Books: That is exactly how they work...

Waiting for a Train...

Gloucester. Waiting for a train.

Peter Grimes...

On Friday night Paul and I went to The Royal Opera House to see Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes. It was unlike anything I'd seen before. A sort of Bertolt Brecht meets Leonard Bernstein. The fishing village was full of gossipy self-righteous but flawed characters. The storm was raging outside. The mob was chasing the 'monster'. It has it all. The work has been called "a powerful allegory of homosexual oppression", and one of "the true operatic masterpieces of the 20th century, but the composer's own contemporary (1948) summation of the work was simpler: "a subject very close to my heart—the struggle of the individual against the masses. The more vicious the society, the more vicious the individual." The crowd scenes were particularly well played with the mob moving like a slithering organism hounding fisherman Peter Grimes for a crime he may, or may not, have commited. Heartily recommended.

All Hail Erasure. Seriously. HAIL!...

We went to see Erasure last weekend at the Westonbirt Arboretum and we got hailed on. Big time

One Man, Two Guvnors...

Last night Stu and I went to see One Man, Two Guvnors at the Lyttleton Theatre on London's glitzy National Theatre on the South Bank. In Richard Bean’s English version of Goldoni’s classic Italian comedy, sex, food and money are high on the agenda. James Corden returns to the National for the first time since The History Boys to play Francis.

He was actually quite funny too. As was the play itself. Interspersed with songs by a fifties four-piece it was a broad farce set in 1963 Brighton.

On opening, One Man, Two Guvnors received widespread critical acclaim. The Guardian gave it 5 stars, saying that it was ‘A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National's history.' The Daily Telegraph described it as 'the feelgood hit of the Summer', The Independent as a 'massive hit' and London's Evening Standard as 'a surefire hit'. Blogging site Everything Theatre described it as 'one of the most side-splittingly hilarious productions ever to be staged in London'.

Wimbledon...

On Tuesday Mark and I went to Wimbledon to watch the tennis for the day. We were lucky enough to have Centre Court seats too. We saw Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in that order all win. Serena, bless her, wept after her win. It's been a difficult year for her. Oh, and Diana Ross was watching with us.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)...

We went to see Sophie Ellis-Bextor last weekend at the Westonbirt Arboretum and this is a brief clip of her (and us) singing Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer).

Erasure - Chorus - live clip

We went to see Erasure last weekend at the Westonbirt Arboretum and this is a brief clip of them (and us) singing Chorus.

Erasure - Oh L'Amour - live clip

We went to see Erasure last weekend at the Westonbirt Arboretum and this is a brief clip of them (and us) singing Oh L'Amour.

Erasure & Sophie Ellis-Bexter...

Last weekend Darren and Mark treated Stu and I to a trip to see Erasure with Sophie Ellis-Bexter as support at Westonbirt Arboretum. Chris and Hudd very happily hosted us for the night too. We had a fab time - albeit getting soaked in the open-air event. And hailed on.