Paul in London

Amongst the gin and tonics and the noise we pass judgement on Tuesday night's performance... Listen! via AudioBoo Posted via web from paulinlondon's posterous

This week I finally caught up with Cat On A Hot Tin Roof that has been playing for a while. Directed by Debbie Allen , the all-black cast in Tenessee William's play about Brick, a man who is sexually ambivalent about his wife Maggie, while visiting his family estate in Mississippi. Given that Brick is played by Adrian Lester and the show opens with him taking a shower you could appreciate why she is a little frustrated by this scenario. The audience the night I saw it became a little frisky after this opening scene as well... It's not my favourite Tenessee William's play and there is way too much exposition and labouring on about Maggie being like a cat... On a tin roof... That was hot... It was hard to buy Lester as an alcoholic either mourning over the loss of his dead friend or on the down-low . More convincing was that he was pissed off rather than pissed with his moody looks and occasional throwing of his crutch ... Still it was an entertaining production, particula...

This week saw two trips to the Royal Opera to catch the final performances of The Rake's Progress , an opera by Stravinsky and directed by Robert Lepage and Dalston Songs , a song cycle written by Helen Chadwick . Stravinsky's Rake is inspired by the paintings by Hogarth , although the action here takes place on the west coast of America during the 1950s. It is a pity that it didn't take its modernisation a bit closer to the present day as then the tale of green might have had a bit more bite... As an opera it does tend to drag a bit (all that neoclassical window dressing), but what it lacks in focus and brevity it sure made up with the performances and the stunning production design. The moral of the story summed up very nicely in the epilogue was that the devil makes work for idle hands... Obviously for idle operas it doesn't matter so much when they look this good... Saturday night's performance of Dalston Songs was a different affair. There were no fancy set pie...

Extra sauce , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Asking for extra katsu curry sauce almost makes you forget that the chicken at Wagamama is dry and overcooked...

Coffee and sfogliatella from Princi... via Pixelpipe Posted via web from paulinlondon's posterous

It is a bit hard to work out why they have this sign outside of the Aberdeen Angus Steak House in Soho. Perhaps they now are selling tube steak. Then again, nothing like a bit of saucy humour to take your mind off what they pass for the menu... via Pixelpipe Posted via web from paulinlondon's posterous

Well... Found on the back of the door of the men's... Posted via email from paulinlondon's posterous