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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...

Scenes from Westminster Tube Thursday 23:16. An all-too familiar notice of service disruptions across the underground network this evening as the city escapes another round of bombings. Fortunately this time there is plenty of evidence that has been left behind. I was coming home from an evening at the Hampstead Theatre and with all the service disruption it was a bit of a roundabout route...

Watching the footage this evening on the television as people describe the scramble to get out of Warren Street tube today seems all the more close by. Afterall I use that station a few times a week. Tonight I returned home to my street covered in discarded police tape. For most of the evening Tottenham Court Road was a pedestrian mall, but by midnight the road had reopened. Posted by Picasa

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