Storytelling: The Three Snake Leaves, Drinks Session, Parade: Charles I's Execution, Winter Lights, & Concert: The Paddington Trio

On Saturday evening, I was back with the Crick Crack Club at King's Place, for The Three Snake Leaves, with Hugh Lupton, Ben Haggarty, and Sally Pomme Clayton - music by Sheema Mukherjee. Accompanied by a sometime companion from Up in the Cheap Seats, who made suggestions about what we could do beforehand - we'd see. 

Except, as it turned out, I was exhausted - Storm Éowyn, it turned out, cut power to my mother's house (among hundreds of thousands of others'), and after a late night, I was up early contacting people to make sure she was being looked after - which she was. But I was in no fit state to head out early - so we booked in the restaurant at King's Place, to meet there before the show. Except that we met earlier - funny that she messaged me that her bus was diverted, just as mine had announced a diversion too.. yup, we were on the same bus. Not only that, but she was actually sat right behind me.. we hadn't noticed each other!

We'd had some trouble getting a range of times in the restaurant, but for all that, it was almost empty - service was therefore excellent! I started to notice a lot of Scottish items on the menu - sure enough, it was Burns' Night. Well, how would I have known..? My companion had - and enjoyed - the cullen skink for starter, with gnocchi for main. Haggis was also an option. That was the special menu - I went for the a la carte, and had a lovely cottage pie - albeit huge! I had dessert, which she didn't - in my only nod to Scotland, my (extremely rich) chocolate torte came with a scoop of whisky cream. When I could get it ordered, mind - isn't it funny how waiters tend to forget all about you once you've received your main..?

And so down to the theatre in good time - and we were quite close to the stage:

I knew that Sheema Mukherjee would be playing, but the sheer range of instruments - drums, bells, singing bowls - made it obvious that she wouldn't be the only one. And I do love it when the storytelling has a musical accompaniment.. Before the show started, we were entertained with the sound of birdsong. And as I noticed when we headed out at the interval, the place was pretty packed - as much as I've seen it!

Ah, this was a special one.. they all took turns, handing over seamlessly to each other. And it was a story round - the "blanket" story of how a minstrel, travelling through the forest, came across a group of weird travellers, each with their own tale. There was the tale of the three snake leaves, of the title, with life-restoring powers - there was a very dark version of the tale of Cinderella. And throughout, the storyteller was accompanied by some most psychedelic music. 

The whole event took a couple of hours - including an interval, which was manic, everyone besieging the bar. But it was a true example of how fine storytelling can be. Dying for the next one..

Ivan had suggested a late-night drinking session afterwards - but he's often too tired after rehearsals. Still, I needed a distraction, and he decided he could manage a few hours. So I made my way to the studio, on packed Tubes - hit Sainsbury's, near the station, when I arrived, to buy supplies, and walked the last bit. You know, I was here before - but wow, had no memory of the place. Hey-ho.. I messaged him when I got there, and he popped out of an unmarked door. He was perplexed that I didn't remember the place, but ah well. It was like a sauna inside, but he had a bucket of cold water to keep drinks cold, and seats, and a laptop on which we could play whatever we wanted. And it was terrific to get back to the studio again - first time in the better part of a year..

Well, of course, I was too tired to blog that night. Yesterday, two Meetup groups I hadn't been with in an age - in the morning, I was headed with London Literary Walks for a parade commemorating the execution of Charles I! Never heard of it, but apparently it's a thing. We were meeting at The Red Lion, Crown Passage.

So, I dragged myself out of bed, took the bus in. (Still no sign of the #381 - I wonder whether they're decommissioning it..?) Spotted some appropriate street names:

Now, the pub where we were to meet is down a little alleyway - which was packed with rough sleepers as I made my down. I found the pub at the far end, and lo - it was closed (doesn't open at all on Sundays).

Unfortunately, the group leader doesn't have a smartphone to check messages left for him, and hadn't advertised his number - one person commented on the event page to say she'd been at the pub (what, the closed one?!) for a good while now, and with no sign of anyone else, she was going home. I might have myself, but looked up where the parade was to go from, and discovered it was to start near St. James' Palace. Which was right across the road:

So I moseyed over there - then saw some activity on the other side, and made my way to The Mall. Where I discovered many re-enactors - and our group organiser! With not a hope of finding the others - whom we didn't know anyway - we carried on alongside the procession as it set off, some carrying weapons in reverse as a mark of sorrow and respect:

The drums were the only accompaniment to the sound of feet and horses' hooves - and they were dramatically sombre. When they turned off and gradually out of sight, we decided we were chilly and hungry - and set off in search of lunch, which we found in The Admiralty. Where, with plenty of space, we could sit where we liked - so took a corner seat for an extended lunch, watching the weather, which had now turned miserable, through the windows.

I had a moreish Sunday roast chicken, with all the trimmings - just as well, considering what a miniscule chicken it was! But as I say, there was plenty on the plate - including the largest Yorkshire pudding I've ever seen, filled with gravy and stuffing. With time to kill, I decided on dessert - just a couple of scoops of ice cream. Whereupon our previously excellent service evaporated, and we were left waiting a VERY long time for the ice cream. Perhaps it was deep-frozen and they were waiting for it to thaw. Got it eventually, and had a most pleasant time, with me allowed to witter on about horror films. When we finally came to pay, the machine wouldn't work - and bless, our waiter was convinced it must be the card. We finally persuaded her to switch machines, and therefore did manage to leave, in the end.

A stroll around Waterstones, which turns out to be the largest bookshop in Europe - and then he headed home, and I decided I might as well make my way. Good to see him anyway, he doesn't usually run events in winter. 

Later in the evening, I was back with Buddies on Budgets (BoB) in London, for the Winter Lights show in Canary Wharf. Discovering I could get there in under an hour by bus - and again, with time to kill - that's how I went. En route, my mother called to confirm that her power was finally back, after the storm..

Not stormy, just cold and miserable at Canary Wharf - except for the twinkling lights, both the permanent ones and the temporary installations. Mercifully, our organiser mentioned Jubilee Place in her instructions - and it was just as well I came early, because I always get lost here! We met at that exit fron the station, and helpfully, she also had a little flag. 

We hung around for a little, waiting for everyone to arrive, then off we went. In order of the light exhibit numbers. We started with something akin to the artificial islands of Dubai- mind you, what is special about this exhibit is the effect that shows it "disappearing" into itself- which doesn't come across in a still photo. This one is cropped, to exclude the glamorous young lady posing at the bottom:

I was delighted to see the return of the lights that form words - it's a clever one. I tell you what though, you do have to time your shots - these go very fast:

Of course, Canary Wharf always has pretty lights:

I couldn't figure out what is hanging from these indented bits, until someone pointed out they are bathtubs - which would make the hanging things bath plugs! This has changing lights, and plays music:

"Fake Plastic Trees" indeed - but these look really good, I think:

And this looks quite like a UFO - looks particularly well with the buildings behind!

Bubbles..

A display of AI-generated people on mobiles:

Now, this - Portal - was my absolute favourite..

..but more particularly from the other side, where the reflective borders seem to disappear:

Hmm, very 2001: A Space Odyssey.. even if that monolith was unrelieved black, it has the same sense of awe about it.. Well, I always enjoy this display. Runs till Saturday - was closed today because of Storm Herminia, mind you!

Anyway, afterwards we repaired to the pub - specifically, The Ledger Building, which as a Wetherspoons, is nice n cheap. And ooh looky, they've found new entertainment on the water:

We managed to find a nice booth, big enough for us all, and a few of us had food - for me, their yummy chicken katsu. Well, it'd been a long time since lunch! And we had a nice chat. Glad I came, although it'd been so miserable earlier, I'd seriously considered dropping out.. Heading home, my bus stop had an enormous puddle at it from all the rain, but happily all the bus drivers were v considerate.  Anyway, I was so tired last night, I was falling asleep at the computer - so, still no blog.

Tonight, I was back at King's Place for a Kirckman Society concert by the Paddington Trio. It'd be good to get back to classical music, it's been too long.. Honestly didn't think I'd get out in time to eat beforehand though, there's a big release at work tomorrow and the pressure was on. Got the bus again - in strong winds - and wow, the #381 was on the departures board! Not any time soon, and not recommended to me by Google Maps, mind - but gee, it exists..!

Now, there's a Nando's near King's Place - which has the double advantage of being the cheapest eatery nearby that does wine, and being quicker than your average restaurant. And I was tight on time. The rain was pouring down as I crossed to it - and it supposed to have died off by then, tsk! Well, as usual here, I had to join a queue - and was told I'd have about a five-minute wait. Finally, we were all asked whether we'd mind sharing - they have sharing tables, you see. Perfect! And although they did take a little while to get to me, it was all tasty, and I was done just in time to gallop off to King's Place. Plus, the rain had lightened off.

The downstairs bar was closed, for some reason - you'd have to go back up to the Rotunda for a drink. So I passed, took my seat - front row centre:

The Paddington Trio turns out to be Stephanie on piano (American), Tuulia Hero on violin (Finnish), and Patrick on cello (Irish). Each took it in turn to introduce one of the pieces - they started with Mendelssohn, then a couple of more modern pieces; the first was Freakshow, by Sam Perkin, who is Irish, as it transpires. Patrick did the honours of that introduction, scaring us all by describing each of the seven movements. Now, it sounded as though it was going to last forever - but he assured us that, appropriately, the last was a jig. And it hardly seemed any time at all until I heard the jig, and knew it was at an end. Not that long at all, then..

Shining Through by Ellen Lindquist is a light and airy piece - and they finished with a rather gloomy Shostakovich. Again, it was introduced, and we heard how it was written in memory of a Jewish friend of his who had recently died. Certainly, I thought I heard the Jewish elements that were described.. They thought to cheer us up afterwards with an encore of Haydn's Gypsy Rondo.

In all, an enlivened and enthusiastic performance from three musicians with an obvious passion for the music. I was directly opposite Stephanie's feet, mind, and found myself unreasonably obsessed by the sight of someone playing the piano - pedals and all - in heels. A good test of their durability, I suppose! Also kudos to her for stifling a persistent coughing fit during the Shostakovich.. Yep, a lovely evening.

Tomorrow, why, I think I'll head to The Brutalist, about which I've heard so much. Stars Adrian Brody, and is apparently so long they have an intermission.. and, heh, it's in the Curzon Aldgate. So I've booked again for Cote on St. Katharine Docks.. I do have to use up that £3 or so I have left over on the voucher I got as compensation for that dreadful dinner a couple of weeks ago..

On Wednesday, I'm at Titanique, the parody musical, at the Criterion! Cheapest tickets from the official source - but lo, it wasn't until I'd bought mine that they bothered to mention it was a "severely restricted" view! Mind you, although it's behind a pillar, it's only a little 'un - I'll probably manage. Booked for Bella Italia, Shaftesbury Avenue, which is nearby. Where I must remember to use my voucher for a free starter..

On Thursday, back with Over 40 Living the Life - first time this year - for Play On, a musical at the Lyric Hammersmith. Re-imagines Twelfth Night - in the Cotton Club! BoB in London is off to it in a couple of weeks, but what can you do..? Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend..