Category: London UK

  • A vintage panto at Wilton’s Music Hall

    Day one in London, Thursday December 15. Despite potential jet lag, went to  our local theatre space, Wilton’s Musical Hall. Derelict for years, the nineteenth century musical hall has been restored not to its former glory, but to a faded and tattered state that confronts its age with honour. The play was a panto, Mother…

  • London in December: Photos

    A few photos from our first day in London. Winter light. Sun goes down early, the twilight is long, the streets teem with life.

  • Stratford-Upon-Avon: Othello

    Shakespeare’s funerary monument, Holy Trinity Church. We had seen a remarkable Othello two years ago at the National Theatre, with Adrian Lester as Othello and Rory Kinnear as Iago, set in a contemporary military garrison resembling those in Iraq or Afghanistan. We almost decided to skip Othello this time, so as not to overlay our…

  • Grimeborn: Alternative Opera at the Arcola Theatre

    The bar at Arcola Theatre, an exellent place for a glass of wine before the show. (You can take it in with you.) We love the Arcola Theatre, London’s most vibrant and ambitious alternative theatre. It’s up in Dalston, a maelstrom of multicultural life, once an area of dubious repute, but now verging on getting…

  • “The Beaux’ Stratagem” at the National Theatre

    National Theatre, London “The Beaux’ Stratagem” is usually thought of as a late example of Restoration Comedy, and that’s how I was thinking of it as we entered the Olivier. I didn’t know the play, but I was ready for a saucy, boisterous romp. It took a little while before I adjusted to its more…

  • “A Number” at the Young Vic

    Opera Singer Busking at Blackfriars Bridge The Young Vic is just a stroll east from the Old Vic, along the street called The Cut. (The two theatres have no connection with each other, by the way.) We like the Young Vic very well, for its adventurous programming and its pleasant and affordable cafe. So it…