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False alarms: Diagnosis @finborough

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Nobody likes Cassandra, and like the Trojan princess who was given the gift of being able to see the future but cursed so that nobody would believe her, the woman at the centre of this piece could see into the not-too-distant future. She can see that disaster is about to strike. But she’s dismissed as a vulnerable, crazy lady who maybe had a bit too much to drink. This is the premise of “Diagnosis,” currently playing at the Finborough Theatre , written and performed by Athena Stevens.  You enter the Finborough under surveillance. The camera is pointed at the audience, and it soon becomes clear that we are somewhere in the not-too-distant future in London. A city where surveillance already abounds so we can capture all sorts of crimes taking place (albeit not in ultra-high definition).  In the future, every police station will record interviews with an audience with “vulnerable persons” involved. This is to ensure no police misconduct occurs. A police officer (Ché Walker) is in...

(Little) Theatre: Copacobana

Thursday night (rather than packing) I went to Putney to see the PLOS (that's Putney Light Opera Society) production of Copacabana. Well, I nearly didn't get in as it was sold out. Fortunately thanks to the rather efficient house manager seats were found. Upon getting inside it was immediately clear why the show was a sellout. With 36 people on stage (plus band but they were hidden) even if everyone only sold two tickets the theatre was bound to fill up.

As for the show Copacabana. Well the book is so bad that it takes on charm of its own. Based rather loosely on Barry Manilow's song (and co-written by him), the show is padded out with melodrama, bad gags and at least two reprises of the song Sweet Heaven so it was stuck in my head. The actors didn't take all this too seriously and neither did the audience. At one point we all hissed the villain. It seemed so right... The leads were great although at times it was Piccadilly Circus on stage there...

Anyway, the Putney Arts Centre turned out to be a pretty good place to spend an evening... And the wine is cheap there too...

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