Play: Northanger Abbey

Tonight, I was with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) - a group that almost never appears in the general Meetup listings, despite being one of the busiest - for Northanger Abbey, in the Orange Tree Theatre. Another place I haven't been in nearly a year.. and going from the office, hmm.

I knew there's an Italian near the theatre - but the menu was too fancy for my taste. So I saved myself some money and decided on the KFC instead, which I've been to before, and I remembered as being good. Oh dear, what a journey though - bus to Waterloo, then a train.. which, to be fair, all worked out fine, even if it did take about an hour. And I was exhausted, lugging my (by now well-travelled) laptop all the way. Standing room only, on the train - and at that, I had to move aside for a fellow carrying.. a desk and chair! Turned out he usually worked from home, so needed them - but the desk he'd already bought was just a tiny bit too long for the space. So then he saw this offer for a free one in the paper.. and it came with an office chair! Thing was, he had to come straight away.. so here he was, coming back with them. At rush hour. Ah well..

So, off to KFC with me, where I had the Boneless Banquet as usual. Seeing that I was having trouble balancing the tray - I had too much to carry, and was tired as well - a staff member graciously carried it for me to a free place. Excellent service! And the food was most welcome - although they had cake in the office today, it was tiramisu, which I'm not keen on.. Finished just in time to head to the theatre bar, where I met our organiser, for the first time in an age. Had a glass of the Pinot Grigio as well, which I had finished before we went in - and we had one other joiner, which was nice!

We were all on the Ground Floor:

..whose only decoration, as you can see, is a cluster of mismatched chandeliers!

I have to say, this is quite clever set design, as they are raised and lowered throughout the play, for atmosphere, in a way that is quite evocative of the mood! Low and brightly lit for the social scenes in Bath, turned off and backlit, high in the ceiling, to suggest the gloomy recesses of Northanger Abbey itself!

The performances are also rather clever - three actors play multiple roles, with gusto.. injecting real life, and humour, into an old story. Terrific comic timing combines with inventive use of, er, suitcases. Caveat - they've fiddled with the story a bit. Instead of just being friends, in this, Catherine and Isabella fall in love.. Having said that, you'd hardly notice, for the most part. The story does trot along the traditional line mostly, every now and then a scene thrown in that throws light on their burgeoning feelings for each other. Which is fine, and does nothing to distract from the enjoyment of the piece - only thing is, you would wonder, in that case, why they bothered to change the story at all! The focus still seems to be on the traditional story, the homosexual element feeling like an afterthought. But I still found it enjoyable. Runs till the 24th.

At the interval, interestingly, I decided to have the Chenin Blanc, having found the Pinot Grigio a bit tart. I asked for plastic so I could possibly take it in - only to be told I couldn't have it, because they were out of plastic glasses! If people brought the plastic back, I could have it in plastic.. well, the plastic was there all right - just unwashed. Still, I did manage to down it by showtime.

Lovely to see the folks that showed up - and lo, I made the station just in time for my train back! And in Waterloo, came across the Windrush memorial:

A lovely memorial, and something the British government should remember, when it's vilifying migrants.

Outside, I was waiting for a bus again, in the driving rain. What's more, the first one to come was so full we weren't let on, but had to wait for the next..

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. The film for the weekend is - Argylle! Well, everything else I might want to see is on in the evening, which I can't manage.. and it looks fun. A spy caper involving a cute cat (apparently this breed has suddenly become very popular) - another of those where an author discovers her plots coming to life - this stars, among others, Richard E. Grant and Dua Lipa. And yes, it's on in the Omniplex.

On Monday and Tuesday, back with CT for the Bitesize Festival at Riverside Studios - on Monday, it's for Second Temple, a Jewish comedy.

On Tuesday, it's for All the Men Are Going to Hate Me, another comedy, about a woman trying to write the century's great (female) novel!

Then I have five (!) days of Meetup: the next three with UITCS. On Wednesday, we're at When You Pass Over My Tomb, at the Arcola. A "story of love and lust beyond the grave", as described, it sounds like an interesting way to spend Valentine's Day.

Next Thursday, we're at Double Feature, at Hampstead Theatre.

And on the 16th, we're at Hir, a transgender comedy at Park Theatre. My companion of Friday is coming to that as well.

On the 17th, I'm back (whee! at last!) with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners.. I've been persuaded to redo his Dickens walk. Well, it's months since I was on one of his - and he now only does one Saturday a month, says there's no real demand! And since I can no longer go on the midweek ones, in general.. well.. it'll be great to be back with them anyway.

And on the 18th, back with Discover London - History Walks and Events: it was a while before I thought to check that website to see whether there was another walk, and there is, that day! So we're off to Discover London's Oldest Market and Original "High Street"..