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Wee liberties: Beauty and The Beast: A Horny Love Story at Charing Cross Theatre

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It may not be a tale as old as time, but it’s still the same old story, almost, with Beauty and the Beast: A Horny Love Story currently playing at the Charing Cross Theatre .  As the title suggests, this is not family holiday entertainment, but neither is it all gay gore. And a surprisingly large number of clever gags, a gorgeous-looking production, costumes, and an ensemble make for a classy night out with the occasional lashing of sluttiness.  It’s been a while since I have seen an adults-only panto. Like many things at the theatre—ticket prices, opening nights, age of social media influencers—things have changed. Happily, things have changed for the better here. The show focuses on assembling an excellent cast. Elaborate costumes by Robert Draper and David Shields’ set pieces help give this adult panto a touch of class. There are the usual lewd jokes and a quick flash of buttocks.   The setting of the story is in the northernmost village of Scotland, Lickmanochers. Not...
Professional Conversation overheard in the office at lunchtime

F: I have been trying to contact Robert for the past hour and his mobile is engaged...
Officer (just walking in to the office): I have just spoken to him...
F: Ah how can you do that?
Officer: I have an emergency override phone...
F: Oooooh!

At several key points during the day the mobile phone network disappeared. As part of the plans for dealing with civil emergencies emergency and government services get priority on the mobile phone network to ensure that their calls get through. It also meant that at 7pm tonight I got a whole stream of texts that had been sent during the course of the day...

Aftermath.

This afternoon I had (in no particular order) a chocolate éclair, a packet of pretzels, two bananas, a thai chicken curry, half a tin of liquorice allsorts, a herbal tea, a coffee and a berocca. My colleague F had the same plus a trifle. Another colleague commented at one stage during the afternoon that at times of crisis her comfort food is pizza. For me, I take allsorts...

As the day has come to a close, it has been a tragedy but it also has been a day marked by quiet resolve. Emergency Plans swung into action, emergency services were on the scene of the major incidents within minutes and there was a determination to get on with it. My flatmate was at Liverpool St and helped take people to hospital. Construction workers near where I live offered to give blood at UCL Hospital.While there were no tube trains tonight, people left work throughout the afternoon in an orderly manner, and busses were back up by 4pm.

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