Play: Till the Stars Come Down

For tonight, finally got a ticket for Till the Stars Come Down, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket - used a voucher, and got a cheap ticket on Seatplan - not to mention a valuable review of the seat. Glad to see the vouchers are now instantly available, too!

Went in early, and just as well - I was waiting for ages at Waterloo to change buses. When one did finally come, there was a wheelchair on board already - now usually, drivers only allow one on at a time, and another was waiting to board - someone accompanied by two friends. However, this time, the lady in the wheelchair already on reassured the driver they could both fit - she just swivelled so she was perpendicular to the direction of travel, and when the second came on, she did the same. And, side by side, they had the most marvellous chat - one was much older than the other, but they seemed to have gone to the same university, and the older one was admiring the younger one's outfit. A most convivial trip, then..

I ate at the nearby Angus Steakhouse - never a problem getting a table. Asked about soup of the day, but it was tomato, so I passed. Ordered my usual steak with peppercorn sauce - now, I don't always use the sauce, but it helps if the steak is tasteless.. this time, the steak was gorgeous, and the sauce went unused. A waste of £2.50, but hey, the meal was lovely. Not really time for dessert, of course - but there's a reason I keep coming back here.

And so to the theatre, where I was in the Upper Circle - the cheapest seats left were there, when I booked. Only one of the doors from the street was open - and the stairs, most of the way up, are uncarpeted - great for making patrons feel inferior. You know you're getting close to the end when they start to be carpeted again. Ironically, I'd skipped going to the toilet in the restaurant because I figured I'd be passing toilets on the way to my seat - nope, the Ladies are up yet another steep flight of stairs..

That done, I made for the bar - and would you believe it, the only white wine they have is picpoul. Yuck. And she had the nerve to say it was "similar" to Sauvignon Blanc. I asked whether they didn't have anything else, and she actually suggested rosé.. as I said, I'd stay sober.

At least my seat was good! I'd chosen one on the aisle because I'd read complaints about legroom, but I thought that was fine - of course, it's always nice to have the aisle. The perspex "safety barrier" is no obstruction at all. And I had an almost perfect view of the stage. As you can see, some folks were seated on stage - not sure whether there's much advantage to that, but never fear, they don't get anything thrown on them.

Now, it's hard to know what to make of this. It takes place over the day of a wedding - starts with the preparations, finishes that night, everyone drunk. And it's a pretty typical wedding - there are tears, there is laughter, there's a dress emergency, there are arguments over seating, there are inappropriate kisses. The bridegroom is Polish, which allows the writer to throw in some racism, and some resentment over the fact that he has a successful business. None of his family have come because they disapprove - a nice touch, which also eliminates the need for several actors with foreign accents. And, of course, isolates the one foreigner there, as mentioned.

The curious thing is that almost none of the arguments are resolved - they either fester, or are truncated by the end of the play! Honestly, this is the sort of wedding where everything you touch turns to shit. Several people gave a standing ovation - I was left wondering, however, what the point was. If there's a moral, it seems to be - stay away from weddings. Or maybe from drink. Yeah, as I say, I don't see the point - but if you want to see for yourself, it runs till September 27th.

Tomorrow, thinking of film again - and that would be Under the Flags, the Sun, a documentary about the Paraguayan dictatorship. Showing, of course, in the Curzon Bloomsbury, home of documentaries in London.

And on Friday - well, I just couldn't resist going to Bring Her Back with The Hideout. From the makers of the notable recent horror, Talk to Me, this is a must-see, focusing more on those who are left to grieve, apparently. It was eventually confirmed to be in the Vue West End, but I signed up a while ago, because I know I want to go with them. Even though the London Horror Film Group actually went to the same film on Sunday, I'd rather wait.. :-) And anyway, if I'd gone with them, I wouldn't have had the chance to meet London Museums A-Z.. Booked Bella Italia for beforehand - first time in over a month!