Entertaining and short. No tits

Serious pic now added to my profile!

I've updated it now. But its out of order in the list

From the internet I now know Succour means "give assistance or aid to" however my spell checker is convinced I am trying to write soccer.

Real Greek beforehand for pork belly and flat break was awesome. Melanie was ill so there were only three of us. Upgraded seats as well which was a bonus. The play/musical was really entertaining. Our Ladies of … is somewhere between history boys, St Trinians and trainspotting. The girls choir group are on a day out in the big city (Edinburgh) for a recital and they spend the day getting drunk and getting into trouble. Very upbeat and funny, thoroughly polished performance, best thing I’ve seen in a while.

Richard told me the comments were locked so I had to try it out.....

Two hours of Shakespeare with expressive dance. Walk out at the interval? I nearly didn't walk in... but it was actually quite good. Strange imagery. Weird jerky dancing. Strange gulf war costumes and plastic bagging. There was one point, when two dancers were wearing sheets over their heads with holes cut out, that I thought it was going to turn into a comedy. Although through all this I did really enjoy it. It would have been impossible to follow if you weren't familiar with Macbeth but thankfully we have sat through enough Shakespeare follow it even when its being acted out by 3 girls jerking around in tea coloured leotards. If this doesn't lead to a theatre club ban on Shakespeare nothing will.

The one about chess and a chaotic flashback play about making choices (like you do in chess). Short and snappy. Can't really remember much about the plot. Richard didn't make it because his staff rather let him down and didn't 'send a car'. Fancy leaving him to try to book a taxi on his own!

Wiltons Music Hall is amazing. The restoration is so good it feels like it has hardly been touched. The play was a bit lame but the venue saved it. Food was hot dogs from what I remember. Good beer too.

This was the one about Gareth Thomas. Anyone in the audience expecting play about the lad from x-factor with a stutter was to be sorely disappointed. Meal in a very nice restaurant nearby. Play was ok.

This one was cancelled as Angela put her back out!

Angela went to this in my place. Angela says it was "good".

Meal beforehand in famous fish and chip shop with a surly waitress but great fish and chips. It was funny when Richard looked horrified that Seal was on the menu. The chef was actually half way through writing Seabass. Play was good. Older lady and son were good. Old chap from ever decreasing circles was quite hammy. His accent kept going back to an english gent and he was just a bit awqward. Girl from the goonies was good, although the plot twist was a bit predictable. From the moment we knew the missing son was never found and his stuff found on a ship I thought something was up. Good seats - we were upgraded due to the tube strike! God rest Bob Crowe.

What odd comments from these spammers! They are right about the bad spelling though...is it rife.

These comments are all SPAM!

So this was a rare trip to the depths of south london. Lovely Portugese meal then to the lost theatre where we saw the play with the best twist that theatre club has ever seen. Hilarious.

This was so long ago I can't even remember where we eat beforehand. Posh was good. Enjoyed the silly toffs trying to outdo each other and it all ending in disaster. Bit depressing that this is probably how a lot of tories still spend there formative years. Can't remember much else. Special thanks to typepad for finally unlocking our account. Its been locked since August and I had to pretend to be Mel's assistant and she was about to fire me to get it unlocked.

Waiting for Godot. Some smart arse said its a play where nothing happens, twice. Pretty accurate.

Not bad from what I remember (which isn't very much)

Before I watch a play about bums I like to eat a decent pizza. And that’s what we had, eventually when ASK pizza finally brought out our order. Intercontinental is more of a cross between a documentary and a lecture about people who regularly sh*t themselves. There’s no place to hide, we were straight into a huge image of a sphincter projected onto the backdrop as we hear from a specialist doctor about what an extraordinary job your arse does. We hear personal stories from people who suffer from this awful condition, there are informative sections and all interjected with songs and dancing even a number where the bum doctor shouted things like anal tearing through a loudhailer over a weird electronic dance track. As weird as it sounds it kind of worked and was actually quite entertaining. Best line - "Welcome to Intercontinental airlines - on this flight you will find 28 toilets!". Brilliant, good brave choice Mel. Drinks after in a student bar round the corner weren’t so successful Were we that annoying when we were students? I doubt it.

Wonderful Tapas beforehand at El Parador. As usual a short sprint to the theatre to get there on time. The play is Birthday although we are not at the party we are listening in on the conversation of people who have escaped the party for a moment. There was good acting and and passable american accents. Not bad from what I remember. What I do remember is that this was the night that a few records fall. The fewest people in the Audience (14) and at 45 minutes this must be the shortest play we have ever seen. Good pick Richard, a new personal best ;-)

Dinner at the Rock and Sole, great fish and chips and well worth being charged 12 quid while sitting amongst the traffic. So War Horse - great reviews from a run at the national and moved to west end, advertised to death on the tube and Spielberg bought the film rights so it seemed about time we saw what the fuss was all about. It runs at three hours and it’s about a boy and his horse. If you've seen the one with the boy and the kestrel, or the boy and a rat called Ben you will be on the right track. The boy develops a strong bond with furry friend; they are parted, go through all sorts of trials and are inevitably reunited at the end. It’s based on a book which normally in a play means they go on too long (remember Jane Eyre!!) and this is the case here it just goes on way too long. It is very 'west end' - big music, big in scale, there were even bits of slo mo which were really cringing. Far too much trying to be like a slick film. We didn't get the full screen experience due to our cheap seats but it was still clear the puppetry was impressive. At first is seems a novelty but after a while the movement of the horses is so accurate that you forget all about the men inside. It’s really, really impressive, quite an art really but after a couple of hours the novelty wears off and you hope there isn't too long left. All told it was ok, bit like a cross between black beauty and Sooty and Sweep but I really can’t believe the stories I’ve heard about people blubbing to this – it’s really cheesy surely no-one could be moved to tears by the tale of a horse made mostly from broomsticks.

Wow, a three part monologue from three people affected by the Iraq war – a comedy perhaps? The first scene opened with the female soldier from Abu Ghraib captured on film grinning and giving the thumbs up as prisoners are humiliated behind her. Following the war she is back at home and in her familiar surroundings she tells a story not of regret or remorse but of patriotism and self righteousness. Indignant and angry that she has been condemned for carrying out acts which to her are justified in the circumstances. Next up is David Kelly, alone in the countryside with wrist slashed he evaluates his life for the last time. His meteoric rise to eminent expert and then overcome with power and pressure his downfall, but the laughs keep coming in the third part is an Iraqi mother tortured – her children killed at the hands of Saddam’s guards. It is all quite heavy stuff but through excellent writing and good acting it feels well weighted – not all woe and anguish at all, there are moments of levity and a real sense of life and human spirit prevailing. Each part revealed another aspect of how the events touched real people and how they dealt with it, in a manner that didn’t appear preachy or anti American for a change. The small theatre is tiny – around the back at the Arcola it isn’t the main stage and is very intimate – unfortunately its also down a long flight of stairs which wasn’t so easy for Richard with his newly broken ankle. Meal beforehand was the stone cave – meze platter was good as always but both me an Alice thought the falafel was a bit overdone and they tried to overcharge us for beer (well spotted eagle eye Mel).

The Gate theatre at Notting Hill is a new theatre for us, its right above the Prince Albert pub where we met for a lovely meal beforehand. Excellent food and a really nice theatre. 'How to be An Other Woman' is based on a short story (by Lorrie Moore) and follows the story of an affair in 80's New York. The music was electro pop, the acting by four women in black dressed playing all the parts was really interesting and I really enjoyed it. Its was brief and fast paced, had nice elements - specially the Mac being passed around all the acresses highlighting who was playing the main character. There were funny parts and the snow goggled swooshing across the stage was a highlight. Good choice.

I didn't see this so I can't comment but I did have a lovely meal at Tas on the cut. Maybe the Old Vic's creative direction is too pretentious(old and fussy) for the theatre clubs youthful pallette as we've seen a few plays there that got bad reviews.