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Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

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If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging
Theatre: How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Of course there was another reason to travel to Chichester yesterday and that was to catch How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying before it ended. It is a very silly show although one could get some career guidance out of the central message that a little bit of research and a lot of brown-nosing can get you anywhere if you play your cards right. The show was a lot of fun and well staged in the Chichester Festival Theatre. It is a very funny show and despite some of the stereotyping and sexual innuendo (or perhaps because of it) it still holds up well. Some songs such as "A Secretary Is Not A Toy" had difficulty being accepted by the mild-mannered Chichester audiences. They were much more comfortable with the standard from the show (I don’t think there is more than one) "I believe in you". The little old folk beside me at the back row were humming away to that one (a pity they were drowning out th
Overheard on East Street Chichester Slapper (on mobile) : Now John I won't say she's using you, but John, but John no, no John but John... John... John...
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Scenes from Chichester Cathedral Monday 17:32 - The Cathedral has obvious influences from a variety of periods dating back to the Norman periods (and that is the bell tower on the left), but in the grounds amongst the old gravestones there were a few goths having a picnic and burning what looked to be a bible. Oh those crazy goths. They will try and smoke anything... 
Out and About: Chichester Heading on the train back to London (arriving at 1am) I can report that my holiday now entering week two has seen me leave London and take a day trip to Chichester. Yes I am getting out and about. Chichester is a lovely little town with Roman ruins and a cathedral - a lot like most little English towns when you think about it - although the Cathedral itself is a fantastic building with some very beautiful artwork, including a John Piper Tapestry. While shopping in the city centre I happened to notice that there were a lot of things that you could buy that had an Australian connection. Whether it was the wine or the rock salt in a kitchen store, I kept encountering Australiana. What was going on? I am not quite sure what Chichester is famous for nowadays... Apart from the Roman ruins and its summer festival it seemed to be its vast supplies of Australiana... I could even purchase a shopping bag with the words "Brisbane" on it... Hmm...
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Scenes from Tooting Common Sunday 15:27. The last day of the holidays and a sunny day so all the pink skin comes out... 
Dinner going back... Friday night I was invited back to Haringey which I had very fond memories of ( recalling my posts of October 2003 ) by M1 and M2. M1 and M2 had arrived at the house after I had left. M2 has just been evicted as he is too French for the house but I told him about my dastardly time I left the coke can out which provoked a full scale incident response so he should really treat this eviction as a badge of honour. Since I left I had noticed that the household had become vegetarian. Not by choice but the main tenants that hold sway had become vegetarian so that meant that no meat could be cooked in their presence. Well they were away on Friday evening so M1 and M2 had a very meaty pasta dish on the menu. It was delicious. And not a vegetarian in sight. Oh and the house still looks hideous and awful. I remember the Spanish landlord saying to me that I would have a hard time finding a place as nice as this... I had to bite my tongue at the time. A Soho strip club has mor
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Scenes from Kennington Tube Thursday 20:48 - Waiting for a southbound tube train... 
Theatre: Death of a Salesman Caught the 1999 Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman last night. Its been playing at the West End for a few months now and it was well worth going to see it. I had read the play at school, seen a film version of it, and perservered through an amateur production of it, but seeing this was something else. Brian Dennehy from the Broadway production was starring as Willy Loman (he also featured in such classic movies of the 1980s as Cocoon and Legal Eagles) but just as fantastic were the rest of the cast - especially Clare Higgins as the wife. Watching this play on stage you realise what an emotional wallop this gives you. It gradually builds and builds setting the scene in the first act, hinting at hope and an optimistic future along the way but by half way through the second act you can see Willy Loman's life unraveling into a horrible mess, and you watch him go all the way downhill. There were other little touches in this prod
I'm on holiday Things my friends and colleagues suggested I could do during September: Advertise my wares in the back of Boyz and QX Offer to do house cleaning... with or without clothes Visit more crap towns There was a theme emerging in their suggestions I noticed...
The Accidental Tourist I get a telephone call this afternoon informing me that my visa has come through. My tourist visa. And so my working life in the UK comes to a somewhat abrupt end from today. I was expecting it to come to an end at some point in the next few weeks, but I was expecting later rather than sooner. Oh well. Who says the civil service isn't efficient? What happens next is a little up to Dame Fortune and my ability to interview well, but in the meantime I can: Take my first holiday since December/January and my first holiday in several years lasting longer than a week. Explore the delights of Croydyn Catch up on all those galleries and museums that I have yet to get around to seeing... Well anyway... That's the plan...