Immersive Theatre: Jorvik

These two days, I was thinking film, but they were not selling out (yet), so I didn't book. Tonight, I was thinking of Breathless, at the BFI - part of their Ensemble season to celebrate the filmmakers referenced in Richard Linklater's new documentary about the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave). Breathless is directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

However, last night I was having a look at what else was on - and lo, TAC came up with a stunning option - so instead of the film, I booked for Jorvik, an immersive Viking experience, based around the capture of York by the Vikings, who renamed it Jorvik. Happening in The Glitch. Regular tickets from Ticket Tailor. Booked for The Archduke beforehand.

Ah, TFL - I was surprised, recently, to see "due" buses actually arrive straight away.. this evening, they were back to normal. The bus was "due", and there I was, waiting and waiting for minutes in the cold, and had forgotten my hat and scarf in the rush. Never mind, it did come in plenty of time to get me to The Archduke, and I was early for my booking. The place was empty enough that I could sit anywhere - really, I didn't need to book. And indeed, I was trying to book for after the show, which is a short one, to have less of a rush.. not a hope, they weren't taking bookings past 7.30.

I asked what the soup of the day was - as usual, she hadn't a clue and disappeared to check. "Mushroom." "Lovely," sez I, "I'll have that." Have had it before, loved it. Wasn't enthused by the thought of the chicken I normally have - decided to try the flat iron steak. Got a carafe of wine - completely forgot about the half-price bottle offer on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays this month, and she didn't remind me. Never mind, I suppose I'd have had to rush it anyway.

Oh my goodness, the soup was such a weird consistency - a mix of watery and lumpy. I finished most of it, but it wasn't nice - and I think that's what has been repeating on me all evening, and led to such a dramatic trip to the toilet a while ago. (Much better now, thanks.) The steak was middling - the fries were nice, but as I say, I think the soup was already working its magic, and I had trouble finishing them. It was a relief to finish and leave, and get some cold air on my face. You know the kicker? There's a Nando's way closer to where I was going - completely did not occur to me! Would've been less than half the price, too.

(That's not actually on the way through Leake Street, it's on the way you go if you take the wrong turn..)

Arrived at The Glitch, got a drink, took a seat and waited. I was to be glad I'd got a drink - reviews spoke of drinking during the show, but that's just the actors, who do encourage the audience to join them in several toasts. It was nice to have something to toast with.

When the house was open, someone shouted something and off we went, the person at the door glancing at our tickets. Seats are arranged in a kind of ring in the basement, seating unassigned. And the show has two performers, assuming Viking personas - one with appropriately blonde looks, the other with one of those really deep voices. The blonde one was wearing a Thor's Hammer as a pendant - funnily enough, I was also wearing Viking jewellery this evening, a dragon pendant bought in Nordkapp:

It's only an hour or so long, but I really liked it. Pretty much everyone in the audience had some role in the production, but none of it is too strenuous - me, I was a rower of the boat that took them to Yorvik, would you believe! Others had bits to read - and much hilarity ensued when the audience member supposed to read the role of the blonde guy's mother completely corpsed; the more she read, the more she laughed, until we were all at it.

It was all done good-naturedly - the poor guy in the audience who got a coughing fit during an impassioned speech by one of the actors got much sympathy from both afterwards. And there was a mead-pourer - pouring mead for the actors, not for us! Never mind, we got to sing along a lot, got to chant heartily..

They do well in creating a mood - with their ebullient performances, with the booming background drums, with the song.. lots of testosterone on display, as you'd expect. And I dunno about the others who attended, but for me, it worked - I could see myself in a Viking hall, witnessing battles to the death, talking about blood oaths and honour.. there's a comforting feeling about being in the company of these folks. Really enjoyed it, glad I came - they're in their last week. Go see! You won't regret it.

Tomorrow, still thinking of seeing a documentary called This Is Not a Film, made by the banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi, mostly on a mobile phone, and smuggled out in a cake. Showing, as good documentaries tend to do, in the Curzon Bloomsbury.

Then a run of five Meetups! On Wednesday, I got a ticket from someone who bought one, then couldn't go, for Mrs. President at Charing Cross Theatre: an outing with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS). And that'll be interesting, a week after seeing Our American Queen, because Mrs. President is about the wife of Abraham Lincoln, who's mentioned in Our American Queen, and she and the Chases, subjects of Our American Queen, couldn't stand each other!

On Thursday, I'm with Movie Roadhouse London - for, would you believe, the new Richard Linklater film, Nouvelle Vague! It primarily focuses on the making of Breathless, and I'm sure I'll understand the proceedings, even not having seen Breathless.. Also showing in the BFI, and I'm heading to The Archduke beforehand - although when I looked, there were only two timeslots left, and I ended up having to book quite an early one! So I'll have lots of time before I meet the group.. This time it makes more sense. Don't think I'll have soup.

On Friday, UITCS tempted me back with Guidelines, at the New Diorama - a play about the horrors of the internet, basically.

Then the weekend belongs to London Museums A-Z.. on Saturday, we're off to Bletchley Park, the ticket for which is valid for a year. I got a cheap train ticket on Uber, with a promotion knocking £5 off, plus £10 Uber credit - which was most of the cost of the ticket. And afterwards, we're headed to the fetchingly monikered Captain Ridley's Shooting Party! (It's a pub.) The history reads as follows: In 1937, the estate passed into government hands. Then, an undercover MI6 group arrived using the name ‘Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party’, with ‘an air of friends enjoying a weekend at a country house’. Their real purpose was to see whether Bletchley Park would work as a wartime location.

And on Sunday, it's an Unlimited event, where they don't cap numbers - we're off to the British Museum to see fragments of the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as previewed yesterday of course, followed by a social in Penderel's Oak, as usual.

Finally - I was stuck for something to do next Monday, until I remembered something I saw advertised on Facebook - there's a talk about British Folk Horror that night! I was too late to book an in-person ticket, so I booked one for the livestream - tickets from Eventbrite.