Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash at Boom Boom Club (Feb 2023)

According to my limited records I first saw Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash at Boom Boom Club in Sutton back in 2015 and  I have seen them eight times altogether, three of those at Boom Boom Club. So it is no surprise that I saw them play there in February 2023.

A band that tours as much as Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash do likes to find a theme for each tour to make them seem a little different even if the set list is largely the same each time, and with good reason. Some of you may have guessed that this tour revisited Live Dates, Wishbone Ash's live album from 1973; apparently that is fifty years ago!

For me, the nice thing about this set list was that it included Pilgrim which they do not always play. It also includes other classics like Warrior and Throw Down The Sword, which they do.

There is not much else to say, Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash played their usual songs to their usual very high standard and everyone had a great time. I certainly did.

Bat out of Hell at Peacock Theatre

Just because I go to places like Glyndebourne does not mean that I avoid more overtly commercial shows and Bat out of Hell at a lot to recommend it. I bought, and liked, the album when it first came out and this production had the cache of the Sadler's Wells brand which implied some respectable dancing.

Peacock Theatre, Sadler's Wells' young mischievous sibling, is pretty well hidden on Kingsway and is one of those confusing theatres where you enter at ground level and go downstairs to the auditorium. In my case it was only as far down as Dress Circle Row A to Seat 30 for which I had paid £55 

Bat out of Hell is what is now called a Jukebox Musical in that the songs are all popular songs put into a musical rather than songs written specifically for that musical; they story is built around the songs.

Obviously that restricts the story but Bat out of Hell does pretty well in crafting a story out of bombastic lyrics. There is a fairly predictable boy meets girl from the other side of the tracks story at the centre and this is nicely enriched with another two love stories.

A consequence of having several leading characters is that the singing duties are spread fairly widely and that was a good thing as that provided some welcome variety and also they could all sing pretty well.

There was lots of pretty good dancing too. It was all ensemble dancing with a lot of different movement going on across the stage.

And then there were the songs. In some way going for such a limited source of material but it was a fair source and the production did a good job in spreading the more famous ones throughout the show, ending with a raucous rendition of "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" during which all the plot threads were neatly closed.

Bat out of Hell is still not really my sort of show but just once in a while it is good to see something light, exuberant and fun, and it certainly was.

Bell, Book and Candle at Theatre At The Tabard

This was my first visit to Theatre At The Tabard though, to be transparent, I had been to Tabard Theatre and Chiswick Playhouse several times and they are all the same venue.

Calling me there this time was Bell, Book and Candle, the 1950’s magical romantic comedy that inspired the TV series Bewitched. It was an easy sell and I gladly stumped up £19.5 for regular seat A5.

The theatre is, unsurprisingly, above The Tabard pub and I went there fist for some food and a beer. It is always nice to have a reliable source of food and drink close to a regular theatre.

Bell, Book and Candle very much did what it says on the tin which was very much what I was hoping for. It set the scene for Bewitched though it was not quite a prequel because the situation and the names (e.g. Samantha was Gillian) were different though the basic premise of a human man getting entwined with a cute and playful witch was the same.

That cute witch was played by Beth Burrows superbly and her performance ensured the success of the show.

Gillian was the heart of the story which was about her, a powerful witch from a witch family, falling for a human and coming to terms with the consequences of that with, and without, the help of her aunt and brother. The story was told from her perspective, not his, and was the better for being that way round.

The humour was all very gentle and all a natural part of the story, there were no magical slapstick moments added on gratuitously. There were a few nice special effects too just to remind us that we were in the presence of witches.

Anyone who liked Bewitched will like Bell, Book and Candle, and other people will too.

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) at Richmond Theatre (again)

This was only the second time that I had seen the same show twice in a week and the first time that the performance was identical.

I had seen a collection of Philip Ridley monologues at Southwark Playhouse twice but then the two actors had alternated the pieces they performed and I went twice to see both versions of the show.

This time, as I only booked it a few days previously (after seeing it the first time), I was back in Dress Circle Row G where seat 22 cost me £28.5, which felt a little cheap for a show of this quality.

I did not have anyone exceptionally tall in front of me and the view was absolutely fine. Normally I am in Row A but it was reassuring to learn that the other rows are acceptable when needed.

The richness and cleverness of Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) was such that I enjoyed the second performance even more than the first, and that had been exceptional.

Knowing the structure of the play I was able to concentrate more on both the humour and the drama and the second time around it was both funnier and sadder, in all the right places.

Kew Orchids (18 Feb 23)

I made my second visit to Kew Gardens 2023 less than two weeks after the first. My excuse this time was that I had a visitor to take but no excuse was really necessary.

Knowing what to expect I was able to spend my time looking more closely at some of the things I had passed more quickly the first time and to take time to compose a passable photograph of one of the giraffes.

Of course the orchids were the point of the visit and, again, it was the variety of their shapes and colours that delighted me.

  

We also made a quick visit to Shirley Sherwood Gallery to see the extraordinary When Flowers Dream exhibition by Tanya Schultz. It was just as weird as it looks in the picture below and was well worth seeing because of that.

 

Macbeth at The Cockpit

I was looking for a play to take my sister to on one of her visits up from Dorset and most of my more visited theatres either had things that I did not want to see on or I did want to see them so I had already booked for another day. The Cockpit is on my list of regularly visited places and when I saw that they were doing Macbeth the deal was done, who does not like the Scottish Play?!

It also set the foundation for the afternoon and evening which started with a walk around Bedford Park in Chiswick (we broke the journey in to London at Turnham Green station) and was followed by a curry at Lahori Church Street, just across the road from the theatre.

As usual I had done limited (at best) research beforehand so it was a surprise to find that the cast was all female, which was the second time that week following on from Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of).

The play otherwise was actually more conventional that I suspected. It ran for just over two hours so if it was abridged at all then it was minor.

Knowing the story of Macbeth fairly well helped as, due to being set during continuous wars, most of the actors wore battle fatigues (Lady Macbeth was the prominent exception) which made them a little hard to tell apart; Banquo was the one with red hair.

These were actors in training so some allowance could be made but apart from one who spoke a little too quickly at times for my taste I had no problems with their performances and was fairly impressed overall. And I remembered that there was a production of King Lear at National Theatre where some of the actors were very hard to understand.

The production of Macbeth thrived on the gruesome story and Shakespeare's poetic language, which were enough, but it lacked the depth of other productions, which is not surprising.

I enjoyed this Macbeth and though my sister was less enthused it was still a good night out.

Cowpuncher My Ass at Royal Festival Hall

Cowpuncher My Ass is not the sort of show that I would normally consider seeing but my account with Southbank Centre has a lot of credit on it that I need to spend. It is modern dance and I do not see enough of that (mostly through lack of opportunity) so I willingly parted with £40 for seat  J31 in the stalls.

I was quickly reminded why I normally avoid stalls seats as the young man directly in front of me was tall enough to interrupt my view of the stage. Luckily it is a wide stage and the visual interruption while undesired was not not catastrophic. Likewise the nearby audience members  checking their phones, chatting and playing with drink bottles. I have had much worse experiences.

The show itself was much less weird than I expected but that is probably more a reflection on my tastes in modern dance than it is on the show.

Most of the dancers were on the stage most of the time and they were mostly doing different things so there was always a choice of what to look at. 

The costumes, each was different, very much helped with the visuals and knowing they were by Andreas Kronthalera, Vivienne Westwood's widow, you can guess what they were like. The poster helps too.

The music was composed my Mica Levi, not a name I knew but the style was similar to some of the Bang on a Can composers I do know, such as Michael Gordon.

The music was loud and the choreography by Holly Blakey was exuberant and expressive with lots of movement which made it a fun to watch. However, it also lacked something to make it rise above mere (?) entertainment. As one review I read put it "f you’re a creative but not primarily in dance, I think most would consider it the dog’s bollocks. But if you’re a dance aficionado, it’s probably a bit tiresome".

I am glad that I was almost forced into seeing Cowpuncher My Ass at Royal Festival Hall and as it was effectively free I can have no complaints over an entertaining 75 minutes.

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) at Richmond Theatre

I go to most things at Richmond Theatre so I booked to see Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) despite misgiving that it might be a lightweight farce, which the poster rather suggests, and I took advantage of my ATG Card to book my usual seat, Dress Circle A25, for £28. 

At that price I can afford to make mistakes.

This was not a mistake, far from it. I'll try and explain why, but first the basics. 

This is the Pride and Prejudice story set historically but with a few modern updates, like some swearing and a packet of Frosties, and the story is told by five young actresses who play all the parts wearing distinctive outfits for each role. 

There is also some music thrown in but this is not a musical and the songs are there to emphasise some of the more dramatic moment.

Finally it is absolutely packed with humour. A lot of this comes from the acting with, for example, exaggerated expressions, and some from the staging, such as one of the Bennet daughters grabbing the whole tray of drinks when offered just one. There are just very small examples and the play is ridiculously rich in little humours things so I was always smiling or laughing.

Well, that is not quite true, as Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) also played the romantic moments very well and while Big Boy's Don't Cry, I almost did.

The show was brilliantly crafted. The script kept to the well known story and a lot of the original dialogue while enriching it with many little details as well as one additional love story. The staging was clever with frequent costume and prop changes all completed smoothly. Making it all work was the truly superb cast and it is a scandal that I cannot tell you who they are, the in-theatre publicity did not give their names and the production's website, https://prideandprejudicesortof.com/cast-creatives, shows a touring cast of seven and I am not certain which five were on stage. That said, Dannie Harris was my stand-out, in a very close contest, with her portrayal of both Mrs Bennet and Mr Darcy.

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) was an exceptional show and one of the best that I have ever seen. I enjoyed it so much that I quickly booked to see it again on Saturday.

Memento at The Cavern

Various factors, including the impact of covid-19 and the gentrification of some pubs, have led to be going to vastly fewer pub gigs than I used to and now the only place I go to regularly (but not frequently) is The Cavern in Raynes Park. It's about 6km away so it is a decent walk to get there and a couple of buses to get back so it has to be a good band to drag me out that far.

Memento are a very good band. I've known this since April 2016 and I have taken every available opportunity to see them since then.

While other pub bands have very good musicians and include keyboards, two things make Memento exceptional; the lead singer and the setlist. Almost all other pub bands have an average (at best) singer and play the same rock standards, like Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon.

One song helps to make my point. The band started playing and before the song was recognised this was clearly a Black Sabbath number because Memento sounded just like them. Then comes recognition and it is not an obvious song, like Paranoid or Iron Man, but it is Heaven and Hell from the 1980 album of the same name. That incarnation of Black Sabbath had Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals (for the first time) and Memento's front-man, Tamas Csemez, does Dio very well.

I was also impressed by Tamas' t-shirt which I guessed was John Byrne's cover for X-Men issue 122. I was wrong, it is actually issue 125 (September 1979).

Memento really are an exceptional band and there is only one other band on the circuit that comes anywhere close to them, and that is Rainbow in Rock which is the same people with a different setlist.

Kew Orchids (6 Feb 23)

I have been going to Kew Orchids for several years and for good reasons. I go to Kew Gardens regularly anyway because I have annual membership, it costs nothing additional to go to Kew Orchids (though a timed ticket is needed) and it is always very worth seeing.

Kew Orchids has changed a little in recent years, perhaps in response to covid-19 perhaps because of cost-cutting and perhaps a little of both, and there are now fewer orchids on display and the route through them is more regimented.

This may sound like it has become a lesser event but I would compare it to, say, Chelsea Flower Show where you have walls of flowers on display in the marque and gardens outside and Kew Orchids has moved from the large displays to embedding the orchids more into the rest of the glasshouse. I guess it is a question of preferences and I like the new approach.

Besides, it is still free so fewer orchids is still excellent value for money!

 

There are several major displays still and, as always, there is one in the pond soon after entering the glasshouse. The lion is magnificent and it is joined by some other animals in the pond.

 

The leopard is magnificent too. Animal models are a feature of Kew Orchids and they help to put the orchids into context, this year that context is Cameroon.

 

Of course there are still plenty of orchids to see and I have chosen just a couple of examples from the many photographs that I took to show their diversity of colour and patterning.

 

And, of course, I like to include some of the glasshouse in the background if I can because I love the architecture of it and the contrast between its straight lines and the curvaceous plants.

 

There was something unusual and unexpected at the end of the route with a few displays like this based on Cameroonian culture. Unusual and unexpected was a good way to end a lovely trail.

Noughts & Crosses at Rose Theatre

I like what Rose Theatre are doing at the moment. After several years of going for established plays with safe productions and often a famous actor, with mixed results, the programme is more unusual and more interesting.

Noughts & Crosses was an example of this. I understood it had been on TV but that was all I knew before booking it. As usual I went for a seat in row J and J41 cost a modest £25 thanks to a significant Senior Citizen Concession.

I may have made a mistake in picking a matinee performance, expecting only retired people to be there, as the place was full with several large groups of school children, we even had to wait a few minutes for one group to arrive and pile into the Circle.

 

Noughts & Crosses was, as the name suggests an Us and Them story with a forbidden love across the divide. While that obviously has strong echoes of Romeo and Juliet here the emphasis was more on the divide than on the love.

The Crosses (elite) were cast as black and the Noughts (oppressed) as white though I am so used to colour-blind casting that I took this as a co-incidence at first and though more of the obvious class divide between the two groups.

The story was very political, which is why I assume the school children were there, and we shared time with militant freedom fighters (or terrorists, depending on your viewpoint) and with the authoritarian (or  people's protector) Home Secretary.

There was a lot going on within the play with politics at the macro level, a love affair at the micro level and family dynamics somewhere in the middle.

Sadly the school children were mostly interested in the love story and there were distracting shrieks when they kissed. Luckily there was not too much of this and the while the school children fidgeted and whispered they never quite became annoying.

The production was nicely done with constant set changes executed smoothly, several of the cast playing more than one role, news stories shown on TVs, and the two families in two places on stage at the same time. It all worked rather neatly.

The ending was a little corny but it worked in that it did not end the story but left plenty of room for discussion on what could happen next, something for all those school children to get their teeth into.

Noughts & Crosses was very satisfying theatre.