Play: Son of a Bitch

Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Son of a Bitch at Southwark Playhouse. As usual, I availed of their excellent-value Pay As You Go offer, £75 for five productions, no time limit..

I was coming from the office, bag on my back. I'd had a lot of exercise today with that bag, the bus stopping short and leaving me with a 15-minute walk. And lo, I had the same walk in the evening, the same bus not predicted to stop nearby for another half hour! And as usual, I was in something of a rush - I'd stayed on a bit later than intended, having a lot to do, and I did want to grab something to eat beforehand. Well, I didn't do too badly - made it to Mercato Metropolitano for 6.15 - where, handily, the bag check didn't extend to my laptop bag - located a katsu stand and got a glass of albarino from the wine bar. The katsu sauce was lovely - what little there was of it - and the chicken coating gorgeously crispy - what little there was of it. Ah, what I wouldn't have given for a Wasabi - theirs costs less and has tons of chicken.. The wine, I had a little wait for, behind a couple of blokes who were looking for beer and hadn't noticed what the place sold..

And so to the theatre, where I was stuck for ages in a queue at the box office - even if you have a ticket, they like you to scan it there. I located the organiser, at a table near the back, then went and got another glass of wine - and a packet of Tayto, which they do stock here. Ahh, it's been too long - they were delicious. It wasn't long, mind you, until it was time to go in - it's in "The Little", the smaller of the theatres, which has unassigned seating. There were enough empty spaces that there was space for our larger bags in the row behind, happily..

So, this is a one-woman show, the writer also taking the sole part. And it's the story of a benighted mother, pushed by society into having a child, not at all sure hers is the dream life it's made out to be, and when we join her, returning from holiday, four-year-old son in tow. Her husband.. is in business class. Hmm. Before the show, we're treated to aeroplane-style announcements - and this was one of the shows with a sign language interpreter. As I remarked, Lordy, with being just back from Switzerland, and about to jet off to Ireland again - here I am at a play in between that's set on a plane..!

Anyway, the basic premise is - naturally enough - that the toddler has a meltdown, she, frazzled, tired, and dealing with it on her own, snaps and screams at him, and a nearby do-gooder films the incident and posts it online. Whereupon it goes viral, and she is vilified. However, we then get a potted history of her life story.. she's a comedian in real life, and the writing is terrific, lean and direct.

And batten down the hatches, she takes a swipe at every cosy conception of traditional family life! What we all agreed afterwards was how true it rings - she either experienced these things herself, or is intimately acquainted with them. But then, in a way, aren't we all..? The friends who peel away from you as you age, pairing off and settling into the suburbs: the expectation that you'll want children, and then that you'll have them. The dangers she describes - of having her own desires suppressed, her dreams ignored - every decision made for her, for the good of someone else.

Ugh.

The genius of it is, with something potentially so depressing, that it is alternately hilarious and infuriating, as we take her side against a sea of troublesome know-alls. It's only an hour long too, but she manages to pack in so much. And even if you tut-tut at the beginning, you should wait for the whole story to unravel before you sit in judgement.. It's her debut play, apparently, and what a debut! Finishes on Saturday - very highly recommended, if you get the chance!

Afterwards, a quick chat, and a couple of us got Taytos to take away..

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. St. Patrick's Day is on Monday, as it happens, and is a bank holiday over there - so I'm taking that day off as well while I'm at it, and will fly back a day later. For the weekend, it's provisionally looking like Mickey 17 for Saturday, a SciFi comedy with Robert Pattinson as a guy who's sent to do dangerous jobs, and keeps getting killed and replicated - problems arise when two of the replicants meet each other, which isn't supposed to happen: and I was thinking of Last Breath for Sunday, starring Woody Harrelson in the true story of the rescue of a deep-sea diver. Both showing in the Omniplex. However, now I'm planning to go to Black Bag instead, and with its rating rising, might go to that first! It's a thriller about a happily married couple of spies, Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, whose cosy relationship is threatened when their boss, Pierce Brosnan, suspects her of treason, and asks her husband to investigate.. also stars Naomie Harris. Omniplex again - it's handy for Tesco..

On Tuesday, back with UITCS for The Score, starring Brian Cox as Johann Sebastian Bach, in a play about his explosive relationship with Frederick II of Prussia. Showing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (e-tickets only, I notice) - but I got my ticket from Seatplan, thereby not only saving 75p on the ticket price, but another £4.25 on the restoration levy and booking fee that the theatre charges! (Plus, I get Seatplan points..)

On Wednesday, I'm back with Movie Roadhouse London for Last Breath - at the Odeon Luxe West End. So I've booked Bella Italia on Cranbourn Street again for beforehand.

And next Thursday, I've got a streaming ticket for the Crick Crack Club - they're doing Dionysus in the Story Museum Oxford. But you know, they always provide these as a recording too, available for a week afterwards - so I've also booked one of the last tickets to a free performance of Beethoven's Septet, by the Philharmonia Chamber Players, at the Royal Festival Hall. Heading to The Archduke again afterwards.