24-03-23 - Saturday I - Plaza Suite @ The Savoy Theatre, Friday 22nd March

So, we popped up to London yesterday afternoon to go see Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick appear in Plaza Suite, a play at the Savoy. TW & I went with our friends MO & DO and TC. We caught the train from Worthing and then walked from Victoria to the theatre. We passed Parliament and Big Ben and got some Korean street food on the way. 

Our seats were in "the gods", right at the back. When we got there it was already warm. The play was in three acts and showed three couples all staying in the same suite in the Plaza. It was really good, I enjoyed it. The first act was really quite heavy and emotional, the second two were lighter and more farcical.

The audience was very female heavy, I guess Sex and The City had a bigger influence on girls and women and SJP has that legacy to play with. Broderick played his characters a lot more staid and restrained, I thought, it really was the SJP show. Although his shoes in the second act were sublime.

There were quite a few bottles of wine being drunk in the gods, it was a bit raucous, but then it was a Friday night.

All in I enjoyed it, it was nice to have "an event" with friends and the play was good and the off-stage action was interesting. It took some time to get home, we walked back to Victoria and caught a train just after eleven, and we were home in bed by 1am. 

TTFN.

24-02-27 - Tuesday I - Drop the Dead Donkey @ Chichester Theatre, Wednesday 21st Feb 2024

Well. That was a blast from the past. And for the most part, really quite enjoyable. It was great to see all the characters back together, apart from Haydn Gwynne and David Swift, of course. 

The characters were familiar, as was the writing; it really was a reunion of all the gang. Unfortunately I didn't take my distance glasses with me, so for me it was as though I was watching them from back in the day - everyone was a bit fuzzy and I didn't see any wrinkles. 

I enjoyed it, and would probably go again if there was an updated version, although I am not sure if this was an attempt to prove the show's popularity - the theatre was certainly full, and it looked as though TC, TW & I were amongst the youngest ones there.  

24-02-27 - Tuesday II - Alien Chicks @ The Green Door Store, 10th February 2024

Well, that was a thoroughly enjoyable night. I love the Green Door Store as a venue, it is so straightforward and without pretention. The support band came on at about 8pm and were good; I thought initially that they sounded like the Cocteau Twins but by the end of their set I thought they sounded like an evolution rather than a re-run - hopefully that is a good thing? 

Then it was time for the main event and true to form it didn’t go smooth from a technical perspective for Alien Chicks. This time, the guitarist / lead singer realised that his guitar had packed in within the first bars of the first song. So, once he had sourced a replacement, the show got into full swing. And very enjoyable it was too. They are quite a punky band but I think what saves them from being a pedestrian punk band are their rhythms. I thought that when I saw them at The Great Escape last year and I still think it; they owe an awful lot to their drummer. But, whatever, I really enjoyed the evening and even threw a couple of (mental) shapes to complement the dancing going on at the front.

In the pantheon of live acts that I have seen recently and would be happy/willing to see again, Alien Chicks are in there. 

TTFN.