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A Man For All Seasons: Seagull True Story - Marylebone Theatre

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It's not often that you see a play that tells you not so much a story but gives you a sense of how it feels to be in a situation, how it feels to be silenced, how it feels to be marginalised, how the dead hand of consensus stifles your creativity. However, in Seagull True Story, created and directed by Alexander Molochnikov and based on his own experiences fleeing Russia and trying to establish himself in New York, we have a chance to look beyond the headlines and understand how the war in Ukraine impacted a a group of ordinary creatives in Russia. And how the gradual smothering of freedom and freedom of expression becomes impossible to resist, except for the brave or the suicidal. Against the backdrop of Chekhov's The Seagull, which explores love and other forms of disappointment, it presents a gripping and enthralling depiction of freedom of expression in the face of adversity. After playing earlier this year in New York, it plays a limited run at the Marylebone Theatre . Fro...

Chance encounters girlfriends take: Blind Date

It is unusual to be raving about a show that nobody else will see, but Blind Date which is having a limited seven week run at the Charing Cross theatre, is an improvised show that is original and funny where no show will be quite the same, but where each show no doubt shows the magic, sweetness and humanity that arises from chance encounters.

Keeping it all together is Rebecca Northan as the optimistic Mimi, who finds herself stood up on her blind date. Rather than let that get her down, she turns to the audience to help her out. She wears a clown nose, speaks with a French accent and has a great set of legs. What then happens for the next ninety minutes is a masterclass in improvisation and working with the audience.

Northan, who hails from Canada, and her show has won several awards. She is the recipient of two 2012 Canadian Comedy Awards for "Best Female Improviser" and "Best Comedic Play" for Blind Date, a winner of the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Award for Improvisation, and a 2010 Betty Mitchell Award (Calgary) for "Best Female in a Musical or Comedy."


Charing Cross Theatre, is transformed into a lively little cabaret scene with red curtains and sexy music. Before the show begins, Northan is talking to members of the audience along with her fellow cast members. For reasons that will become clear later, this plays an important part in the show. Her supporting cast also work to keep the show finely balanced as scenes move and you never quite can tell whether what things are happening are real or not.

Her date the night I dropped in was a young man called "Barty" who already drew attention to himself before the show as he was dressed in gym gear. It transpires that he rode his bike to the theatre but was there with his girlfriend. He became the surprising hero of the show despite interjections from other men in the audience.

Whether it is comedy, stand up, a social experiment or a combination of all, it is a fascinating, sweet and funny night at the theatre. If you have a boyfriend, you should take him along to the show, but save the surprise...

After the show it was left to @Johnnyfoxlondon and I to decipher what we have seen in an Audioboo. At the time I think we were not so sure... But I think both of us want to go back and see it again...
listen to ‘Blind Date Boo’ on Audioboo

If you want to delve more into the background of the show and the origin of her clown character Mimi, there is an interview with her on Canadian radio below. 

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