Play: An Enemy of the People & Comedy: Joke Thieves

On Tuesday night, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for An Enemy of the People, at the Duke of York's Theatre - got the very last cheap ticket for this from London Box Office! When in the area, I usually eat in the Prezzo at the end of the road - which normally doesn't need a booking (certainly not on a Tuesday). So I didn't book - and didn't need to - but I did end up in the upstairs seating area for the first time! Curiously - because of the layout of the building - it doesn't really have windows. But what the hey - service was really quick, they have an upstairs bar too, and I was fed in good time, off up the road, and although I was in the top level of the theatre, this one doesn't have too many steps!

Had a rather insipid Sauvignon Blanc - which is curious, because I see, the last time I was here, I found it much nicer! Perhaps they've changed it.. Anyway, as usual with this group, my first action upon going in was to look for a group, stood together - that's usually them. Sure enough, there they were, towards the rear - and once I had my drink (in glass - unusually, they have no problem with you taking it in unless you're in the front row), I joined them. Saw some folks I hadn't seen in a while! Left a little early to take my seat though - where I was standing, I kept being jostled.

As I say, I got the last cheap seat, late as I booked - and I did wonder how restricted the view would be..

Well, I'd expected something like it. Legroom wasn't bad, anyway. But wow - when I saw one of our group in one of those boxes to the side, on the level below.. and she later said she'd got it for £25 a seat, £1 more than I'd paid! Ooh jealous.. and as she pointed out, tons of space, and all they had to do to get a better view was lean..!

Anyway, I didn't do much leaning - I knew it wouldn't do much good. As you might glean from the poster outside the theatre - and from the message projected on the safety curtain - this is a very political play. Ibsen, although the group member who said she was a big fan hadn't heard of this one. In short, it's set in a small spa town. The medical officer employed at the local baths discovers - shock, horror! that the water supply is contaminated. The solution is simple - the baths are going to have to be closed until the problem is rectified - the water supply is going to have to be sourced from further uphill. Well.. it's simple until his brother (the mayor) gets involved..

This is kind of David and Goliath - the small, righteous guy against the might of the opposition. Mind you, I spent most of the first half trying to decide which I was more annoyed by - the cynicism of the opponents of the factory closure, who include the mayor, the townspeople, who are drip-fed propaganda by the mayor, and the local paper, which is in his pocket - or the sheer naivety of this lone proclaimer of the truth, who actually can't see the bigger picture, and in no way expects the opposition he gets! Having said that, I stuck it out - I was curious to see how it would pan out. And indeed, the second half is quite entertaining, comprising the town hall meeting from the original play. The doctor's rant against society is given a nice modern update. There's also some audience participation.. but the ending is left nicely ambiguous.

I liked the sparse set design - I'm always impressed when set designers can manage to make the same space look like several different locations. The poster outside gives an idea of what it's like - kind of chalkboard walls, which they can write on, and whitewash for the meeting in the second half. As I remarked, they must have great fun redoing that for every show!

Ultimately, I enjoyed it - I just think it's lost much of its power to shock. Aren't we all used to the moral conflict between knowing what's right to be done, but having to balance that against, well, economics? Don't politicians tell us that all the time? Anyway, many fans of Matt Smith at this - he plays the good doctor, with Jessica Brown Findlay as his wife. I didn't join the fan club, waiting for autographs at the end..

That night, I was busy with the film list, so couldn't blog - and although I finished it yesterday, it still ran too late. Last night, back with CT again - and back to Backyard Comedy at last! This was for Joke Thieves, where people tell each others' jokes.. Gee, it's weeks since I was last there, it'd be good to be back.

As they say - and as I said to the bar staff at the club, when I got there - "a funny thing happened on my way to the theatre..". There I was, waiting to cross the road, and a bus was just rounding the corner, when.. it broke down. Not with a crash and a bang, not even a whimper.. just.. died. You could see the driver going, "Oh, NO"! Wow. Well, handy for us pedestrians - we nipped across in front of it. The rest of the traffic was not so lucky - and was most vocal about it! One small car managed to squeeze past, blaring its horn all the way - what did they expect him to do, did they think he was doing it on purpose?! Pity the driver and passengers on the bus.. I did stop for a couple of minutes to watch, and he did seem to get it going a couple of times - and of course, every time he got it going, he had to stop again because people were streaming across in front of him. Hey-ho, I finally left them to it..

You know, I'd been worried that I was headed there later than usual - I needn't have worried, and indeed was very glad to have arrived as late as I did. I was, as usual, the first person in the bar! Wednesdays seem to be much quieter than Thursdays - complete change of pace. The guy actually served me my food at the table - and the next table got the same - rather than collecting it ourselves, it was so empty. No wristbands required, and we went in much later. And sure enough, when we did go in, all seating was at tables - much less crowded.

The show itself was interesting - I hadn't seen this format before. We got two groups of four, and each time, someone from the audience was asked to pair the person at the end of the line with one other. The other two were then paired together by default, and one pair was invited to perform first. How it works is that one of the pair performs a short set, then the other, then the first comes back and performs a kind of summary of the second person's set, and the second comes back for a rendition of the first's. A "judge" then comes from the side to show them how it's done, doing a summary of both person's sets, and picks a winner, and the MCs, sitting at the side, are also each asked for a winner.

When it works, it works very, very well. Only one female out of the eight, I noticed - but then, we know comedy tends to be male-dominated. And gee, one of the fun parts of the night was watching her "partner" try to mimic her actions! What happens - if the person doing the "copying" has paid attention - is a stinging review of the other's material - it occurred to me that you do need a hard neck. As I say, the judge tended to do it better - but there was some fun with the participants. One apologised at the start for being terrible at it - and he was; you'd have to wonder whether he'd been paying attention at all. Which is something you really need to do. All in all, a very good night - I do love this venue, and it was good to be back. Oh, and that bus was gone by the time I went back that way..

Tonight, I have a Crick Crack Club event.. this is online from the Oxford Story Museum, and is Dark Tales from the Wood. As told by the excellent Daniel Morden. But as that'll be available for a week afterwards, I'm free to do something else this evening - and with that being my usual day in the office, it's handy that London Social and Cultural Meetups are doing something around the corner. It's a public lecture about homelessness..

Tomorrow, given that the film list is (finally) done, I'm off to see.. the NT Live production of Uncle Vanya, restaged as a one-act play starring Andrew Scott! Oh goodee.. was upset not to get around to seeing this live, when it was on. It's showing in a number of Vue cinemas at 7pm- closest to me is Vue Westfield Stratford, so I've booked.

On Saturday, back with UITCS for The Rake's Progress, an opera in the Hackney Empire.

On Sunday, back with Back in the Day Walks, for a walk about Kensington in the 60s. Cheaper tickets available from TAC..

On Monday, back with TAC again, for Scarlet Sunday, at the Omnibus Theatre - so long since I was last there!

On Tuesday, back again with UITCS, for Standing at the Sky's Edge, at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. I'm hearing great things about this musical.

On Wednesday, we have a work social! Cool.. loving the frequency of them. They're going bowling - well, I can watch.. last time I went bowling, I injured myself! In fact, this is proving so popular, they've had to move to a bigger venue.. we're now in Bloomsbury Lanes.

Next Thursday, back - at last - with London Baroque Music Lovers. We're attending a concert called Lucky Charm, by Ensemble Les Ombres with Fiona McGown, at the Cine Lumiere, of all places! Hmm, I wonder where that'll be - hardly in the cinema!

Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. That Sunday is Mother's Day, so I'm flying back a day later, taking the Monday as holiday.

On the 12th, back with CT at the Americana! This time, it's a jazz night.. which I should get more of an experience of than that magic show.. and this time, I'll know to starve myself beforehand!

On the 13th, another of those multi-Meetup socials.. I've signed up with The London Movie Club, and we're off to the BFI Riverfront Balcony Bar again! Excellent venue.

And on the 14th, back again with UITCS - this time, for Casserole, at the Arcola.