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Same but indifferent: Laughing Boy @JStheatre

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Stephen Unwin's Laughing Boy, adapted for the stage from Sara Ryan's Justice for Laughing Boy, is a powerful and moving story about a mother and a family that keeps asking questions despite the victimisation and harassment from the institution - the NHS - that was supposed to protect her son. It's a moving, celebratory account of a life cut short due to indifference held together by a remarkable performance by Janie Dee as Sara. It's currently playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre .  Sara's son, Connor, is a little different to others. He is fascinated by buses and doesn't like things like loud noises. But as he becomes an adult, his seizures and unexpected outbursts mean the family turn to their local NHS for support. Little did they realise they would receive such little care from a service that was institutionally incompetent and covered up thousands of unexplained deaths of people with disabilities, including Connor's. The search for answers about why he

Benefits of a tube strike

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, originally uploaded by Orhan* . 1. You can walk home while the weather is still good 2. Save money on travel fares 3. Excuse to get home early and watch the sultry Nigella flog Waitrose products on the BBC

News: Nobody's going anywhere

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Nobody's going anywhere , originally uploaded by thegareth . Unless you can take shanks's pony, the next few days are going to be a bit of a nightmare ... Until today I had no idea what shanks's pony was... I had to look it up... So there's a word for the day ...

Overheard from a family on cycles in the park...

Your seat looks really comfortable I don't know why you wanted to start the day cycling at 5pm I wanted to go out much earlier but everything's closed Aw come on mum...

Scenes from Kensington Palace Gates Saturday 18:42

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010920072370 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . That's the trouble with being the people's princess... The people can be a bit cheap and tacky with their memorials made out of cereal boxes, old newspapers and ball-point pens... Ten years after dying in some car tunnel thanks to a pissed Frenchman, the display at Kensington Palace must be the most hilarious thing in town at the moment... Cheap, tacky and nasty... And that's just the women (of a certain age) there pushing and shoving you if you take too long to read the messages (or photograph them)... All that was missing was "Die Camilla die"! Don't miss it... Those ASDA flowers won't last the weekend...

Theatre (again): Little Me

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Source: http://www.nymt.org.uk In a packed week of theatre I also caught a youth theatre production of Little Me which actually was pretty good when you realise it was put together in under two weeks . The night I saw it the sound was a bit off and I couldn't help but wonder what drag queen they stole those wigs from. But Sarah Hagan was lovely as Belle Poitrine... As much as I was able to hear her...

Theatre: The Emperor Jones

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From http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ Tuesday night I had the chance to see The Emperor Jones at the National Theatre starring Paterson Joseph . The production originated at the Gate Theatre in 2005 and has been pumped up and given the usual National Theatre treatment such as loads of cast members on stage for no comprehensible reason, shirtless men, gigantic sets, and a large percussion orchestra. Most of the time that is enough to make a show enjoyable but this time I kind of wished I had seen the original production rather than this monster one. Sure the jungle beats were infectious (and so loud that nodding off even during a bit of a dull exposition was only temporary) and Joseph gives a great performance, but it all seemed like it could have benefited from remaining a bit smaller scale... The play is about a southern American conman Jones, who establishes a dictatorship in the West Indies, only to find himself facing a people's revolt. It made Eugene O'Neil famous. But

Scenes from Chinatown Sunday 18:20

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260820072286 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . One lady. One large package... Strangely in focus...

Scenes from a barbeque Saturday 18:06

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250820072271 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Bank holiday weekend barbeque conversation starters: Hey there is sun... That's new for summer... Is there normally this much smoke in coal-fired barbeque? Has the fire alarm gone off yet? How do you like my sausages? Are my meat patties brown enough for turning yet?

Theatre: Take Flight

It turned out to be the second time in about a month that I saw a show featuring Amelia Earhart. The first show was An Air Balloon over Antarctica that I saw in Melbourne and which is now getting fabulous reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe . I thought that show was a bit crap with very uninteresting characters, but that just goes to show how much I know... Anyway this show is a musical about flying planes featuring the Wright brothers, Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. It is having its world premiere at the Menier Chocolate Factory but it has been in development for a while . I guess songs about engine drag, staying awake and 3.14 squared just don't cut it with investors. It was and obscure choice for a musical but I'd heard word that the songs and the production were good, so I went and saw it with John . John was glad I wanted to see this as he couldn't think of anybody else who would. I was just glad he got there before me and grabbed a good seat since the seating is u

Overheard on Clapham High Street

Fat man on phone (walking into Tescos): Look I don't want excuses from you anymore I want results...