Play: Mnemonic

Tonight, finally went to Mnemonic, at the National, which Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) saw last Wednesday, but of course I was otherwise engaged that day. Did sound interesting though. For food beforehand, I decided on Black & Blue again - I really have to find a cheaper, decent option around here. I just booked this afternoon - needn't have bothered either, they were practically empty. The bus got me there in no time flat. I was given a choice of table or booth - I chose booth, it's handier for leaving my stuff on.

I was in a frugal mood, so chose the prix fixe - steak frites and an ice cream sundae. I'm not mad about their starters. Had I not been in a frugal mood, I suppose I'd have gone for the fillet. They have two Sauvignon blancs - again, I saved myself £6 by going for the Stellenbosch, but I do know it's good. And although the steak used in the steak frites is rump - as they tell you on the menu - it was very tender, and very nicely cooked. Even though I don't actually like the Béarnaise sauce they serve with it. So yeah - a nice meal, I'd just maybe have preferred something else. The sundae, as ever, was gorgeous.

I made it to the theatre in good time, climbed lots of stairs to the Olivier. I'd got a (restricted view) seat in the Stalls - unfortunately, I needed the toilet, but the only ones at that level are inside the doors to the auditorium, which weren't open yet. I could tell they were about to be, though - so I got a drink at the adjacent bar, and by the time I came back with it, the doors were open, I nipped to the loo, and took my seat.

On the way, I passed these - I mean, huh..?

As to my own "restricted" seat - there are no bad seats here!

So - on stage, we have a chair, and a rock. Keep an eye on the chair, in particular - it's arguably the star of the show. On each seat are two bags - one for your phone (although that's not enforced), and one you're told not to open until, well, you're told to do so.

Predictably, the "bag for your phone" means there's nudity in the play. And they're nicely trim, as you might expect if you were expected to strip off in front of hundreds of people. I wasn't in the slightest tempted to snap a photo of them, though. The other bag contains an eye mask and a leaf - not really a spoiler, certainly the guy beside me nosily opened his before the show started. And naturally, the mask is to be worn at one point during the performance - so you can imagine something, of course. There are collection points for the bags as you leave.

Ok, let's start by saying that this production is absolutely manic. It zips from character to character, we're never entirely sure which they're playing at any given moment, and the various stories seem not to follow a coherent timeline either. What it is, I think, is not a scientific exploration of memory - nor a SciFi kind of time distortion story. Despite the meanderings on stage. No, this is actually all about a kind of collective memory - family history, if you will. Among the stories, we have a modern-day woman - wife of the speaker we first meet - traipsing across Europe in search of her father's identity. Meantime, her husband is back home, fascinated by the "iceman" they've just discovered in Bolzano..

Personally, I think both stories are all to do with the search for a past, for a history that stretches back from the present day and explains what we now are. I tell you something though, it's an absolute mess.. it is impossible, in the midst of it, to figure out what's really going on. Having said that, the snippets we get of the wife are poignant, as she meets various characters along the way - and the staging is certainly interesting. I loved the conference scene, where each expert has a different theory on the iceman's origin - so strengthening the idea that "memory" is subjective, and the concept that, when we remember something, we're not really remembering what happened, but rather remembering the memory of the thing.

It's confusing, but very watchable. Runs till the 10th, if you're interested.

Our journey home was enlivened by the bus exit door, which wouldn't close. So the driver got sick of getting up and having to use the emergency switch, and just made us all get off at the front. Well, it was a boring journey otherwise, what can I say..?

Tomorrow, back with CT: for The Improv Comedy Show - Can We Have a Word? at Upstairs at the Green.

On Wednesday, I'm back with UITCS for Starlight Express! Heard of this, never seen it - it's at the new Wembley Park Theatre. And I'm trying out their Studio Five restaurant beforehand.

On Thursday, heading to Frankie Goes to Bollywood at the Queen Elizabeth Hall again - should be fun. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.

On the 5th, heading to Next To Normal, at Wyndham's - cheapest tickets with TodayTix. Eating at Bella Italia (St. Martin's Lane) again. Now, that is a favourite of mine..

On the 6th, headed back with CT to Stagetime - more improvised comedy - at Shoreditch Balls! Eating at the nearby Blues Kitchen, which I love.

On the 7th, back with London Literary Walks for Dickens, Woolf and Lawrence. Meeting at The Dolphin, but they don't do food, so I'll eat at the nearby Isolabella Italian restaurant beforehand.

And on the 8th, back with Buddies on Budgets for a sketching evening (!) in Phoenix Garden. Tickets from Eventbrite. If I go.. not usually my thing, but we'll see.