Scenes from Tooting Common Tuesday 11:46. One of those fine crisp autumn days...  Posted by Picasa

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Bare emotions: Gods and Monsters @swkplay

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Gods and Monsters , now playing at the Southwark Playhouse is a showcase of incredible performances from its terrific cast and an engaging story. Oh and there is a bit of full frontal nudity too. Based on the novel Father of Frankenstein (which was also the source material for the film of the same name ), the story is a blend of fact and fiction. Age, memory, fame, youth and loss collide in the story of the last few months in the life of English director James Whale. Whale director and creator of the first two Frankenstein films, had a moderately successful career in Hollywood which enabled him to live comfortably in Los Angeles. He was also openly gay. But following a series of strokes in his sixties, he lost his ability to prevent painful memories from his past flooding back. And without giving too much away, his most successful creation, the monster in Frankenstein, seems to become something far more personal.
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The Green, Green Grass: Green, Wild Elderflower at Riverside Studios

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In the search for dreams and a better life, the grass (or maybe the elderflower, which is popular in Polish cuisine) may look greener on the other side. But the lure and the pull of home, be they tomato soup (a staple comfort food in Poland) or Polish dumplings (known as pierogi), remain. These are the themes in this funny and charming chamber musical, Green, Wild Elderflower (Szalony, Zielony Bez). Using the songs and stories of legendary Polish songwriter Agnieszka Osiecka, it tells a story of migration and disillusionment. And as a citizen of the world (or at least three countries), it’s a tale that will feel familiar even if you aren’t familiar with Polish (or their pierogi). It’s currently having a short run at Riverside Studios .  Three performers, Mateusz Mirek, Elwira Rejnowicz, and Michał Nowak, share the role of a restless woman from Warsaw in search of freedom, dreaming of being anywhere but in Warsaw. But through trial, tribulation and lots of sexual escapades, it doesn...
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Fantasies: Afterglow @Swkplay

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Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue .   Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple.  The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial ...
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