Office Banter

Colleague (offering a mint): Paul, do you like soft mints?
Paul: I like them soft, I like them hard, but my favourites are curiously strong...

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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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Coloured lights: Giffords Circus at Chiswick House and Gardens

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Giffords Circus tours England annually and has arrived in Chiswick for the next week with its current show, Waterfield. Some circuses nowadays are stripped-down affairs focusing on a few circus elements or minimising costumes. In contrast, this show takes the old-time circus and gives it a modern twist. There’s wonder and whimsy, incredible costumes and staging, plus some spectacular acrobatic acts. The show is set to music performed by a live band, with an eclectic set of songs sung by Jenna Dearness-Dark. It feels both familiar and new at the same time. Animals are part of the performance, including a goose that spreads its wings on command. What’s not to like? The show is simply irresistible.  The mood is set as you arrive. After passing under the A4 and entering Chiswick House and Garden via a nondescript car park, you are instantly transported. The dystopian, traffic-clogged London suburb becomes another time and place. Reddish circus wagons ring a large tent. Music plays. A c...
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Opera and full frontal nudity: Rigoletto

David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understand...
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