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The agony and the misogyny: Banging Denmark @finborough

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Banging Denmark, the comic play by Van Badham, answers the question, what lengths does a misogynistic pickup artist go to date with a frosty Danish librarian? It may be an uneasy farce given the subject matter, but it is made more palatable by the cast assembled to convince you of it. It's currently having its European premiere at the Finborough Theatre .  It opens with Guy DeWitt (Tom Kay) at one end of the stage. His real name is Jake, and he's a part-time podcaster whose expertise is misogyny and playing the role of the pickup artist. That is, someone who attempts to coax women into having sex with a mix of flattery or manipulation. His podcast attracts a variety of involuntarily celibate men (or incels), so call in asking for advice. And while he gives the impression of living the high life, he is in a grimy flat strewn with empty pizza boxes.  At the other end of the stage is feminist academic Ishtar (Rebecca Blackstone). She lives out of the photocopy room, losing all her
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 more style than this Edwardian Spanish whitewash outhouse in beautiful downtown Haringey...

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