Play: Mrs. President

Now in a run of five Meetups! For tonight, 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 was 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!

I went early so I could eat beforehand. Now, I checked on Google Maps - and for some reason, couldn't see L' Ulivo, the Italian restaurant across from the theatre where I've eaten before. Never mind, I said, I'll get something somewhere. The bus, mind you, was running late - and Google Maps' advice to walk through Victoria Embankment Gardens ignored the fact that they're locked after dark. So I was late to eat.. and they're slow in L' Ulivo (which, yes, is still there and going strong). Frankly, I decided I didn't need that much anyway. Tried Pret, but they had hardly anything left - so I went to the Gregg's I'd passed on the way, where they had one southern fried chicken baguette left, which they toasted for me. I ate it on the side of the road - and do you know, it was lovely, and I was well satisfied.

I was also quite early to meet the group - but the theatre bar was open, so I took myself to a space that looked promising, down the back, considering we were expecting a dozen. Signs around the bar advertise that it's a piano bar (sure enough, there's one in the corner) and open till 2am, four nights a week! Wednesday to Saturday, in fact - not that anyone in our group was planning on doing that tonight. Good to know, though. Anyway, we sat and chatted until the bell rang.

I was in the very back row - but that's not a major issue, here:

It was only after a bit that I noticed the edge of the stage resembles a picture frame - appropriate for this play, which has as its subject Mary Lincoln having her photograph taken.

There's a cast of two - someone had to point out to me that Keala Settle, who plays the title character, also played the Bearded Lady in The Greatest Showman. Mind you, there are three characters (that I noticed) - an ill-advised and confusing bit of the script introduces someone with a French accent, also supposed to be there to have his picture taken..

I love the trend of putting 19th-century characters in 19th-century costume - and Mary has lots of outfit changes as he fits her in outfit after outfit, for photos with different themes. The point of the play is that he is using his vision to depict how she is seen by the world - one where she represents the Virgin Mary, one where she is like a broken bird, and so on. As she discusses them with him, we learn a lot about her life and background, which is inspiring his ideas. And I'm not surprised at the animosity between her and the Chases - they were an old-school political family, very driven; she, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have been very political, and was seen as something of a spendthrift. Different sorts of people, different interests.

It's confusing at first, as we try to figure out what's actually going on. The "broken bird" scene is particularly odd, and I don't blame the handful of people who left. But I do think it improves dramatically towards the end, as she begins to take ownership of her image, and flounces off, saying she'll make her own photos! (Preposterous idea for the times.. ah well.) Women's lib comes to the White House, eh! Runs to the 8th of next month, if you feel like checking it out.

Tomorrow, I'm with Movie Roadhouse London - for the new Richard Linklater film, Nouvelle Vague. Referencing the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), it primarily focuses on the making of Breathless, directed by Jean-Luc Godard. 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.. Don't think I'll have soup, after the last, disastrous visit.

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 last Sunday of course, followed by a social in Penderel's Oak, as usual.

I was stuck for something to do on 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.

On Tuesday - with film listings finally out - I'm thinking of heading to see Is This Thing On? A comedy about a guy who, having marital problems, heads to a bar - only to find it's open mic night, and he can't get a drink unless he does a turn on stage: so, for the first time ever, he attempts a bit of stand-up comedy. Directed and co-written by Bradley Cooper, it stars Laura Dern as the wife - and as told to me by someone at The Cartoon Museum, it's inspired by the story of John Bishop! Nearest showing to me is in the Curzon Aldgate.

Then it's two more days with UITCS - next Wednesday, Ballad Lines at Southwark Playhouse (SP), booked on their excellent (but now, sadly, expired) PAYG offer, where you paid £60 for access to up to five productions. I made sure to book another set before they expired!

On the 12th, we're at Monstering the Rocketman, in the Arcola - the true story of the biggest libel suit in British history, with Sir Elton John suing The Sun for falsely claiming he'd used prostitutes. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend- good weekend not to be in London, with Valentine's Day in the middle..

And on the 16th, back with UITCS again, at SP again, and again with PAYG, for Beautiful Little Fool, the story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, as told by their daughter.