Play: Mrs. Warren's Profession

Tonight, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Mrs. Warren's Profession, by George Bernard Shaw, starring Imelda Staunton in the title role, at the Garrick - with plenty of ticket deals available, I got mine from Seatplan, which will give me bonus points with them - fulfilled by Encore Tickets. Eating beforehand at Bella Italia Irving Street - oh, I was looking forward to that.

I was delayed upon leaving - ran into my chatty flatmate, who insisted on chatting. So I missed my bus.. and now, the only chance I had of getting there on time for the booking was to grab some bus or other, then the Tube. The first to come took forever to get to Elephant & Castle, where I got the (very clanky) Bakerloo Line, then walked the last bit in brilliant sunshine. It wasn't actually busy in the restaurant - I waited.. and waited.. until the waiter found time to get to me, then he showed me to a table in the back. I'd hardly sat down than whom should I see approaching but my companion from the Swiss trip, who was also going to the play tonight, as it happened, and had decided to eat there, not knowing I'd be there too! She already had wine, so I joined her.

Oh dear God, I will NEVER be back here. The whole of the mercifully brief time we were there, it was impossible to get service - although the place wasn't actually busy. They were out of what I usually have - I had to have the carbonara, which I asked for with chicken, and paid a little extra. It took forever to bring my wine (I could see he'd forgotten) - and when it came.. it had AN ICE CUBE in it!! Now, anyone who's a serious wine drinker would never, never have ice in the wine. I yelled the place down to get him to come back and take it out - as I said - "What the HELL is that doing in there?!"

My companion was having two starters - she proclaimed the mushrooms nice, the calamari awful - but she ate it, being hungry. My starter and main came together - to which the waiter made no wonder! And the entire thing had about as much taste as your average sheet of cardboard - the only nice thing about the whole meal was the chicken I'd asked for as an optional extra. No hope, of course, of getting a second glass of wine - by the time he asked whether we'd like one, it was time to get the bill. Paying, naturally, took a lot longer - service was added on, of course, and as usual, I paid it, for the sake of getting away quicker. He didn't even have the grace to apologise for anything that had gone wrong over the entire time. What a relief it was to leave.. and imagine what a better meal I'd have had in any number of restaurants nearby in the same chain. I'll starve before I go back there.

And so to the theatre - most of us had got deals in the Stalls, so we met in the Stalls bar beforehand. Or rather, in the corridor outside it, constantly having to give way to passers-by - but as our organiser had pointed out, the bar itself is tiny. My drink might have been more expensive there, but at least it came without ice..

My seat was very good - on the aisle, so plenty of legroom, comfy - I had to move just a little, sometimes, to catch the action around a pillar in the way, but they're not large here, and it wasn't an issue:

Nearly a couple of hours straight through - but I never noticed the time pass, was surprised when they came on to take their bows. I love a Shaw play, with its socialist tendencies.. 

In this, a young woman embraces modernity - not for her the bourgeois convention of marriage and depending on a husband, she's university-educated, and she's going to use that education to make her own way in the world. She wants to contribute - she despises the empty-headedness of women who spend their time worrying about fashion, and keeping house.

In this, a woman who has pulled herself up by the bootstraps has reached a position of comfort, and wants nothing but the best for her adored only daughter. She is appalled when that daughter rejects everything that she considers important, appalled that her daughter is content to dress shabbily and work in an office, when she could benefit from her mother's efforts to live a life of comfort and ease.

You could see the play as a clash between the old world and the new - the old world, where women had their place, and the new, where they blaze a new trail. The poor men that love them are confounded, unsure how to behave with these new social structures, and women who don't act as they're supposed to.. and both the younger, and the older men, who've benefitted from the old system, behave in a way that could be construed as offensive under the new rules..

Mrs. Warren's "profession"? Well, you can guess what that was - and just in case you miss the point, the stage is ringed, for most of the play, by silent women in underwear of the time. I've seen that kind of staging before, and find it unnecessary - as I found it vaguely ridiculous that they were the first to take a bow, after doing nothing but walking on and standing there for a bit.. although I suppose you could see them as representative of the silent army of women represented in this profession.

But don't let me detract from the play, which I thought was excellent - mother and daughter are well-drawn, as both wrestle with their conscience as they try to reconcile their very different views. And the whole thing comes across as modern, despite the period costume - it's aged very well, over the past 100+ years! Runs to the 16th of next month - highly recommended.

Tomorrow, we have our work summer party, at the Rotunda in King's Place, of all places! Gee, took me ages to make that connection..

On Thursday, back with UITCS for Lovestuck, a comedy musical at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East.

On Friday - I'm off on holiday! to the classical music festival in Aix-en-Provence, in the company of my companion for that unfortunate dinner this evening. We're flying to Marseille. Now, the region is home to a number of historic towns, which I'm keen to see.. hopefully the weather won't be so hot as to prevent travel. Or sleep. Anyway, our first two nights are at the Grand Théatre de Provence - that night, we're attending a concert by Jakub Józef Orlinski.

On Saturday, we're at the opera Don Giovanni. 

On Monday, we're at La Calisto, at the Théatre de l' Archeveché (open-air).

On the 17th, we're at a concert by the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditeranée, at the Théatre Antique d' Orange (also open-air) - getting a shuttle bus to that. And then she's flying home - I'm flying to Ireland for the weekend, a trip that was booked months ago. Finally back to London on the 20th.

And on the 21st, back with UITCS for Noughts & Crosses, at Regent's Park Open-Air Theatre.