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No country for old women: Old Ladies - at Finborough Theatre

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The day after seeing The Old Ladies at the Finborough Theatre , I was describing the play to someone in great detail: about three old ladies who lived in a rickety house in southern England in 1935. Based on Hugh Walpole’s novel and adapted by Rodney Ackland, it is the sort of story with enough believability, humour and mild thriller to stick in your mind. Perhaps it is the lure of this dark, forboding tale of a life without money, to be alone and to be old, that makes you feel attracted to this poverty porn. But then again, given the state of the world, the cost of living, an ageing population, or just the fact that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, it might as well be an every little old lady-for-herself, too. It’s a well-acted and staged piece that moves at a brisk pace, so there isn’t much time to think about it too much. And in the intimate (or should that be claustrophobic?) space of the Finborough, there’s nowhere to avert your eyes. Even if you wanted to.  The scene is a grim Cathe...

News: Bicycling

Rabid cyclists are an everyday hazzard on London roads and footpaths. If they aren't trying to run you down while you're crossing the road, they are attempting to steal your mobile while you're talking on it and walking down Clapham High Street.

Now there is a plan to teach cyclists and drivers not to jump red lights... Next year there will be a plan to teach drivers that the green light thingy means it is safe to proceed... In the longer term there is a plan to teach drivers how to drive down a street without clipping the external mirrors on parked cars...

Of course silly cycle stories pale in comparison to the news of Steve Irwin's death, which promoted a flurry of tributes on websites including one on a BBC newsgroup which said, "He will be truly mist and never forgotten for his dangerous moves on camera with animals..." Crikey indeed...

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Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

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