A Flea in Her Ear at The Old Vic Theatre – Time is Running out!

When I worked in Financial Services, my previous employer used to sponsor productions at The Old Vic theatre, and I often wondered whether my chums and I would be treated to a free viewing or an invitation to a preview. Huh! No such luck!  So, yesterday when I saw an advert on the "Visit London” website (http://www.visitlondon.com) to see "A Flea in Her Ear” by Georges Feydeau for £11.99 I snapped up a ticket. What a bargain! What is more, I had heard a lot of positive feedback about the play and I have been a big fan of Tom Hollander since seeing him in "In the Loop"  and "Rev" – he’s such a cutie!

Photo Credit: The Old Vic

 The Old Vic Theatre is about a 7 minute walk from Waterloo station and is situated on The Cut. When I arrived, the queue was spilling out the door. I had booked the matinee performance and although London was bathed in sunlight, it was flippin’ freezing! To my delight, I had been upgraded from the Lilian Bayliss Upper Circle to the Stalls in the middle of the row (5^th row from the back) – RESULT! Thank you nice people at the Old Vic Box Office ;-) I was even more thankful when I realised I hadn't brought my glasses with me! Doh! My blonde moment!

Outside the Old Vic Theatre

The first thing I noticed when I sat down is that I had plenty of legroom (yippee!) no knees at my shoulders like some of those other theatres in London (you know who I am talking about!).The theatre itself is stunning, there is a golden chandelier which dominates the room, it had 37 lights on it (yes I counted them; well I had time to kill before the performance!). The gold painted cornicing is also beautifully done. I would have shown you a lovely picture of the inside of the theatre but I got my wrists slapped when I tried to take a photo :-( The man (dressed in black) said it was not permitted! I think other people had the same idea as I heard him delivering the same message time and time again! Such a shame!

As I look around, it is clear that this play has a wide appeal; the row in front of me has a group of bilingual female teenagers who dip into French and English when chatting to each other. It is also attended by young professionals,middle aged couples and senior citizens in equal numbers. There are a few empty seats beside me so I can put my bag and jacket on the next chair and begin to relax.

The play is set in Paris at the height of the Belle Epoque. The beautiful wife of Victor Emanuel Chandebise, Raymonde Chandebise, suspects him of having an affair and she enlists the help of her dearest friend, Lucienne to entrap him. Their plan to entice him to a rendezvous at the notorious Hotel Coq d’Or spectacularly misfires and chaos ensues with hilarious results. 

There are around 15 characters in the play, but without giving too much away, the characters impressing me most were:

1)     Victor Emmanuel Chandebise & Poche

The former is the husband suspected of infidelity, the latter is a hotel porter who is fond of Vermouth. Both characters are played by Tom Hollander; a comic timing genius who is able to pull off some quick costume changes!

2)      Carlos Homenides de Histangua

The husband of Lucienne, (best friend of Raymonde Chandebise), a passionate and violent Spaniard with a very thick and amusing accent. Played by John Marquez.

3)     Camille Emmanuel

The young nephew of Victor Emmanuel, who has a speech impediment; he is unable to pronounce consonants! Barking mad? Absolutely! Played by Freddie Fox.

The play itself is just over 2 hours long with a 15 minute interval to top up drinks and tuck into some ice cream.

After being translated by John Mortimer, the play originally opened in London in the Old Vic in 1966, so it is  really fitting that Richard Eyre directs it here once more. 

The last performance is on Saturday March 5 2011 so there isn’t much time left!

If you fancy having a giggle and have a couple of hours to spare in the afternoon or evening, take a trip down to The Old Vic theatre and enjoy a performance of "A Flea in Her Ear".

Book online at:

http://www.oldvictheatre.com/

Tell them MeLikeyUK sent you!

Enjoy x

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare at the Greenwich Playhouse Theatre

It’s been a while since hubby and I have ventured into theatreland, so I was attracted to the recent offer quoted on www.lastminute.com alluding to the production of “ The Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare. 

Photo Credit: http://www.galleontheatre.co.uk/

The offer was £9 per ticket and was showing locally, at the Greenwich Playhouse theatre, one of the smaller theatres in London. Although having studied Shakespeare at school (Hamlet and Macbeth), I have only seen one Shakespeare play, which was Measure for Measure, and this was in a hot and stuffy theatre in Edinburgh during the festival. At the time, both my boyfriend and I were students and I thought it would be a good idea to introduce him to British culture (he was French), mmmm a decision I soon learned to regret! Much frowning, vacant expressions and pants of exasperation soon ensued and my boyfriend did not show much enthusiasm either!

After some deliberation, I took the plunge and booked 2 tickets for the Saturday night performance. I should inform you that the aforementioned boyfriend is now my hubby and we have been living in London for 11 years, so he is now more accustomed to the British lifestyle!
The Greenwich Playhouse is accessed via Belushi’s bar (http://www.belushis.com) which is located on the left hand side of the main exit of Greenwich train station.

Seating plan inside Greenwich Playhouse
Photo Credit: http://www.galleontheatre.co.uk/

The theatre is snugly situated above the main bar and would comfortably accommodate an audience of approximately 60 people.

Not to give too much away, The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays, believed to have been written between 1592 and 1594. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity. It has been adapted for opera, stage, screen and musical theatre.

The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth. 
Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and accusations of infidelity, theft,  madness, and demonic possession.

There are approximately 16 characters in the play, with some actors taking on duplicate roles. The acting is superb and the performances are enhanced by the intimacy of the theatre. Quite often we were inches away from the actors and actresses. We were particularly amused by the master and servant relationship portrayed by Antipholus and Dromio (both sets of twins!).
The running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes with a 15 minute break after 1 hour. Drinks are permitted in the theatre and the audience is encouraged to top up at the bar during the interval.

This production runs until 20 February and is a great alternative to the cinema. Even without the discount, full price tickets are £12 which is still excellent value for money!

If you fancy introducing some Shakespeare and comedy into your life, book online at:

http://www.galleontheatre.co.uk/whats_on_now.html

  

You won’t be disappointed!

Tell them MeLikeyUK sent you!

Enjoy x

Zumba - are you ready for the party?

So what is Zumba anyway?

Wikipedia cites it as “A program combining Latin and international music with dance in an effort to make exercise fun. Zumba classes are offered through licensed instructors in more than 90,000 fitness centre locations in 110 countries with ten million participants!"

In an effort to lose some weight and put a bit of spring in my step I wanted to enrol in some Zumba classes in London. I had looked into buying a Zumba dvd and doing it at home (i.e. the cheats option) but I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the price.. £50 and knowing my experience of exercise dvds, It probably would not have been a wise investment!

Like many others, I dread the thought of going to the gym and working on the same machines, going through the same motions day in, day out (snore, snore). Even the numerous TV channels cannot hold my attention for too long! I never quite understood people who claim to be addicted to the gym - clearly I must be missing something!

I am a huge fan of Groupon and each morning I delve into my mails to see what treats they have on offer. A few weeks ago, there it was jumping out at me:

 "Groove Your Way to A New Body with Five Zumba Lessons and a Glass of Healthy Acai Juice at Maloca for £14.35 instead of £41".

But how could I resist? A new body and a free juice all for £14.35! It had my name written all over it! I signed up  immediately for it. The offer seemed very reasonable too. The classes are normally £7 and I think five lessons are enough for you to know if you are a Zumba converter or not!

I was spoiled for choice for classes. I opted for the Monday afternoon class 1-2pm.

Maloca is situated on Putney Bridge Road just up from and diagonally opposite the old Cafe Rouge restaurant– a 7 minute walk from Putney train station.

On arrival there is a warm and friendly welcome by the lady who runs the cafe, she takes your details and shows you downstairs to the changing area.

Five minutes later I’m back upstairs with my very revealing lycra pants (not to be worn outside!) in the Anaconda studio conversing with other newbies to the class – there are about 16 of us. The studio is large enough to hold us and we are all eagerly awaiting the instructor.

Suddenly a very petite and slender looking girl enters the room with a huge smile to match her confidence. It becomes apparent that she is the Zumba instructor. She introduces herself as Marta and she looks as if she is about to burst with happiness. It is so clear that she loves what she does and her enthusiasm is infectious!

After a brief introduction, she is getting us to warm up and she makes speed shaking her Zumba clad booty look so effortless – a skill I’ve yet to master!

This is followed by a number of different Zumba workouts  which have a combination of Samba, Rumba, Reggaeton and Salsa all performed to the tunes of Christina Aguilera, Shakira and other Latin artists (not forgetting the contributions of Marta – I did tell you she was enthusiastic). At some point I am convinced she is bouncing off the walls!

Is it difficult to follow? You know what they say “Practice makes perfect”. I am a bit slow initially as I feel as stiff as a board and I am not accustomed to moving my hips so vigorously! Eventually the routine falls into place and while I do not look like a natural, I have a good old giggle trying to mimic the moves of Marta!

Every routine is preceded by a 1 minute demo in slow motion by the Zumba Instructor so that the class knows which moves to make. All too quickly we have come to the end of the class and we are performing some stretches and cooling down and I ask myself has Zumba met their objective;

Do I feel like I have been exercising? Well judging by my knees and other joints - Yes!

Did I have fun? Yes – all of the class are grinning like Cheshire cats!

I believe this is somewhat helped by the variety of routines, the enthusiasm of the instructors and continuous theme of everyone enjoying themselves.

The proof? Lots of smiles on class attendees and the main question for the instructor – when are you next taking the class?

Will I be returning to Zumba? You can count on it!

Before leaving Maloca, the offer entitled me to a free Acai berry juice. I had not tried it before so did not really know what to expect. It was just the ticket to pick me up! It was more of compote than a juice, packed full of vitamins and topped with banana and muesli. Scrummy!

If you have the time and fancy trying out some Zumba classes in London, check out Maloca’s website for the class timetable at the link below:

http://www.malocauk.com/MALOCA/WELCOME.html

Tell them MeLikeyUK sent you!

Enjoy x


Photo Credit :Zumba Class by Cimm & Acai Berry by Bruno Peck