Scenes from a frosty Saturday in London

gay, originally uploaded by BisForBabb.

Nothing like freezing temperatures to bring someone out of the closet... In Battersea...

Life in London: When Theatre Goes Bad

On Friday evening I saw an awful piece of theatre in Kentish Town. It was at a theatre pub where the patrons of this boozer seemed to be street drinkers and addicts of various sorts. It was a pity they weren't in the play themselves as it would have given the play a little character. From time to time there were flashes of something that made it watchable, but for the most part I sat there wondering how many flats could be made from this upstairs space and whether it was productions like this that caused the death of theatre pubs across London.

It isn't necessary to know the name of the production as it has finished, but a friend of a friend of friend was in the production. So at the end of the show the inevitible discussion and dilemma about what to say we thought of the show ensued. In the end we all settled for lying through our teeth and saying what a challenging and thought-provoking show it was. Well, actors can be so sensitive, and usually (as in this case) the director was primarily responsible for this shambles...

It was funny as a week earlier after seeing a production of Turandot at the Royal Opera the audience let it be known what they thought of the leads by reserving the largest applause for a supporting part of Liu the slave girl. Alas that was easier as with such a larger audience it was easier to be anonymous. So here's to those euphamisms for crap shows - interesting, challenging, and thought provoking. I intend to use them throughout the year for shows that aren't quite as memorable as August: Osage Country...

Scenes from a gay man's bookshelf

The host of a party in south London had some interesting reading on his shelf... Well some guys like to mix things up...

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Scenes from the Hayward

At the Andy Warhol exhibition... It looked good at least even if the content was a bit suspect...

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Trends in London: The hot water bottle

So far this year has been all about hot water bottles. As temperatures plummet, if you don't have a furry friend in your bed, then the next best and hottest thing to have is a faux fur hot water bottle. John Lewis has them. Or you could skip the faux and get the real thing (hot water bottle-wise)... Oh grrr...

Theatre: August: Osage County

On the afternoon of new years eve I found myself at the National Theatre watching this production alone. It is a good idea not to invite people who have to cook dinner for six to a matinee that lasts for three hours. This play has been a sell out however so I didn't have trouble getting rid of the spare ticket. However I was worried about how much of an effort it would be to sit through this production. It turned out that this breathless production is so fast-paced, so gripping and thrilling that the time whizzed by. This production, from the Steppenwolf Company in Chicago won the Tony this year for best play (among others) and it is easy to see why.

The premise in this dark, dark comedy is that the Weston family is reunited in the family home in Oklahoma after their father disappears. This sets the scene for a series of disturbing revelations. The play has been marketed here as a view into a dysfunctional American family. The humour in Tracy Letts script however, is less derived from the over-the-top plot developments, than in the banal and ordinary aspects of family life. The laughter was knowing laughter from an audience that didn't see it as dysfunctional but realistic. It is "Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" for all the family... Some of the terriffic dialogues includes lines like:

Violet (the mother): Some things, though, like the silver, that's worth a pretty penny. But if you like I'll sell it to you, cheaper'n I might get in an auction.
Barbara (daughter): Or you might never get around to the auction and then we can just have it for free after you die.

In fact there is so much crackling dialogue in this play and everyone's got so much to say that it overlaps and interweaves at times. It reminded me of what my dad would say about how in our family the first person to come up for air was declared the listener...

In the programme notes, it is clear this play is intended to be the last word on the real America family first mentality that pervaded conservative politics in the US over the last eight years. It certainly is unrelenting in its attacks on the banalities that families get worked up about, but if you are paying enough attention there is also a warm heart to this play and hope. Which surely is thoroughly American. The run at the National Theatre is only short, but this play will be around for long time. It is certainly one of the best new plays of recent times that I have seen and there no doubt will be future productions. A film production is also in the works... See it with the family in mind...

Scenes from London: the view from new year...

This is what happens when New Year's Eve celebrations get popular. Who would have thought the punters would brave the freezing weather for ten minutes of spectacular fireworks (they did look rather good).

This new years I also learned

• Italians wear red underwear for New Years Eve
• The Spanish like to start a new year with a mouthful of grapes

Combine the above with the Australian tradition for a foine woine or beer and you're set for a great night out I think...

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Scenes from shopping on Shaftsbury Avenue

Dead bird on a wire...

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Scenes from Waterloo station

Under the clock...

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Scenes from the Midnight Eucharist Christmas Eve

At St Pauls Cathedral... Contrary to what the camera captures the view was not that bad...

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Scenes from the backstage...

Waiting for the act two call...

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Hot News this week in London...

Fears Grow For Doctor Who, originally uploaded by LinkMachineGo.

Not only has David Tennant missed his star turn in Hamlet due to a back injury, he may not be able to finish that silly TV show... Oh the humanity...

Scenes from a final tech rehearsal...

Almost time...

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Life in London: Grandpa dies in Brisbane

In a week of final rehearsals for a sellout Christmas Concert, loads of Christmas parties and the odd bit of theatre, I received word from Australia that my grandfather (Pa) passed away. He was getting ready to go out on Saturday night when it happened. At 86 he was still was able to go out with my grandmother to a local football club, have a bottle of wine, a meal and a gamble and get home at a rather late hour... All of which sounded awfully sensible to me.

It is always an experience being 10,000 miles away from the rest of your family, but apart from the people around me (you know who you are), what keeps me upbeat is thinking of his sense of humour and his knack of winding people up. I would like to think that I carry on this tradition. When someone says they didn't sleep well last night, I reply, "Well I slept well. I had a clear conscience". Thanks for that one Pa. It gets a reaction every time...

scenes from a dress rehearsal

It's like a washing powder commercial...

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Theatre: In A Dark Dark House

I had been warned that In A Dark Dark House, currently playing at the Almeida Theatre is a disturbing sort of show. So I figured it was only fitting to be the final show for Adrian to see before he left the UK. I had been in a rehearsal all day and was a little exhausted after that, and Adrian was returning from a few days in Manchester, so something interesting and a little controversial by Neil LaBute was bound to keep us interested.

While we waiting for the show to start we could at least take in the fantastic production design. The Almeida always seem to create the most fantastic realistic looking gardens and grasses and this was no exception.

After a slow start, the play really started to unfold, somewhat sneakily, into another realm... Which also included a mini-golf course. This is a play about sexual abuse and two brothers reliving their unhappy childhood. But it was told from an interesting perspective and there are such terrific performances it is worth catching. All told was it disturbing? Well, only if you are disturbed by human behaviour...

Theatre: Wig Out

When friends visit from Australia I find that I see a lot more musicals in the West End. Adrian was in town from Melbourne this week and as a fan of musical theatre I knew that at some stage this week it would end up like this. And it did. I ended up seeing Avenue Q (which in its third year is still fun, but a little lacklustre and the Tuesday evening performance this week had some pretty poor puppeteering), and Zorro (enjoyable sort of panto with the music of the Gypsy Kings and well-shaved gypsies). Bearing this in mind, I was determined to mix it up a little as well. So last weekend I took Adrian to the Royal Court's production of Wig Out by Tarell Alvin McCraney. This is an entertaining and slick production. While music features prominently in the story about competing drag houses in New York, it is no musical.

It seems that for the characters in this play, the motivation for doing drag was that their grandmother wore a wig. Who knew that grandmother's could cause such an impression? By intermission Adrian declared was impressed by its high wig factor. Normally only period dramas would have such an endless parade of cast members in wigs, but we can thank our grandmothers for giving us drag dramas.

While the story at this point did tend to go on a bit (too much exposition), the performances and production were great. The second half was even better and moved much more quickly. Certainly a different sort of play to see over the Christmas period. It runs until 10 January and good discounts are available to see the show from various places.