A Trio of Rogues
This bank holiday weekend we celebrated my dad’s birthday (the only rather decent man in this tale) and part of the celebrations included a bit of theatre. So one evening saw us climbing a narrow staircase above a pub. We had arrived at Pentameters Theatre in Hampstead, one of the fringiest fringe theatres I have ever entered. It was a ramshackle establishment with an array of seats for the audience; ranging from fat old easy chairs, to straight backed dining room furniture. Every seat was festooned with cushions and the place exuded shabbiness and charm. The bathroom was very bohemian and well worth a visit.
The simple but very function set of the Affairs of Anatol.
My dad and I plonked ourselves down into a sofa in the front row which had lost all of its springs and much of its structural integrity decades ago. It was very comfy being swallowed up by this settee. We then sat back and enjoyed The Affairs of Anatol, a delightful set of four plays focusing on Anatol this bit of a cad who seeks out a number of romantic liaisons (I feel quite sorry for the women he dates although they almost always put him in his place). The plays are light-hearted and fun, the cast is witty and the setting is quite unique. Absolutely worth it just to experience this quaint theatre, the very decent set of short plays just contribute to an all-round excellent evening out.
Later in the weekend we visited Audley End a rather grand manor House situated in Essex. After going around the stately home we found Charles II was visiting and enjoyed watching him depart from the house and put on a horsemanship display for us all. His guards proved very good at destroying melons. Basking in the sun, munching grapes and watching these displays was great fun and the Merry Monarch kept us entertained with his casual banter.
The King's Horsemen at Audley End.
Finally, that evening I experience Mood Music at the Old Vic. The cast of 6 had an excellent back and forth acting on an interesting staging set up. I was slightly unconvinced by the psychopathic music producer and some of the dialogue felt just wrong (the lawyers particularly felt rather unrealistic with some of their emotional comments, one apologised for not doing a good job when I felt he had done a really great job). Overall though the show had a decent plot and it was very well staged. Some pretty decent music was played throughout. All in all not a bad set of weekend drama with Anatole, King Charles and a record producer, quite the trio of rogues…