Play: Blessings

Tonight, headed to Blessings at Riverside Studios - a play about a staunchly religious family in the 60s, with change in the offing. Damnit, I saw it was on CT, checked to see whether full-price tickets were more expensive, which they were - and accidentally booked one of those instead!

At least it was on late, so I had time to organise myself! Now, a while ago, I ordered a warm black coat on Amazon, to be delivered to an Amazon locker - for once, they gave me a long collection window, but when I saw the temperature forecast for the day, I decided today might be the day to pick it up! In the event though, the coat I wore to walk to the collection point was absolutely fine - but at least I've picked up the other one. Mind you, speaking of weather forecasts, it didn't say it was likely to rain today, but it did as I headed out..

This distance requires Tube - I had to stand on both, but on the much less crowded Piccadilly Line, there was aircon. Arriving at Hammersmith Broadway, I'd intended to eat at Popeye's - but it was completely full! So, in the interests of speed - despite the late start, I didn't have too much time to waste - I ended up in Wasabi again instead - it had plenty of room. Where the chicken was a bit rubbery, but the sauce is undeniably richer than Wetherspoon's..

Arrived at the theatre about 10 minutes before the performance, and with the house open, I went straight in. I was in the front row.. a cute announcement beforehand points out that this play is set in the 60s, and mobile phones weren't yet invented then.. so, in the interests of authenticity, please turn them off!

I liked the set - the main, central section plays host to the family's living room, visible in photo; bright colours and patterns decorate the walls, the furniture looks pretty authentic (I wasn't yet invented then either, so I'm guessing). The section nearest me mostly acts as the local church - and, in one scene, a car - and another section at the other end serves as a bus stop where the young people congregate.

Most of the actors play double roles - primarily Gary Webster, who plays both the father of the family, and the local priest, Father O' Brien. As the father, he sports an English accent - as the Father, he sports an Irish one, very noticeably stage Irish, but actually not too bad. Except that he's supposed to be from Derry, and in no way is that a Northern Irish accent. Funny how that's thrown in, mind - it never has any bearing on the plot, unless the writer is just trying to show us the level of turmoil present in society at the time. To be fair, the Troubles are said by some to have started officially that year, in Derry, in the so-called Battle of the Bogside, where clashes between the two sides led to the army being drafted in. Seems a bit of a push to escalate this family drama to that level, mind.

I've heard this described as a comedy. I'm struggling to remember anything I laughed at! It's a real kitchen-sink drama - but it's well-acted and very watchable. We have a mother, father, and four kids - three daughters and a son; the actor playing the son (wearing a blazer) also plays the boyfriend of the youngest daughter (in a polo neck), and it was a bit jarring for me for a moment until I realised that the one playing the eldest daughter (in a dress) was also playing the youngest daughter's best friend (in a miniskirt). 

The men are pretty stereotypically awful - it's not a huge spoiler to say that the middle daughter - she and her younger sister, at least, are in their teens - has both been expelled and fallen pregnant, which is the major stress of the play and is revealed early. The father of the baby doesn't want to know, and is refusing to pay child support. The father of the family is a drunk. The boyfriend of the little sister seems to have a one-track mind. The little sister thinks the priest is acting creepy around her. And the women are painted as having a much less liberated time than today - not expected to have high-flying careers, but rather to marry early; this house is one where the women are expected to do everything, the father complaining when he has to put the kettle on himself! And there's a small, but shocking, piece of violence towards a woman, which isn't even remarked at by most of the characters.

Honestly though, the plot is pedestrian - pretty much like a soap opera throughout, but with a twist at the end that you can see coming a mile off. And then that doesn't go anywhere! I'd have to describe it as a lazy piece of writing. As I say though, watchable, and well-acted. Runs to the 26th, if you're interested.

Hammersmith Broadway Tesco is always very handy for shopping on the way home - my journey home turned out to be a bit longer than expected though, when I alighted in Green Park to take the Jubilee Line, only to discover it wasn't running! Whatever was wrong had obviously only just happened, the station attendant coming along the corridor in our direction, stopping us heading that way. Consulting my phone, I discovered there was a fire alert, and the Jubilee Line was closed between Waterloo and Stratford! Well, that eliminated it from London Bridge, where I needed to get to - the other line that stops there is the Northern, so I started to consider my options for that. The general consensus among the crowd was that the Victoria Line was best - fewer stops - and I'd have fewest connections if I took it to Euston and changed to the Bank branch of the Northern Line there; it's one of the lines that branches, and that's the branch that London Bridge is on. Euston is the first station I'd come to on that branch, taking the Victoria Line. So that's what I did.

Tomorrow is our work social - we're headed to Boom Battle Bar, which has, em, axe throwing.. among other things. Augmented reality features. Well, I missed it at Shocktober..

On Thursday, I'm back with the London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Cardinall's Musick, performing a choral concert at St. Martin in the Fields.

On Friday, The Hideout persuaded me to go to Ti West's X trilogy - Pearl, X, and MaXXXine - at the Prince Charles. Never seen any of them before. Lord knows when I'll have time to eat..

And on Saturday, meeting James for our monthly get-together at The Phoenix - it's the only weekend he can, and he prefers Saturday. Ivan can't make it - Martin provisional as of yet.