The Shakespeare Walk, Comedy: Bernard Casey, & Film: Four Mothers

Last Wednesday - hey, London Literary Walks is back! This one was The Shakespeare Walk - we were to meet in Shaw's Booksellers - which, despite the name, is actually a pub.. Now, I couldn't find mention of them selling food, so I headed to the nearby Cafe Rouge for dinner - it'd been years since I ate at one of them!

Again, I left home a bit late - but again, the bus drivers played a blinder, and I arrived 10 minutes early for my booking. It wasn't terribly full, and I was immediately shown to a seat in a very nicely appointed restaurant:

Throughout, service was great - efficient and friendly - and I was soon served. Thought I'd try the garlic mushrooms as a starter, and I always remembered the beef bourgignon as good in this chain. They had a few sauvignon blancs for me to choose from - naturally, I went for the New Zealand one, and was well pleased.

Ah wow though, the mushrooms were one of those dishes you never forget.. the dish was served on a few pieces of toasted sourdough, absolutely drenched in one of the richest sauces I've ever had! and smothered in mushrooms. I never thought I'd get through it - but I did, and truly appreciated the phrase "taste sensation"! If I'm ever asked to choose a last meal, this'll be on it.. as to the bourgignon, unfortunately, it couldn't live up to that (mind you, if I had two such dishes in a row, I think I'd have exploded, as did the man at the end of Monty Python's the Meaning of Life). In fact, they do a better bourgignon at The Archduke. But the starter alone is worth coming back for - if I do, I'll have a different main.

I'd have loved to try the desserts, but of course, I was on a mission. Found the pub without difficulty - and it was heaving. I squeezed my way inside and searched until I found our guide, sat at a small table with a book referencing King Lear - my least favourite Shakespearian play, as I informed him. Well, studying it to death doesn't help! By the time I'd squeezed my way through to the bar - and I am glad to see they're dog-friendly, they produced a bowl of water for a dog while I was queueing - and returned with a drink, others were arriving, and we had a good, if squashed, conversation before leaving.

Typically, we didn't stick religiously to our topic - we stopped to discuss an old pair of mailboxes from adjoining reigns!

And isn't this a fetchingly designed building:

Somebody spotted old fire plates on the wall - back in the day, you had to pay for your fire service, and different fire services would only come to their own customers:

We stopped by the King's Wardrobe:

and spent some time at the former choirboys' school, now a hostel:

Actually saw this sign on the way to the walk:

What we did see on the walk was a plaque about a letter than had been written, but not posted, by an acquaintance of Shakespeare's, asking him for money - I guess he thought better of it, for whatever reason. Anyway, wouldn't you know it, this letter became one of the few tangible proofs of Shakespeare's existence! Gosh, the vagaries of history..

Our walk took us by St. Paul's - of which it's difficult to take a bad photo:

..and to a very ornate drinking fountain, decorated with a statue of St. Lawrence, complete with griddle:

We passed by the College of Arms:

Then a short walk to the riverfront  - always lovely at night:

..where we came across the most curious glass obelisk, engraved with historical events on its three sides:

We came on the site of the old Blackfriars Theatre! only now commemorated by the name:

Thence, at last, some of us went for one for the road, at The Blackfriar - of course.. where we were lucky to get a table, which was unoccupied apart from luggage some people had left there:

And so another interesting night. It's just a shame I won't be able to go to all of these - as I keep telling people, Wednesdays are busy! Upon getting home, I then had to make out a new filmlist - so there wasn't a hope of blogging, that night..

Yesterday, I headed to see Bernard Casey at the London Irish Centre! I became aware of him through Foil, Arms & Hog - was very interested to see for myself what he's like, live and solo. I was at the office during the day, so took a bus from there, planning to eat beforehand in Nando's Kentish Town. Now, my bus was due to go up Camden Road, not Kentish Town Road, where Nando's is - I'd have something of a walk. But wouldn't you know it, there was an accident on Camden Road, and the road was blocked off.. so I waited avidly to hear where our bus was to be diverted to. And wouldn't you know it, off we went, up Kentish Town Road, right past Nando's. Where I got off. So that was handy then!

As was the swift and friendly service. I was served in no time - and as I was starving, made short work of it - and made the Irish Centre with five minutes to spare to the show. Seating was unassigned - but even at that point, I could get a seat quite near the front. Naturally, I still had the bad luck to be seated behind someone with a large head.. Queued for what seemed like forever at the bar, but the staff (as you'd expect in the Irish Centre) were on the ball, and we all got served.

Support was provided by a young Irish comedian I hadn't heard of, Seán Burke. Anyway, he warmed us up well enough - and wow, it turns out he's the fox on the Now TV ads! The ones with the fox and the owl. Excellent claim to fame, there.

As to Bernard himself - well now, he's from Kerry. And if you were not aware of this fact beforehand, by 'eck, you would be by the end of the first few minutes. Now, a fact of which an international audience might not be aware is that a Kerryman is sort of the definition of a culchie. And he REALLY played up to it - probably given the predominantly Irish audience, with a gaggle of Kerry people at the front, to the side. He's very funny - but the whole night was given over to Irish-specific humour, Irish references.. honestly, it was a bit much for me. Still, it was an entertaining night. But I was way too tired to blog last night.

As I say, I had done the filmlist - now, a lot of films simply weren't on today. Highest-rated that was on this evening is, again, on an Irish theme - Four Mothers is a gentle comedy, in which everyone but the mothers is gay. We have a group of gay friends in Dublin, one of whom is a novelist, caring for his elderly mother (Fionnuala Flanagan), a widow left unable to speak since her stroke some years back. She uses text-to-speech on her tablet to communicate - which can be fun, since her spelling is atrocious. Anyway, our novelist has just written a book that seems set to make his fortune - the publishers want him to go on a two-week book tour of the States, but what's he to do with his mother?!

Meantime, there's this gay pride festival in Spain - which his friends are dying to go to. But they're also caring for their elderly mothers - what are they to do with them?! Hmm.. next thing our novelist knows, they appear in taxis at his door, and there's a message on his phone from his pals, who have jetted off to the festival. He unburdens himself to his therapist, who - you guessed it - is also caring for his elderly mother. And gee, who is just intrigued by this festival he'd never before heard of.. sure enough, he arrives as well. At least he drops off his mother in person before scooting to the airport.

So! Here's our friend, trying to juggle frantic phone calls from his publishers - and interviews about his book - with caring for, now, four mothers, albeit short-term. Chaos ensues - not helped by the fact that his mother's home help is also his ex, now seeing someone else. Oh, and one of the madcap things that happens over the weekend is that the ladies all decide to book a session with a spiritual medium in Galway, to commune with their deceased husbands. Knew I recognised her - it's Niamh Cusack. Plays a blinder.

Now, this all sounds a bit manic - and it might have been a completely stupid film.. if not for a very light touch, and a very soft-hearted lead character. It's essentially all about following your heart - and wow, do they get it spot on with the mothers! That's why I wanted to see it, and I have to say, it gels with my own experience. The novelist's mother, constantly coming out with "I'm hungry", while he's trying to do three other, separate things simultaneously - him having to dash to the shop because everyone wants something different for breakfast - four desperately independent women, hamstrung by their physical limitations, and disinclined to listen to anyone else. The poor man ends up sleeping in the car so each mother can have her own room.

It's actually quite hilarious - and, of course, touching, as he comes to terms with the meaning of his own life. Yep, highly recommended - far better than your run-of-the-mill comedy. And wouldn't you know it, to see this film, this evening, I had to go all the way to the Vue Finchley Road! Arrived a bit late, but that's the advantage of mainstream cinema, there are ads beforehand.

And it's in a shopping centre, so afterwards I headed to the Nando's there! Wow though, what a difference from yesterday's - I had to walk halfway through the restaurant to find someone to show me to a table, she never asked whether I had been before, or had allergies. She did come with a menu in the end, but of course I just ordered on the app - only to discover that they had no boneless chicken! So I went with the reward I'd earned on my loyalty card, and had a (free) half chicken. Another 10 minutes for the wine to arrive, 10 minutes after that for the food - served to me by a man that looked like he might have been in charge, and who apologised for the wait, said they were "waiting for the chicken". (To do what - cross the road?) The food was good - and I might have ordered dessert, or another wine, but the thought of the wait put me off. Neither did anyone come to ask how my meal was, or even take away the menu. No, I don't think I'll be back to this Nando's - but then, there are other choices in the area. If I need to come here again.

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for the matinée of Jab, a lockdown drama at the Park Theatre. And may those days never return. Anyway, a few of us are headed for lunch beforehand at Palmyra's Kitchen.

On Sunday, another film - this is Antidote, a documentary about whistleblowers involved in Putin's campaign of poisoning. Showing in the Curzon Bloomsbury - and this time, the app seems to have registered the booking!

On Monday, back with UITCS - this time, at Southwark Playhouse, for Wilko: Love and Death and Rock 'n' Roll, the true story of a rockstar who was told he had a limited time to live, only to defy the predictions.

On Tuesday, finally managed to squeeze in a trip to Darkfield..! They're in the basement of Shoreditch Town Hall until the 12th - "Darkfield at the Ditch". They have a bar n all - and wow, are letting people experience the shows live that were previously only available on "Darkfield Radio" (online). So I've booked for Double - they advise that if you book on your own, you might be paired with another audience member, as it's meant to be done in pairs. Fine by me! Sadly, the only other show in this that I haven't already experienced is Visitors, and as well as participants having to book in pairs for that, it's actually sold out. Heading to the Blues Kitchen for dinner afterwards.

The next two days are Meetup. On Wednesday, I'm back with Movie Roadhouse London for La Cocina, another frantic kitchen drama, set in a restaurant in Times Square.

And on Thursday, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group, for the first time in nearly a year! We're going to a classical concert at the Barbican, and I've booked to eat beforehand in Cote Barbican, which at one time was my local restaurant. Then back to Ireland for the weekend, of course.

On the 14th, back with UITCS for Ghosts, a contemporary reimagining of the play by Ibsen, at the Lyric Hammersmith.

And on the 15th I'm going to Tallis Lamentations for Holy Week by Tenebrae, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.