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A Man For All Seasons: Seagull True Story - Marylebone Theatre

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It's not often that you see a play that tells you not so much a story but gives you a sense of how it feels to be in a situation, how it feels to be silenced, how it feels to be marginalised, how the dead hand of consensus stifles your creativity. However, in Seagull True Story, created and directed by Alexander Molochnikov and based on his own experiences fleeing Russia and trying to establish himself in New York, we have a chance to look beyond the headlines and understand how the war in Ukraine impacted a a group of ordinary creatives in Russia. And how the gradual smothering of freedom and freedom of expression becomes impossible to resist, except for the brave or the suicidal. Against the backdrop of Chekhov's The Seagull, which explores love and other forms of disappointment, it presents a gripping and enthralling depiction of freedom of expression in the face of adversity. After playing earlier this year in New York, it plays a limited run at the Marylebone Theatre . Fro...

Movies: Burn After Reading

Sunday evening I caught the Coen Brother's latest film Burn After Reading . For me it was a great film where cock-ups and sex rather than conspiracy drives the world. Some people leaving the Barbican afterwards were commenting that "it was just farce"... As if that should be a problem with the film... Well I guess these are serious times we are living in but they are also f***ed up enough as well to appreciate a laugh... Particularly when there is a potty mouthed John Malkovich on screen... Frances McDormand's attempts to get automated voice recognition service of her health insurer to understand her voice reminded me of my attempts to pay my EDF energy bill. In the end I gave up speaking the commands to it and made up my own less than complimentary ones. I always enjoy the parallels with real life. Of course the film wasn't all the real deal... She worked in a gym where all the instructors were over 40... What gym would ever do that???

Hot news this week in London

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Another inflated story , originally uploaded by tonypraxis . Well... Nobody is buying 'em... Nice fashion shoot in the background too...

Overheard at the gym Sunday

Man #1: But what about (whisper whisper)? Man #2: No that's beef bourguignon... Man #1: But then isn't that (whisper whisper)... Man #2: No that's stew and it's much more watery... Man #1: Oh I thought it was stringy...

Scenes from the British Museum Saturday

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Scenes from the British Museum Saturday , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Hmm... Nice golden ass ...

Saturday at the British Museum

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A little bit autumn... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous

Scenes from the back row rehearsal

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The last two weeks the LGMC has been rehearsing at a school at the Barbican which what it lacks for space to socialise it makes up for convenience of getting home afterwards... While we have been busy beavering away at rehearsals the shows have been selling well... So much so that there is now a Saturday matinee on sale now... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous

Irony in London

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Fitness First , originally uploaded by Sim Dawdler .

Scenes at the Serpentine

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Taking in Frank Gehry's pavilion on a rather sunny day that felt like summer's last gasp... This pavilion is Gehry's first project in England and it will open to the public for another week... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous