The Good Person of Szechwan at Lyric Hammersmith

I do not need much of an excuse to see something at Lyric Hammersmith and a play original written by Bertolt Brecht and brought up to date in an exciting way was more than good enough.

I was a little bit cautious with the booking and went for one of the cheaper seats Circle A1 for  £32. When two of you are going to the theatre two or three times a week then the costs can mount up and the state pension is not a great deal of help.

We had seen Al Murray in the afternoon in Chiswick and walked across to Hammersmith and had enough time to grab something to eat at La Petite Bretagne before running across the square to the theatre.

From the start it was obvious that this was a brash production thanks to a bright pink stage that sloped at the far end. On the stage was a paddling pool.

The brashness continued with flamboyant costumes, more weird props and actors sliding on to stage via the slope. In its mood, 

It reminded me a little of A Midsummer Night's Dream which I had also seen at Lyric Hammersmith (twice). A good sign.

Still obvious amongst the delightful chaos was the original Brecht story about goodness and the role of money in society. The serious story meshed well with the frivolous production to produce a show that was both highly entertaining and also intellectually stimulating.

greenfest West London

I went to greenfest in West London in 2008 just to see Instant Flight play but liked the rest of the festival so much that I decided to go back this year.

The weather was good and a lot of the territory between my home and Furnival Gardens is green space (Richmond Park, Barnes Common, etc.) so I decided to cycle there.

This did not start too well with a boy riding in to me in Richmond Park but no serious damage was done to either person or bike.

The next problem was overconfidence in knowing the route which led me to cross at Putney Bridge rather than the much more convenient Barnes Bridge. The plus side of this was that I could cycle along the North bank of the river back from Putney to Hammersmith, which I had never been to before.


There was music at greenfest again this year and while I had never heard of any of the artists that did not detract from the entertainment.

This is Rocket Number 9 doing their bit to get some of the crowd dancing and some of the crowd to listen appreciatively.

Furnival Gardens follows the river and so is a relatively long and a relatively thin park. This works well for a festival like this because there is good space for a stage and sitting area at one end, plenty of space in the middle for stalls and you can explore everything simply by walking the length of the park.


A path runs through the centre of the park and this was the occasional home to all sort of bicycle related contraptions, such as this one!

The stalls were clustered around the park so it was easy to visit a few together but there was also plenty of space between them to sit and relax.

Being a greenfest the stalls naturally had an ecological slant, which meant that they were all interesting!

I managed to collect an obligatory canvass shopping bag, securing tagging for my bike and information on a host of subjects from domestic solar heating through to car sharing schemes.

Bikes featured quite prominently and I liked some of the more unusual "people carriers" such as a fairly standard upright bike with two child seats, front and back. That would have been useful about sixteen years ago!

It was also good to see plenty of things for children to do and many were occupied making and drawing things throughout the park.


The ecological stuff is good and worthy but the proof of the fun pudding is in the eating and it was clear that, wherever you looked in the park, that it was busy with happy people.

The organisers are to be seriously congratulated for delivering another successful festival which, sadly, makes the comparison with Kingston's abandoned Green Fair all the sadder.

I met two of the organisers last year and I was delighted to bump in to both of them again this year, though I had to put a bit of hard work in to manage the bump with John Griffiths, the co-ordinator of organising group.

We are Facebook friends so the next bump should be easier to arrange. As should the ride there next year.

Memories of a free festival

Greenfest 2008 was a jolly event in a pleasant location, Furnivall Gardens by the river in Hammersmith. There was a wide range of stalls on environmentally friendly living, including cycling, yoga, recycling, vegetarian and vegan food, public transport and improvements along the Thames.

I had a good time looking at the various stalls and came away with a cloth shopping bag, shoelaces, a CD and several leaflets. Sadly I did not win the raffle for the folding bike.

But the real reason that I went to Greenfest was to see Instant Flight play.

I saw Instant Flight play with Arthur Brown a couple of years ago and liked their late sixties psychedelic vibe. At times they sounded a bit like early Pink Floyd (e.g. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun), which is no bad thing. The prominent keyboard also suggested Keith Emerson in her playing style; another positive.

The layout of the temporary stage meant that you could get very close to the band as they played and could also walk behind them. I took the opportunity to get up close several times and it was fascinating to watch, for example, the keyboards being played from a distance of about 1m.

A good crowd, more than you get at pub gigs, sat around on the grass to enjoy them play for about an hour. A few brave souls even danced but the less said about that the better! Instant Flight were a little troubled by feedback but that did little to spoil what was an excellent set played with obvious enthusiasm, despite having flown back from Paris that morning.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and I shall be eating more Instant Flight from now on, starting with their CD which I have just ordered.