The play's the thing...
Mar. 27th, 2017 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amberdreams24-25th March shenanigans
I should have got a later train really. I arrived in London about 11am. Went for a walk around Petticoat lane market (unimpressive) and Spittalfields, which is like a mini Covent Garden. Ate at Pizza Express then found a message from Renate saying she'd managed to check into the hotel online, so I could have gone over there earlier and had a rest. I then walked from Liverpool Street to Tower Bridge, over the river and eventually found the Tower Bridge Premier Inn - only to find I should have been at London Bridge instead! So I walked along Tooley Street and what felt like miles down the very busy and unattractive road to the right hotel.
I did have time for a half hour sit down before tubing it to meet up with
beelikej at Choccywockydoodah. The cafe part was a fun setting but the cake wasn't that exciting, though J enjoyed her massive chocolate milkshake and salted caramel brownie. With gusto. We then had to go to Liberty's for more chocolate (out of stock) - wow that was expensive stuff! From there we walked to the House of Minalima, who is one of the main designers for the Harry Potter films. It's a shop downstairs but has three floors of exhibitions of the originals- posters, book covers and suchlike. Plus they had some cases with props from the films too. It was interesting and all free, and the staff were clearly enthusiasts too, which was nice.
By the time we'd finished there we were knackered, so we went to a pub for a drink, sit down and something to eat before the play. It was quite pleasant in spite of the noise (Friday early evening after work crowd). I had chips! We chatted until 6:30, then wandered over to the Wyndham to collect J's ticket. It turned out to be a good move to arrive so early as there was no queue for the toilets and we could do down to the bar to wait.
We were in the Grand Circle, I was on the front row near the side,beelikej the row behind but more central. The play was so much fun! David Tennant and Adrian Scarborough, who played Don Juan's sidekick, Stan, were so good together. They had real chemistry and the script was witty and full off little references to Dr Who, Donald Trump...and yes, it was also bawdy! Or as the warning sign at the ticket office had said - "lewd with bad language"!
There were some lovely turns of phrase that of course I can't remember - except one - Stan warning the brother that Don Juan would fuck anything, even the hole in the ozone layer! I might just have to appropriate that one... It was certainly a high-energy performance from David – loads of leaping about, including one very high, two-footed jump up onto a sofa end. Very impressive.
We lingered outside by the well-organised stage door with the same Irish security guy who sorted us out when I got Sir Ian McKellen’s autograph. J and Renate got some great photos when David came out, and I managed to get an autograph in spite of the woman who chose that moment to push her way out of the crowd, pushing my arm back at the same time David was trying to sign my programme. Somehow or other he managed to follow the page and the signature doesn’t look too bad!
So mission accomplished, and on the Saturday I had a lazy morning before heading out to Mother Mash to meetbeelikej again. After a very filling goat’s cheese and butternut squash pie with cheesy whole-grain mustard mash AND apple crumble and custard, it was a wonder I could move, and not that surprising I nearly dozed off in the matinee of Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead. Which was excellent fun. Both the leads were really good – Daniel Radcliffe and Josh McGuire – and David Haig (the guy who played the leader of the troupe of players) was also excellent. No autographs this time, apparently they only do the stage door in the evenings, plus they strictly enforce a ticket only policy, so you can only get selfies etc if you actually went to see the play, which is rather nice. beelikej was going to see the play in the evening, so hopefully she enjoyed it as much as I did!
Oh and apparently on Thursday evening, at Andrew Scott’s Hamlet, there was a bit of a star-studded audience. Ian McKellen, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller and someone else who I’ve forgotten were all there watching – my friend Renate was there that night. I don’t think there was anyone of note at the performance on Wednesday when I saw it, sadly. That might have livened it up a bit. That was the weakest of the three plays I went to last week – I felt they were trying a little too hard to do something different. Ok but not that memorable.
I feel a bit strange not having another play to go to after three in a week!
I should have got a later train really. I arrived in London about 11am. Went for a walk around Petticoat lane market (unimpressive) and Spittalfields, which is like a mini Covent Garden. Ate at Pizza Express then found a message from Renate saying she'd managed to check into the hotel online, so I could have gone over there earlier and had a rest. I then walked from Liverpool Street to Tower Bridge, over the river and eventually found the Tower Bridge Premier Inn - only to find I should have been at London Bridge instead! So I walked along Tooley Street and what felt like miles down the very busy and unattractive road to the right hotel.
I did have time for a half hour sit down before tubing it to meet up with
beelikej at Choccywockydoodah. The cafe part was a fun setting but the cake wasn't that exciting, though J enjoyed her massive chocolate milkshake and salted caramel brownie. With gusto. We then had to go to Liberty's for more chocolate (out of stock) - wow that was expensive stuff! From there we walked to the House of Minalima, who is one of the main designers for the Harry Potter films. It's a shop downstairs but has three floors of exhibitions of the originals- posters, book covers and suchlike. Plus they had some cases with props from the films too. It was interesting and all free, and the staff were clearly enthusiasts too, which was nice.By the time we'd finished there we were knackered, so we went to a pub for a drink, sit down and something to eat before the play. It was quite pleasant in spite of the noise (Friday early evening after work crowd). I had chips! We chatted until 6:30, then wandered over to the Wyndham to collect J's ticket. It turned out to be a good move to arrive so early as there was no queue for the toilets and we could do down to the bar to wait.
We were in the Grand Circle, I was on the front row near the side,
beelikej the row behind but more central. The play was so much fun! David Tennant and Adrian Scarborough, who played Don Juan's sidekick, Stan, were so good together. They had real chemistry and the script was witty and full off little references to Dr Who, Donald Trump...and yes, it was also bawdy! Or as the warning sign at the ticket office had said - "lewd with bad language"!There were some lovely turns of phrase that of course I can't remember - except one - Stan warning the brother that Don Juan would fuck anything, even the hole in the ozone layer! I might just have to appropriate that one... It was certainly a high-energy performance from David – loads of leaping about, including one very high, two-footed jump up onto a sofa end. Very impressive.
We lingered outside by the well-organised stage door with the same Irish security guy who sorted us out when I got Sir Ian McKellen’s autograph. J and Renate got some great photos when David came out, and I managed to get an autograph in spite of the woman who chose that moment to push her way out of the crowd, pushing my arm back at the same time David was trying to sign my programme. Somehow or other he managed to follow the page and the signature doesn’t look too bad!
So mission accomplished, and on the Saturday I had a lazy morning before heading out to Mother Mash to meet
beelikej again. After a very filling goat’s cheese and butternut squash pie with cheesy whole-grain mustard mash AND apple crumble and custard, it was a wonder I could move, and not that surprising I nearly dozed off in the matinee of Rosencranz and Guildenstern are Dead. Which was excellent fun. Both the leads were really good – Daniel Radcliffe and Josh McGuire – and David Haig (the guy who played the leader of the troupe of players) was also excellent. No autographs this time, apparently they only do the stage door in the evenings, plus they strictly enforce a ticket only policy, so you can only get selfies etc if you actually went to see the play, which is rather nice. beelikej was going to see the play in the evening, so hopefully she enjoyed it as much as I did!Oh and apparently on Thursday evening, at Andrew Scott’s Hamlet, there was a bit of a star-studded audience. Ian McKellen, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller and someone else who I’ve forgotten were all there watching – my friend Renate was there that night. I don’t think there was anyone of note at the performance on Wednesday when I saw it, sadly. That might have livened it up a bit. That was the weakest of the three plays I went to last week – I felt they were trying a little too hard to do something different. Ok but not that memorable.
I feel a bit strange not having another play to go to after three in a week!
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Date: 2017-03-28 09:19 pm (UTC)