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No country for old women: Old Ladies - at Finborough Theatre

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The day after seeing The Old Ladies at the Finborough Theatre , I was describing the play to someone in great detail: about three old ladies who lived in a rickety house in southern England in 1935. Based on Hugh Walpole’s novel and adapted by Rodney Ackland, it is the sort of story with enough believability, humour and mild thriller to stick in your mind. Perhaps it is the lure of this dark, forboding tale of a life without money, to be alone and to be old, that makes you feel attracted to this poverty porn. But then again, given the state of the world, the cost of living, an ageing population, or just the fact that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, it might as well be an every little old lady-for-herself, too. It’s a well-acted and staged piece that moves at a brisk pace, so there isn’t much time to think about it too much. And in the intimate (or should that be claustrophobic?) space of the Finborough, there’s nowhere to avert your eyes. Even if you wanted to.  The scene is a grim Cathe...
News: Bang! Bang! and Pussy Galore

Last night was a bit of an odd night really.

  • First a man gets attacked by a large black furry thing while he is looking for his kitty, and it is assumed that another 'Big cat' is on the loose in London
  • Then at Brixton Academy two shots were fired in the air during a rap concert causing a situation and stampede out the exits. Gun crime is a hot issue at the moment in Brixton so this sort of publicity was the last thing that was needed. Fortunately there were no injuries in all the kerfuffle, but the English language took a bit of a bruising with this music critic's account of the evening and the "spewing muzzle"... Bleah!


Life Miscellany

  • Ran into the old Australian flatmate from Haringey last night. It was one of those chance meetings that in such a big city you would never believe would happen, but hey Charing Cross can be like that! He has been on a six month holiday around the world and back in London to live and work. Updated him on where I live and what I am doing. He didn't seem surprised. But then again, he was around when all that nasty business cropped up in the heady days of October 2003 so he had the inside information.
  • My colleague kept humming the tune "Put your head on my shoulder" today. It wasn't hummed to me, but both of us seem to hum bright and beautiful music from time to time (although I seem to hum songs like "Too much too little too late"). Its the one set of music that we can agree on since she didn't seem too enthused about Elgar Symphonies. To stop the humming however I sent her the lyrics in an email titled "Don't hum them, sing them"
  • I should be in bed now - well I am in bed but I am sitting up typing this - but Rear Window is on ITV and it is keeping me up. Where I live now reminds me a bit like rear window. You can see into all the other apartments. Mostly you see is badly looked after plants and clutter. No dead bodies thankfully.

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