Storytelling: Dauntless & Concert: Inala

Last night, I hosted more storytelling with London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ)! courtesy of the Crick Crack Club (CCC). I only just the day before remembered to set up the WhatsApp group that we do for each event. This one was Dauntless, the true story of Granuaile (aka Grace O' Malley), female Irish pirate, who won an audience with Elizabeth I. Indeed, it's only from English records that we know about her at all! Happened at Hoxton Hall. I booked Schnitzel Heaven beforehand. 

Well, the buses played their usual game with me - I needed the #47, but when it finally came, it was stopping short! Half an hour, I sat waiting for it - on the coldest day since spring! Everyone's commenting on the sudden plummet in temperatures - and although I'd put on a jumper for the first time in months, I was still shivering.

Well, I was about 10 minutes late for my booking - but unlike Tuesday, at least I made it this time! And she recognised me as she let me in, and remembered I'd had a booking. I was immediately seated.. it took my hands ages to defrost, and she turned on the heating for me. I had the katsu schnitzel, which has become my usual here - and a glass of wine. I know better than to order a starter - they're actually all schnitzels, and you can have too much of a good thing.

Yep, this is one of the special schnitzels, and as such, you actually get a double. Plus a jug of katsu sauce, a pat of butter, and a slice of lemon. And I have to say, the best thing I've found to do with that is smear butter over the top schnitzel, then drop the rest onto the rice to flavour it. Then pour the sauce over the top schnitzel. Gorgeous combination. For the bottom one, I use the lemon with the sauce - not quite as nice, but still good. Yes, I had a lovely meal, and service was attentive throughout - unfortunately, of course, I was running a bit late and had to leave the very end of the second schnitzel to scurry down the road to the hall.

Had a very good turnout at this - just a couple of folks didn't show. Met everyone in the lobby, where one kindly bought me a drink - and then someone noticed the queue at the box office. Well, it turned out they were checking names off a list, and giving us all wristbands - purple for the first floor, yellow for the ground floor (the second floor wasn't used). Never seen that here before! I'm guessing it was because it was quite full, and they wanted an even distribution. Most of us ended up upstairs, with two on the ground floor.

We took a bench directly facing the stage - so got a good view, albeit a little distant. Ben Haggarty was MCing, and came on again afterwards to advertise coming attractions.

The night, however, belonged to the performer, Debs Newbold, who has made this story her own. Indeed, I saw her perform the same one three years ago in the British Museum.. now, I certainly can't remember how similar it was to last night's, it's too long ago. But she still has the shock of blonde curly hair, she still has a passion for her subject, indeed evokes her spirit.. the chair that was her sole prop, she used as a throne, as a currach, as a ship:

The unfortunate thing was that, particularly upstairs, she was often quite hard to hear - the seats and floorboards were creaky, there was talking from outside, and people (at least upstairs) were in and out to the toilet or for drinks. I tell you though, an interesting hush came on the audience when she got to the tale of Bingham, the English governor who set his sights against Granuaile, and what he did to her and her family..

Lovely to see that she retains her passion for the subject. Lovely, too, to introduce a couple more people to storytelling! A few of us traipsed up to the Howl at the Moon pub (an Irish bar with the best pub name I think I've ever heard!) for a nightcap afterwards:

..where we appreciated the heat, and chatted of storytelling, mainly. And hey, Debs Newbold came in with her mates and sat in the corner.. Anyway, we had an excellent evening.

And on the way home, I met my familiar, who would have come with me on the slightest encouragement:

It ran too late to blog though, considering I had to be up early today to go into the office. Tonight, I was with CT at Inala, a new South African musical at the House of Sisters Grimm. It's easy walking distance from the office, handily.. I left earlier than I needed to, having put in the requisite hours and being utterly sick of looking at work.

Ate en route at All Bar One - I managed to find a table (beside a screechingly loud group, but needs must), but this branch doesn't have order to table, so I had to go to the bar. Where he had neither heard of chicken milanese, nor of carafes of wine, both of which are on the menu. It was a very educational experience for him. At least he didn't automatically assume I needed more than one glass. Anyway, service was quick (although when she came to ask whether the food was ok, I could hardly hear her over the noise from the next table), and the chicken was gorgeous, as ever. And of course, I'd paid when I was ordering, so that saved time at the end.

Walked to the venue then, passing a typically packed city centre Thursday-night pub:

And lo, walked past my destination without noticing - I was lucky, firstly, that I knew the building number, and secondly, that the numbers were clearly displayed on the neighbouring buildings. It turns out to be downstairs at an art gallery!

My ticket, which was emailed to me while I was eating, was scanned on the way in, and I grabbed what was about the last table and got a drink - which turned out to be a slightly fraught procedure, with separate menus for red and white. There was a Sauvignon Blanc, so I had that, and it turned out to be decent. Only comes in one size, which I gauged was medium.

I drank it quickly, and went straight downstairs when we were (discreetly) told it was ready. My seat was to the side - and although we were offered the chance to move closer, what with a large pillar in the way, I rather thought I had about the best view I could have, where I was! It wasn't large anyway.

An elderly lady in my row had a conundrum - she'd bought expensive tickets, which she was of the impression were supposed to be in the centre section. As her companion (granddaughter?) scrolled though her booking, I sneaked a peek at the prices - Good Lord, over £48 for side seats, over £61 for the back row of the middle! And me having paid £15. Well.. it was resolved when the MC found them spare seats, somewhere in the middle.

The show started late, the MC getting a bit frazzled.. she eventually came on and told us that the show would be in Zulu. Wonderful. Anyway, the performers duly came on and there was much enthusiastic singing and dancing, and speaking almost all in Zulu - I caught one sentence in English, where they were telling some guy of their number to sit down and leave to the floor to the younger folk. Otherwise, Zulu. There were some in the audience who seemed able to understand it - for the rest of us, it was a misnomer to call it a musical - it was a concert with dance. Group dancing, at that.

Lasting just over an hour, it was enjoyable, catchy, colourful.. and fine, for £15. I'd have felt seriously hard done-by, however, if I'd paid around £50 or £60! They did invite audience members to come onstage with them at the end, which looked fun - but I really couldn't recommend this, unless you have a particular interest. Plays on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through January, with a break over Christmas week.

Tomorrow, back with The Hideout for Other Mommy, in which the mother of the family gets impersonated by something altogether more sinister! Jessica Chastain plays both the mommy, and her substitute.. playing in the Vue Leicester Square, meeting in Victory House beforehand, and I'm eating in Bella Italia before that. And Bella Italia have a 30% offer off food, running to the 18th, every day except Saturday. One of the attendees remarked how late it was, but of course that suits me ideally, giving me plenty of time to organise myself.

On Saturday, I'm with TAC for The Dirty Thirty - Best of 2026! in which they contract 30 plays into one hour. Showing at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. I've seen this show before, it was good.

Then it's three Meetup days in a row. On Sunday, back with LoMAZ for an event (kind of) related to our Dracula activities, this being as they say, the closest castle in a wood that they can get to London! Trouble with Southern Trains, apparently, but Thameslink is quicker for me anyway. We're meeting in Oxleas Wood Cafe (if you go down to the woods today..) and visiting Severndroog Castle. Which has an 86-step spiral staircase (heh) up to the furnished rooms and viewing platform. Yes, well. I'll take a look at the staircase and decide. And thence to t' pub, TBC. And I just found out last night that that's LoMAZ's birthday! Aw shucks..

On Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Bull, a play about power plays at work. Showing at Park Theatre.

And on Tuesday, I had booked with TAC for What are We Going to Do when this is all Over?, a play about a couple, one of whom is developing dementia. Showing in the Hen & Chickens. But then The Hideout/Movie Roadhouse London advertised Tenzing, a new film about the first ascent of Everest, showing in Picturehouse Central! Stars Willem Dafoe and Caitríona Balfe, with Tom Hiddleston as Edmund Hillary. I do love my mountains.. and this sounds more interesting than the play, TBH. Eating in Bella Italia Shaftesbury Avenue beforehand - also eligible for that discount. 

On the 14th, the first of four days of horror, with a talk about Vampires, Desire & the Queer Imagination. It's happening in the Blues Kitchen Brixton - tickets from Eventbrite. And I'm eating there beforehand. Livestream tickets also available, in which case you also get a recording.

Then three more days of Meetup. On the 15th, back with Museum, Art & Culture Socials (MACS), for a Phantom Femmes ghost tour with Herstorical Tours! We're meeting at Costa in Farringdon, and finishing in a pub. Which, according to their website, is the Viaduct.

Then two days of LoMAZ. On the 16th, another LoMAZ Dracula event - we're off to see the uncut version of Dracula (AKA Horror of Dracula) (1958) with Christopher Lee - the cut footage was apparently originally considered too scary for the general public - showing that night only in the Vue Leicester Square, again. Eating beforehand in the Marketplace Food Hall, and heading to the pub (TBC) afterwards.

And on the 17th, I'm hosting more storytelling, courtesy of the CCC - this time it's Daniel Morden, who's telling The Luck Child & Other Strange Tales in Jacksons Lane.

That being in the afternoon, I've now booked something for the evening - The Hideout is off to Hallowe'en at Kew, so I've signed up! We're meeting in The Tap on the Line beforehand, and I'm coming early to grab a bite to eat.

Then it's three days of music with CT, the first two of which are classical music. On the 18th, I'm in Conway Hall for their Sunday concerts - on this occasion, it's a choral concert entitled In Sweet Music is Such Art. 

And on the 19th, I'm going to The Liberal Club, of all places, to the David Lloyd George room, where they hold all their public events, for a piano concert called Norwegian Seasons. Fun thing is, CT made sure to warn me that it was formal dress.. but I checked online, and both the club website, and AI, seem to agree that it's smart casual! Well, that means I shouldn't have to go and buy an evening dress.. if they throw me out, I guess they throw me out!

And on the 20th, I'm at the Albert Hall for The Moonwalkers, with a score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and two specially created films about space exploration, the titular film narrated and co-written by Tom Hanks. 

On the 21st, I'm back with London Fun at Leicester Square Theatre, for Rosie Holt: The Illegal Aliens Have Landed! Eating beforehand, of course, at Bella Italia Cranbourn Street.

And then I'm on holiday for the rest of the month! And thus begins 13 days of Meetup, and 11 straight days of horror.. On the 22nd.. I fly to Dublin for the Bram Stoker Festival (starts the next day)! Again, part of the LoMAZ Dracula shenanigans. Flying to/from Gatwick - out with Ryanair, back with Easyjet. I'm flying a day early and returning a day late, to make sure I don't miss anything - and am hosting a group there. I'm meeting up with an old, Dublin-based friend and her fiancé that evening. We decided to have dinner in the Good World Chinese restaurant, which was always a favourite of ours. Now, when I was booking this, it had to be by phone or internet form - it was noisy where I was, so I filled out the form. Never did get a response, so I finally rang them - no record of the booking, of course, but we're now booked. Anyway, I'm staying in Staycity aparthotel in the Liberties.

The festival kicks off on the 23rd - but do you know, as we were browsing the schedule, events were selling out in front of us! So the only thing I managed to get booked that day is a live horror podcast called Petrified, showing in the Project Arts Centre. Eating at Smokin' Bones afterwards - and with people in the group arriving at different times, I only have one companion for that, at time of writing. How bad! I started out with bar seating, but when I amended the booking to two people, I got standard seating.. much better..

On the morning of the 24th, again as part of the festival, there's a treasure hunt in the National Library. Tickets are free, and available from midday on the 14th.

That evening, a couple of us are going to a play that's running throughout the festival - Stitch is billed as an homage to Frankenstein, and claims to explore our capacity to be both monster and maker. Playing at Smock Alley Theatre - some of us are eating at Lundy Foot's afterwards, which is right beside it, and wouldn't give us a booking after 8pm! which is when the play finishes. So we're rushing right there.

On the 25th, we were talking about starting with brunch/lunch in Doyle's - another internet form, another non-reply. But behold and lo, I hadn't noticed that they don't open that early there on Sundays! Shelley, who's also coming, found us an alternative, and we're now brunching/lunching in Cafe 1920 at the Fleet Hotel. Anyway, it's convenient to Trinity College, where we're headed to a couple of talks that afternoon, in the Graduate Memorial Building - to which, I must say, they provided excellent directions! First up is Dacre Stoker, a relative of Bram, with a talk called Stoker on Stoker.

Later, there's a talk on Stoker on the Runway: The Gothic in Contemporary Fashion.

And that evening, again at Shelley's suggestion, a few of us are dining at Fallon & Byrne. All these eateries are new to me, BTW!

For those of us left, there's a Macnas parade ("Fiáin", which means "wild") on the 26th. We might head out of the city a bit on one of these days, for some sightseeing..

I fly back on the 27th, and am rushing off, with The Hideout, to the Prince Charles Hallowe'en Quiz that night. Victory House bar beforehand, as usual.

On the 28th, well, someone in LoMAZ flagged a different storytelling group to me - so I'm hosting a trip to see the Bloomsbury Folklore Club talk about vampires and the undead, downstairs at Waterstone's Bloomsbury. Tickets from Eventbrite. And there's a bar down there too!

On the 29th, the Prince Charles (PCC) is doing a vampire day! So I said I'd take the day off for that.. and with the first two days of the week off as well, why, I said I might as well take the whole week off! so I am. This vampire day has a variety of vampire films.. I'm starting with From Dusk till Dawn, because I've never seen it - stars Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Tarantino (would you believe), who also co-wrote it, and Salma Hayek.. it's about a couple of criminals who hole up in a truck stop that turns out to be populated by vampires! With Salma Hayek's character name of Santanico Pandemonium, I have to wonder whether she isn't one of them.. 

Then I'm seeing Sinners, because I just love it. Afterwards, I should just have time to eat in Bella Italia..

Before I join The Hideout for The Lost Boys, which I've also never seen! All about a town full of vampires. Kiefer Sutherland is one of them. Back to Victory House again beforehand, of course.

On the 30th, back with The Hideout for Crawlers.. the latest spider horror! Details TBC.

And on Hallowe'en itself.. I have two Meetups! First up is Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, with a walk around Sensational Soho!

And that evening - I couldn't resist Hallowe'en at the Museum! Happening at the Natural History Museum, with a vampire theme - they have a vampire wedding, a vampire council, vampire bands.. and I am so dressing up for it. I'm hosting with The Hideout (making it my third Hideout day in a row of four - and the first time I'll have hosted for them), and nominally with LoMAZ - except that nobody has signed up on the LoMAZ side yet. Except one, who's also attending with The Hideout. Well, tickets are £65..

On the 1st, back with MACS for the Korean exhibition at the British Museum. Pub social afterwards, location TBD.

I can't stay long though - back that evening with The Hideout for the director's cut of Ken Russell's The Devils, at the PCC! Couldn't resist, I love this debauched vision (even censored) of the possessions at Loudun, where a hysterical group of young nuns gave testimony that the magician responsible was one Fr. Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) - the fact that he'd gone up against the powerful Cardinal Richelieu probably didn't help. Also stars Vanessa Redgrave. Meeting in Victory House beforehand, as usual.

And finally, two days of UITCS - on the 2nd, at Dogstar, at Hampstead Theatre.

And on the 3rd, Five Days in the Sun at Sadler's Wells. Eating at The Wilmington beforehand.