Play: Wife to James Whelan

Now, it took a very long time for anything to pop up that'd interest me for yesterday - finally, as I waited for the others on Sunday, my cheap ticket groups both came up with Wife to James Whelan, showing in the Jermyn Street Theatre. It's apparently an unearthed Irish play that, like so many, was banned back in the day.

Again, beautiful aircon on the bus. I went in time to get something to eat - the Three Crowns is very close, but doesn't take bookings just for one, so I went along on spec. A crowd standing outside was disconcerting - but as so often happens, they just preferred to be outside, and there was plenty of room inside (where, to be fair, there was no aircon). I skipped the table with the reserved sign - even though it was for a much earlier time, so they either never showed, or were already finished - and took a table in the corner.

It's a Greene King, but sadly they were out of the katsu - it was too hot for a pie, so I went for fish & chips. Ordered on the app - so convenient when you're on your own, and trying to hold a table - and it was nice that I could specify whether I wanted my chips mushy. And when he arrived with my drink, he noticed how sticky the table was, and cleaned it. The fish was ok - the tartare sauce was gorgeous, though - and happily, he didn't overload me with chips. Checking the theatre details, I saw they wouldn't open till 20 minutes beforehand - so I stayed on, drinking, till then.

The website says the theatre is easy to miss, its entrance is so small - but I couldn't miss the large queue that was waiting there. Perhaps they didn't get the memo about it not opening yet. Gave my name at the box office, got a piece of paper with a seat number scribbled on it. Got a drink at the teeny weeny bar, and took my seat - back row centre, but it isn't a large theatre, so the view was perfect:

As you can see, we start in an agrarian setting, in Kilbeggan, where we find a group of young friends. Somebody's been staging job interviews, or perhaps entrance exams - these are required for the civil service, for example, which would have been considered a terrific career, permanent, with good pay and prospects, in 1937, when this is set. And they're all on tenterhooks - talk is that the local frontrunner is the eponymous James Whelan, whose girlfriend is one of the group. Sure enough, it's not that much of a spoiler to tell you he gets it. Unfortunately, the position is all the way up in Dublin..

Well, by the second half, he's got the job, and the scene moves to an office - presumably in Dublin. He's now suited and booted. He's in charge of a bus company. The action seems to have moved on by several years.. and wow, has he changed. His girlfriend is now there too.. but, well, he's become as cold and calculating about his personal life as about his job, and gee, she's just not as interesting to him any more.

It was a different world - but it's one I recognise from my childhood (no, I'm not that old, it's just that that old Ireland still existed then). The men are seeking their fortunes, the women are seeking a husband - regardless of background. It was banned because that was the same year that the Irish Republic was declared, and a new constitution enshrined the status of women in the home.. there was a new, conservative government, and in the play, James' girlfriend, who in the meantime has been widowed and has a child, is forced to work to support the child. Tut, they'd not have approved..

It's a very downbeat play.. we came away rather depressed. And I did have some trouble with the timelines - apparently, in the second half, there are two sections, set six months apart, which I didn't pick up on, and which confused me. Hey-ho though, it's one I hadn't heard of, and it's always interesting to see something from that period. Runs to the 25th, if you're interested.

I was too tired to blog last night. For tonight, both my cheap ticket groups came up with Horatio, in thy Heart, at the Jack Studio Theatre, above the Brockley Jack pub, where I'm eating beforehand. It is, in fact, the story of Horatio, a minor character in Hamlet. For both these days, I decided to go with CT - they seem more professional, and the tickets are the same price - equivalent to the concessionary price charged at the box office.

Tomorrow, back for the first time in three months with London Classical Music and Theatre Group, for a performance of Bellini's final opera, I Puritani (set during the Puritan era), at the Royal Opera House - with the cheapest tickets gone by the time I booked, I still managed to get a ticket for under £50, and with an ok view. Eating beforehand at Cote Covent Garden.

On Thursday, yes, back with CT for Hot Mess, a kind of cosmic musical at The Other Palace. Eating at the Bag o' Nails beforehand. Then, for the first time in a couple of months, I'm heading back to Ireland for the weekend - to discuss selling the place. Was waiting to hear about my car before I booked - it's in for repairs - so I booked my flights rather late. Ryanair, for some reason, would take none of my cards.. I'm guessing it's a website issue. However, that turned out lucky, because when I checked, as long as I check in a bag (which is the default), Aer Lingus is cheaper! (Think I'll bring a bigger bag, as a result - there are a lot of clothes I want to bring back.) Don't fancy the dangerously overcrowded Elizabeth Line though.. hopefully, I'll have time to get the Tube. No word yet on whether the friend I have lunch with when I'm over will be around..

On Monday, I'm back with CT for I'm Not Myself Today - A Villainous Cabaret. Showing at the Bread & Roses, it sounds interesting, with a soundtrack composed entirely of songs about, or by, villains.

Next Tuesday, headed to the Proms - specifically, Also Sprach Zarathustra - at the Royal Albert Hall, and my sometime companion is coming too - it was actually her suggestion. Well, that's assuming she's recovered from her recent accident. I'm eating at the Elgar Room beforehand - it's an early show, and an early dinner, so I'm taking a half-day from work - I certainly have them to spare. She doesn't fancy that - but I want more than they have in the cafe.

And the next two days seem likely to be films. On the 22nd, I'm delighted to be seeing Coup '53 finally - it's a documentary about the joint CIA/MI6 operation in 1953 to overthrow the Iranian Prime Minister, who had just nationalised the Iranian oil industry, which had previously operated under the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP). The operation was Churchill's idea (always far too interested in meddling in other countries, that man). Showings are limited, so I missed it before.. it's now showing in the Arthouse Crouch End, and was mostly sold out when I looked, so I booked.

And on the 23rd, I'm thinking of The Last Viking, which I'd intended to see on Sunday, but didn't - it's a crime comedy with Mads Mikkelson, who plays a man under the delusion that he's John Lennon. Evening showing is in the Ritzy.