Noises Off...

Last Saturday Stu and I treated my mother and father to an afternoon at the theatre. We went to see Michael Frayn's Noises Off at the the Novello Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

I have to say we loved it. We laughed and laughed. It's basically a farce - which can be hard to pull off anyway - written as a very clever deconstructive piece using the grammar and language of the genre to spoof itself.

The title comes from the theatrical stage direction indicating sounds that are meant to originate offstage. The conceit of a play within a play then hurtles along at breakneck speed following the backstage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through rehearsals to a shambolic first night and a final disastrous performance.

Celia Imrie's Dotty Otley was brilliant and deserves the Olivier Award for Best Actress.

If you get a chance - go see!

Betty Blue Eyes...

Last night Stu and I went to see the rather fabulous new musical Betty Blue Eyes at the Novello Theatre in London's glitzy West End.

Starring Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith the story is based upon Alan Bennett's sharply observed comic film A Private Function.

"Belts are being tightened and the country’s long-suffering citizens are being told by the government that there will be fair shares for all in return for surviving Austerity Britain. Meanwhile local officials feather their own nests by taking far more than their own fair share. It is of course 1947, and having won the war Britain seems to have lost the peace, and the country is staggering under the burden of acute rationing, unemployment and the coldest winter for decades. The only bright spark on the horizon is the impending marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip."

The notable songs of the night were Betty Blue Eyes, Magic Fingers, Painting By Heart, Dance at the Primrose Ballroom, The Kind of Man I Am, Another Little Victory and Sarah Lancashire's stomping Nobody.

The songs were great, the acting wonderful and comic timing spot on. May it run and run.