Posts

Featured Post

The agony and the misogyny: Banging Denmark @finborough

Image
Banging Denmark, the comic play by Van Badham, answers the question, what lengths does a misogynistic pickup artist go to date with a frosty Danish librarian? It may be an uneasy farce given the subject matter, but it is made more palatable by the cast assembled to convince you of it. It's currently having its European premiere at the Finborough Theatre .  It opens with Guy DeWitt (Tom Kay) at one end of the stage. His real name is Jake, and he's a part-time podcaster whose expertise is misogyny and playing the role of the pickup artist. That is, someone who attempts to coax women into having sex with a mix of flattery or manipulation. His podcast attracts a variety of involuntarily celibate men (or incels), so call in asking for advice. And while he gives the impression of living the high life, he is in a grimy flat strewn with empty pizza boxes.  At the other end of the stage is feminist academic Ishtar (Rebecca Blackstone). She lives out of the photocopy room, losing all her

Overheard at the gym Monday

Man: You know she doesn't cook... I cook... She doesn't clean... I clean... It's like I'm living with a bloke...

Idle Sunday Bar Banter...

Grant (coughing and choking): I need burping, what is that thing they give to babies? Paul: Breast milk?

Theatre: Make Me A Song

Image
All I'm asking for is a tune Something itchy to tap my toes to Something that in late afternoon Makes high strung boys collapse... (Make Me A Song - William Finn) I have been familiar with the music of William Finn for a little over five years now... This is not long for a groupie, but after seeing a performance of Falsettos with the opening number "Four Jews In A Room Bitching" I knew his music was going to be my cup of tea. While the subject matter (brain tumours, Bar Mitzvahs etc) I am not always able to relate to, the themes, issues and the humour his work explores I have loved. And since my Falsettos moment, I have made a point of finding the rest of his music. This has led to me laughing out loud on the tube (always a good way to get labelled a freak) listening to Infinite Joy and relishing the chance of being a disciplined non-hammy speller on Broadway . But the fact that his music hasn't really had a decent showing in London has always bothered me. Perhaps i

Movies: There Will Be Blood

Image
there-will-be-blood , originally uploaded by Daniela Tropical . Just before I saw There Will Be Blood last Thursday, I had a conversation with a friend about him doing the right thing and dumping some guy he had been dating by telling him after dinner. He didn't take it too well, and my friend was a bit upset that he had "done the right thing" and it still didn't work out too well. I figured whether you say it with dinner or say it with a brick through the window it is still the same news. I suggested it would have been better just to cut him off and ignore him. Well that suggestion didn't go down to well. But it was a relief after watching this film to see that there were far bigger ass holes out there... Such as the character played by Daniel Day Lewis. It is nice to see such a cynical, jaded set of characters on one screen. None of the characters are doing anything unless there is something in it for them. While that may not seem like the best way to sp

Even hotter news this week in London

Image
What's The World Coming To? , originally uploaded by Ronald Hackston . Well it is hard to get a pair of kitten heels in SW16 ...

Hot news this week in London...

Image
, originally uploaded by wickedrob . Well... For some it was the most action they had in bed in ages... I was up and didn't feel a thing...

Theatre: Major Barbara

Image
After dealing with a head cold for the last few days, the offer to see the first night preview of Major Barbara at the National Theatre with the West End Whingers seemed like a sensible enough diversion. Well... Any excuse for a trip to the theatre for those bloggers of stage... I was wondering whether the usual drinking and carrying on at interval would be so appropriate with the play featuring the Salvation Army, but nobody else shared this view. I also had a theory that the audience would be full of Salvation Army members. This turned out to be incorrect too. Instead the audience was full of was old people (and bloggers perhaps) and it felt like it was pension day. Old people audiences are great as they laugh at all the right spots and generally don't talk. But they do smell of moth balls and forget to turn their mobiles off. I noticed one old girl in the row in front of me also preferred to read Bernard Shaw's text from a scrappy paperback rather than see it. Some of thes

Overheard on the Victoria Line Monday evening

French woman: My country is so beeeg Woman: Yes, it is.