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The agony and the misogyny: Banging Denmark @finborough

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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
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Theatre: Bette Bourne and Mark Ravenhill

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I finally managed to catch Bette Bourne and Mark Ravenhill: A Life in Three Acts at the Soho Theatre on Friday night before it finished its run this weekend. It is part reading, part conversation, part cheap laughs, part oral history of the gay liberation movement in London and (on Friday night at least), part watching members of the audience get up and go to the toilet and watching Ravenhill give his death stare at them when the returned. Maybe it was the wind chill and happy hour at the bar that kept sending so many people out of the theatre... None of them were particularly light on their feet either. Still, this is a great night out and here's hoping this isn't the last time this is seen. Bourne who is now 70 and living in a housing estate in Notting Hill has loads of stories to tell. Over his years he performed at the Old Vic, set up a squat with drag queens and appeared on the BBC. He also found particular fame in the gay community with his cabaret troupe, Bloolips . The
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Music: Oklahomo

It's hard not to like a show that is under ninety minutes but Far From Kansas from the London Gay Men's Chorus was doing another encore performance of last year's Edinburgh Fringe Fest show, Oklahomo. Fine singing and gingham shirts abounded... Sometimes even in the audience. They take the show shortly to Dublin... Listen! via AudioBoo Posted via web from paulinlondon's posterous
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Theatre: Ghosts

The last play I saw in the Duchess Theatre was about cottaging with Sir John Gielgud , and now I was there watching a play about syphilis. It is enough to make you wonder about what you might pick up from going out to the theatre. Fortunately this time around at the Duchess Theatre the play was Ibsen's Ghosts . Ghosts tells the story of a woman whose husband was a bit of a dirty man and died early, and how she has to deal with her son going the same way thanks to congenital syphilis. Meanwhile to put all this behind her she has decided to open an orphanage on her property. That all seems fairly straight forward but I couldn't help but think that this once-scandalous play seemed a bit of a mild affair. The characters seemed as irritated with the weather as the sexual depravity so it was a bit hard to put it all in perspective. Still it is entertaining enough an evening to watch Lesley Sharp and Iain Glen spar about virtuous and noble lives. And the simple set is lovely to look
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Scenes from Bank Tube Station Stairwell

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IMG_1506 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . I think it was chicken, not human...
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Scenes from a bar wall in Covent Garden

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IMG_1505 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Now there's a date for the diary...
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Seven observations on Megan Mullally's First Night in London

Not counting the West End Whingers and friends, the audience for Megan Mullally and Supreme Music Program appears to be a mix of gay men and their mothers. And lesbians. Some lesbians even brought banners to unfurl during an opportune moment. Here's hoping this is a new trend in the West End for lesbians with banners amongst the audience, particularly if they help performers feel less nervous... When she sings George Jone's The Grand Tour , a song about a man who finds his wife has left him and taken their child, it brought the house down. She sings the song from the point of view of the man, as originally written which went down well with the audience... It's not really lesbian music , but it could be. The band sounds great and the choice of music is refreshing with a mix that isn't old standards or songs from shows she has been in... The show promotes her Will and Grace fame to get the punters through the door, and then delivers an evening of great and lacklustre
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Movies: A Single Man

Some movies just linger in the mind a few days after seeing them. The none-too-subtle use of colour, period setting and innuendo in Tom Ford's A Single Man is one of these. Watching a movie set in 1962 in a the Chelsea Cinema , which has kept its retro 1973 interiors largely intact, also aided with the atmosphere. It's as if you could be part of the film, living in Colin Firth 's lovely glass house thinking about topping yourself. Well who knew that suicide could be so stylish and sophisticated? It was hard to believe anybody in this film could be suffering in any way given they wore such lovely Tom Ford clothes and had such tight skin pores, but if you suspend disbelief about the story and go along for the lesson in style, it is a trip worth taking. Have made a mental note I need a facial though...
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Music: Intermission at Megan Mullally

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
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