream, the prices are very reasonable, particularly for this location.. I'm delighted to have found this place, and would love to come back!
And so, a brief pause for digestion, and over the road I went, to join the queue for the upper levels, which have a separate entrance, round the side. I was in the Royal Circle - only one level up from the street, thankfully! Up there, I located my end-of-row seat, dumped my coat, and went to get another drink - proper size, this time. And I see they let you take glass in, which is nice!
There's a level above mine - the Balcony - which I remember with dread for its terrible legroom. The Royal Circle also has safety rails - which don't impede the view - and certainly, I have to say my legroom was fine - but to be fair, I was on the end of the row. Deliberately. There's also no problem in leaning, from my seat - although there is a row behind, it doesn't start until the next seat in! so there was no-one behind me to disturb.
Well, this playwright is also known for Jerusalem, which was the most excellent fun. Unfortunately, this play bears little resemblance to that.. perhaps it'd have been better if there were more comedy in it, but it's mostly played very straight. Three sisters have gathered, in the family boarding house in the backstreets of Blackpool, anticipating the death of their mother, who's slowly shuffling towards the bucket that's to be kicked. They're also anticipating the arrival, from California, of their older sister, who decamped for there 20 years ago and hasn't been seen since!
The stage is clever - it rotates, one side displaying the "public parlour", where guests are greeted and through which they pass (or did, when there were guests), and where the sisters initially meet. This is also the side where the stairs are, that lead up to their mother's bedroom - and the rest of the bedrooms (at least there's plenty of accommodation!). The other side is the kitchen, where we get to see their more private lives.. guests are strictly banned from here, and it's where we see the sisters of today let their hair down. Well, I say "today", but this is set in the 70s, by the look of the clothes. We also see flashbacks to when their mother was a young woman, a single mother, running a guesthouse, and trying to form her four daughters into a singing group.
Yes, singing - and they can really sing. There are some lovely numbers in this, a pleasure to listen to. But it isn't until the oldest sister finally does get there (yes, she does!) towards the end that the humour kicks in properly - before that, any that rears its head seems immediately squashed by the drama of everything else that's happening. Once she does arrive, her laconic drawl seems comical in comparison to the others' frantic worrying about one thing or the other.. and just you wait till she starts to recount her life abroad! She was the only one who did anything about a real musical career, you see.. and she's a real cliché of the Swinging 60s. But I won't give away what happens.
It's ultimately contrasting her life, and the promise of the faraway hills, with the drabness of her sisters' existence. And frankly, that drabness takes over so much of the play that I was left wondering what its value was. Don't get me wrong, it is enjoyable - but it's not saying anything new, and if it's going to be mostly miserable, well.. Anyway, runs till the 15th of June, if you're interested.
Now, the next two days are film. Very happy with my choices these days as well - having edited out the chaff at the top of the list, tomorrow is going to be The Holdovers, a comedy about students who have nowhere to go at Christmas, so they stay on campus, with a couple of teachers as "babysitters". The excellent Paul Giamatti is one of the teachers given the job.. Showing in my closest cinema, the Curzon Aldgate. And when I mentioned that in the London Movie Club, someone said that'd suit him too, so we've now arranged to go together. Just have to find somewhere decent to eat around there..
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