Long shot? something to see in London this evening (Thurs 1 May)

[Bink]

The concert we were going to go to is cancelled (was Wigmore Hall thing). So we have babysitting & an empty evening, plus an urbane visitor to entertain.

Does anyone have an instant idea of something we should see instead? - cerebral music probably being the preference. (I see that there is some Messiaen in W'minster Abbey - we're not quite ready for Messiaen again yet - and some Haydn, Beethoven &, er, Berg at QEH. I am not convinced re Berg (have recall of a review which described an audience as "whippet-faced Berg lovers, straining after every cacophonic cadence").

But I am open to persuasion on both ... (or on something other than music, of course)

if it were me i would try and get tickets for the play with warren mitchell in because i thought that looked interesting. failing that, and depending on your visitor, i would probably book at table for dinner somewhere. probably no help but my opinion anyway.

Is Frayn's new play about Max Reinhardt previewing at the National yet...

I'd give Vula at the Barbican a wide berth by all accounts...

Who has cancelled at the Wiggy?

The Year of Magical Thinking at the National (Lyttleton)

All of these sound wonderful, thanks! - and especially thanks because they're for theatre, which I am rubbish at keeping up with & so don't know what to see ...

But ...

Warren Mitchell play, no tickets till next week/thereafter
Reinhardt begins in June
Joan Didion - I'd like to see that, very very much, but dh will repine at idea. (Shall we have MN outing instead?)

Marina - Wig was to have been Christine Schaefer.

Bink - Go for Joan Didion. Just tell your DH he can't be married to one so beautiful and clever and expect to go unpunished.

Nice one swedes, go on bink, twist his arm. I'd have to do the same to mine also, I think he has her mixed up with Joan Baez, the twit
I think I am fast forwarding myself in anticipation. Roger Allam is Max Reinhardt
Sorry about Christine Schaefer though

That Face starts tonight so probably has tickets available. I like Linsay Duncan so would like to see it but it may not be your cup of tea!

Oh gosh. You know that disloyal feeling when you think, hmm I might enjoy this more not with you? I just think he might do some pshawing, & that would be inappropriate. (PS - I have just checked and the first date tickets are available for is - 1st July. So I have time to work on him - and/or organise an outing of like-minded vultures.)

Maybe I should propose the Bergy thing. We'd have got some Schoenberg at the Wigmore, so there is a consistency. Nobody's said Don't, yet, have they?

sorry, norks - x-post. That Face looks good but somehow again not dh's thing.

Definitely know that feeling, bink
Dh will not countenance ornamental baroque vocal music eg Cecilia, or Bruce Springsteen, or indeed "edgy" theatre these days
Save Joan for a kindred spirit
How about Kneehigh's Brief Encounter at the Haymarket...

Polly Stenham is a name to watch IMO
Fat chance of seeing the production at this end but the script is fantastic

Sorry again, norksdrift, that was far too quick a response. What I meant to say is that I would like to see it, definitely, but it would be a tricky sell to dh. So, again, it'll go on my non-dh outings list!

Bink - I've got tickets for sat 14th June. I asked DP to keep that date free - worried now he will pshaw. Although sometimes it's nice to go and see things chosen by someone else; something that you yourself might not choose. You tend to go along without expectation which can often make the experience more enriching and surprising. Perhaps not Joan Didion though.

Have a lovely evening whatever you decide.

Marina - I had no idea Brief Encounter was Kneehigh! - see how oblivious I am? and there are tickets, it seems.

Now I just need dh to look at his emails .... tap fingers tap fingers

Excellent, I thought you might already have seen it

I saw VR in the Didion play and she is absolutely magnificent!!!! - this is definitely one of my all-time top-ten hits. It is the most heart-wrenching, absorbing 90+ mins I have ever spent in a theatre - think it also sits so close to the bone as have experienced that sort of loss -
But - if you get the chance to see it, grab it with both hands!

way off what everyone else is recommending - but yesterday I saw 'In the Hoods' - a street dance version of Stephen Sondheim's version of Little Red Riding Hood called 'Into the Woods'

it was absolutely incredible - breath taking dancing, wonderful use of music, really innovative sets and design.

I dragged a reluctant friend and by the end of the evening she was a convert and is dragging more friends on Saturday.

there are a few websites where you can get half price tickets

Its a totally exciting, uplifting evening, I can't recommend it highly enough

Update: he has chosen the Berg. I sort of thought he would.

Coolmama - Oooh, very encouraging. Thanks for sharing that. Very sorry to hear of your loss.

Bink - A little something for your DH for the interval - to ease the straining after every cacophonic cadence

Swedes!!

Saw Brief Encounter at the Haymarket Cinema this week - it was great. Just really good fun, and I loved the Coward songs.

I saw Kneehigh's Matter of Life And Death at the National, and I thought that was a bit over the top, but all the staging stuff that annoyed me in that production worked really well here..

not music but if you can get returns for God of Carnage it is very good