Play: The Buddha of Suburbia

Yesterday, back with Meetup in the form of Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS), for The Buddha of Suburbia, at the Barbican - lordy, it's over a year since I was last there! And wouldn't you know it, with everything I was trying to do yesterday, I actually mistook the venue.. jeez, that's twice in three days.. well, I realised my mistake before it got too late, happily, and switched buses. Only lost about 10 minutes.

I'd been thinking about eating in the local Cote - used to be my go-to for the Barbican, and I never needed to book. And it was a Monday. But when I got there.. it was rammed! With the queue, and it looking as though every table was booked.. it didn't take me long to decide this wasn't going to be a runner. I was now a little tight for time.. and then it occurred to me that I might get something in the Barbican itself. I didn't fancy anything in the cafe, but headed for the Barbican Kitchen, around the back.

Feels like eating in a college canteen.. Anyway, I was delighted to see katsu on the menu. You have to order at the bar - where you also get drinks - and collect the drink at the side, the food at another counter. And that's what I did. The katsu, served with rice, also weirdly comes with two other sides of your choosing.. I asked for some of a concoction that included roast potatoes, and left it at that. I was really lucky to get a seat of any kind - this place was packed as well! (The law graduation ceremony taking place in the Barbican yesterday might have had something to do with it.) Mercifully, as I stood beside a table wondering what to do next, the lady there told me she was just leaving - so I didn't have to eat standing up, as I'd feared.

Ah lordy, I have never had such a tasteless katsu - it was terrible, the sauce watery. I finished the chicken just as fuel - but ugh. The rice wasn't great either - by far the best part of the meal were the potatoes, which I was glad I'd asked for. Wine was nice too. As I ate, someone took the other chair at the table.. and someone else was glad of my table, when I was finished. Manic..

I joined the others, and we went in when it got close to time. We were at Level -1, where the Stalls are.. I had a lot of stairs to climb to the Upper Circle. When I got there, lo, a woman was standing there with a wad of tickets, asking all comers whether they'd like an upgrade. As she said, unfortunately we would have to climb back down all those stairs again! Well hey.. and so it was that I was upgraded, yay:

Ah, I loved this show! The terrific 70s soundtrack didn't hurt - I don't know why people talk so much more about 80s music, typically. Anyway, simply, this is the story of an Indian family in south London in the late 70s, as told through the eyes of a young man coming of age and finding his way. Takes place over the span of about three years.

It's a very lighthearted way of dealing with some serious topics - we have domestic abuse, racial abuse, forced marriage, drug abuse, marital breakdown.. and lots of sex, which apparently caused a sensation when it first came out! And yet it's so light and breezy that you hardly notice. Even with all of that, it's a fun way to spend an evening - as I say, terrific music, good dance routines, funny characters, and a personable narrator. At the close of the show, we meet Margaret Thatcher - and as they played that clip that, as someone remarked, they always play of her (the speech she made when she'd just won the election), I was amused to hear someone behind me boo.. You would have to wonder whether she deliberately tried to incite the crowd that day..

Anyway, this runs till the 16th - highly recommended, go see! But caveat if you decide to eat there..

I got caught up doing other things last night, so didn't blog. Tonight, back with the World Music Meetup, for another concert at St. Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace - again, it's nearly a year since I was last here, or with this group. It's a lovely group, but so often clashes with other things.. This time, the concert is with Delband, who perform traditional Iranian music with a twist - and is now sold out.

Tomorrow, I've been tempted back to the Horror Book Club, who are reviewing Out There Screaming, an anthology, edited by Jordan Peele, of short horror stories by black authors. Handily, of the specific stories they intend to review, two were on the free Amazon sample! and I liked enough of it to sign up. In the Prince of Wales again - Tube strike permitting.. I really must get on with reading the other stories, though, especially since I'm in the office tomorrow, Thursday having been designated a WFH day because of the strikes. And that's the last Meetup for a few days.

On Thursday, looking at film again - and I'm delighted to see that the Prince Charles has resurrected one I never had the chance to see! The Worst Person in the World is a Norwegian film about a woman searching for an identity, who it seems gets married, then has an affair. Looks beautifully quirky. It's interesting how much keener I am in this than in the higher-rated Anora - another love story with a conundrum, where the young son of an oligarch falls for an American prostitute and his family sends in the heavies - could have something to do with the age of the protagonists: they just look too young in that! The Worst Person in the World looks much more relatable to me.

Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again - and having vowed never again to take a flight as late if I can avoid it, for the return leg to London I'm shunning Ryanair, and going Aer Lingus, who fly 2.5 hours earlier..

The next three days promise to be musical ones! The next two days back, I'm with TAC - first time in a while. On Monday, I'm going to see the Fibonacci Quartet, for the Kirckman Concerts at King's Place.

And next Tuesday, I'm seeing The Definitive Rat Pack tribute act, at Boisdale of Canary Wharf.

And on the 13th, I start a new run of Meetups with Over 40 Living the Life, for The Magic of Motown tribute show, at the New Wimbledon Theatre.

On the 14th, I'm back at Watkin's Occult Bookshop, first time in ages - this is for a talk from the author of a new book - on Book Curses! Eating afterwards at Bella Italia Cranbourn Street - delighted to be able to get a booking with them: they seem to be booked up a lot lately!

On the 15th, back with UITCS for The Glorious French Revolution at the New Diorama Theatre! Eating beforehand at the nearby Greene Man, which is a Greene King pub, so good food should be had.

On the 16th, back with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! This walk is Baker Street and its Quirky Surrounds.

As is becoming something of a habit, afterwards I'm joining Movie Roadhouse London for a film! This time, it's Gladiator II, at Picturehouse Central, with Paul Mescal replacing Russell Crowe as the gladiator who shows Rome the error of its ways, and a return by Connie Nielsen.. seems I mistook who was whom, and her son is actually the aforementioned Paul Mescal, by Russell Crowe! So yes, he IS his son.. Denzel Washington also shows up as a slave that wants to overthrow Rome.

On the 17th, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club! This time, it's Queen of Between, with Sarah Liisa Wilkinson, and it's at the British Museum again - which means I'd better leave a huge chunk of time for queueing!

And on the 18th, I'm headed to Reykjavik, in Hampstead Theatre.. which, ironically, UITCS went to last week..