Talk: The Players' Theatre

Tonight, back with London Social Detours - first time in nearly six months - for a talk about The Players' Theatre. Tickets were all gone when I looked - just as well she pre-booked! Unfortunately, it meant I had to leave work pretty early - but I managed. Could have got the bus, but I ended up on the Tube, for two reasons - faster, and I figured it'd be easier that way to figure out where the Palmer Street exit to St. James's Park Station was. At least the Tube was less busy at this hour than when I normally take it! Mind you, why Google Maps wanted me to walk from Westminster, when I could quite easily take the Tube, remains beyond me..

As for the Palmer Street exit - yeah.. no. The only signs were for "Park & Broadway" and "Victoria Street". Neither sounded right - eeny-meeny.. I chose "Park & Broadway", and happily, that was where our leader was. We waited there for a while, as she redirected people to where we were, then swung by the Palmer Street exit en route to the talk in case anyone had stayed there. We did have a little trouble finding Westminster Archives, where the talk was - well, she had said it was out of the way! And TBH, I wouldn't put it past them to whack a building up in the way, willy nilly, the amount they're building around there.. Never mind, we did make it in time. Seating was unassigned, so we took what we could get:

It's always interesting to hear about old theatres, and we heard how this went through various incarnations, finding a home where, like The Windmill, it could carry on through the Second World War. We saw old performers, heard about old managers - through to its present-day existence as the Charing Cross Theatre. Where I've enjoyed many an evening.

It was fascinating to see the old footage.. what a shame though, that two of their clips just wouldn't work, despite everything apparently having been fine in rehearsals! The other quibble, as a number of people mentioned, was the poor audio - they weren't mic-ed, and didn't project very well. Still, it was an interesting talk.. and had we had more time, it would be a fascinating place to go around!

Afterwards, just up the road to The Grafton Arms - a Greene King pub, so I knew I'd get fed. Went back to my previous favourite, the pie - knew I wouldn't finish it, but man, it is delicious.. and we had a fine old chat! Nice to be with this group again - it's just that the time doesn't generally suit. Anyway, I was home in time to shop, again.. there's always something I need..

Tomorrow is another work social - darts this time (!) at Oche.. now, I've never thrown a dart, or even watched a darts match, in my life. So this should be interesting.. Well, they haven't told us not to come in to the office: but as someone pointed out today, it'll probably be packed. Anyway, I could do without having to drag myself up in the morning.

On Thursday, The Hideout again! Now, this time they beat off some stiff competition - but the film promises to be excellent. The Substance stars Demi Moore as an ageing star who finds her roles drying up as her looks are fading. So when she comes across a miracle drug - "the substance" - on the black market, which promises to restore her to a younger, more beautiful version of herself.. she jumps at it. Of course, it doesn't work out quite as planned. Dennis Quaid plays her boss, who fires her for not being young enough for her TV fitness show. And honestly, I can't remember when I saw a new-release horror film so highly rated.. few enough of any genre are so highly rated! It apparently got a standing ovation at Cannes, perhaps for its castigation of the emphasis on beauty in the media. We're seeing it at the BFI - and after my previous experience with Black & Blue, I'm returning to The Archduke for food. First time in a couple of months.

Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. I had some trouble finding a film - either I'd seen them, or wasn't interested, or they weren't on at a suitable time! Finally settled on Megalopolis - a Francis Ford Coppola film, it's one of those with a roll-call of stars: Adam Driver is the visionary artist who dreams of a Utopia, coming up against the opposition of the greedy mayor, Giancarlo Esposito. Also stars Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, and Jason Schwartzman. It looks like a fantastical re-imagining of ancient Rome in present-day New York.. the characters seem to favour toga-style fashions, and even have ancient Roman names.. Certainly looks interesting. And wouldn't you know it, I have to go to Ennis to get a showing early enough..

On Monday, I'm at Bellringers, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) at Hampstead Theatre. Got a good seat from someone in the group who couldn't use it in the end.

Next Tuesday, the same group were supposed to be at Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist. At The Other Palace. I booked my ticket from Todaytix. Eating beforehand at the Bag o' Nails, where I'd booked before and had to cancel, when my event was cancelled. Except.. guess what happened? The show's run is finishing (very) early! Before this date.. so the event is cancelled, and I got a mail from Todaytix, with a voucher code for the amount spent, to be used for future bookings. I preferred a refund - who knows when I'd get around to using the voucher? Checking the email carefully, I saw a link to the support page to request a refund - clicked the link, went on chat, probably got a bot - but as I had all my details, the process was pretty quick, and I got my refund. Yay. Ironic that I'd only just booked it - ironic, also, that I've now booked for the Bag o' Nails exactly twice, and had to cancel both times.. gee, must be cursed!

I had some trouble finding an alternative - with nothing decent on Meetup or my cheap ticket sites for the day, I was back to Time Out! I had to scroll a long way down, though.. Giant, with John Lithgow, at the Royal Court, was sold out for the day: Shifters, at the Duke of York's Theatre, had no decent seats available for the day at a decent price (and that theatre has plenty of bad seats).. after pages and pages of scrolling through things I didn't want to do, I've finally booked for Coriolanus, starring David Oyelowo, at the National. Eating at The Archduke again.

The 2nd, I finally leave on my long-anticipated trip to Romania with the 45+ Not Grumpies! That afternoon, most of us are flying Ryanair from Stansted, to be met by an English-speaking guide and transferred to the Continental Forum Hotel, in time for an evening tour of Bucharest. (I've already downloaded the Rough Guide to Romania!) Now, just yesterday, on the WhatsApp channel for the trip, our guide explained that we'd be going straight on the sightseeing tour when we arrived. Which rang a warning bell for me - when were we going to eat? So I confirmed with her that we'd be better off eating in Stansted - just as well I checked! Mind you, that leaves a long day to get hungry - I think I'll probably eat something on the flight.

On the 3rd, we're heading straight off by coach to Transylvania.. walking tour of Sighisoara, where Vlad the Impaler was born! Staying in the Hotel Korona that night.

On the 4th, we're off to Brasov - apparently has the narrowest street in the country. Walking tour, staying in Hotel Kolping that night.

And on the 5th, we're headed to Bran - for the famous castle - and Sinaia, for Peles Castle - before heading back to Bucharest for our flights home.

Safely back - hopefully - on the 6th, I'm with Cultureseekers for the Charlie Chaplin Guided Walk. Finishing at The Jolly Gardeners Pub.

And on the 7th, back with UITCS, who are off to Southwark Playhouse for Foreverland - more biotechnology SciFi.. possibly less spooky than The Substance! Booked, as usual, on their excellent PAYG offer, where you pay in advance for discounted tickets to five shows, no time limit..