A Flea in Her Ear at the Old Vic

It's several decades since Feydeau's 1907 Belle Epoque farce last featured on the London stage; the current Old Vic revival is a triumph.  Laughs ensue from the outset, when Victor's butler takes the opportunity of a missed appointment, to share his concerns with his master's doctor - proceeding to complain, at length - about his painful ovaries...  

Unsurprisingly, the Coq d'Or hotel, frequented by ladies of the night and their clients, is a natural setting for farcical romps, frolics and faux-pas...including a rollicking series of interludes, when the (ahem) bit-part, rampant, sex-starved German officer becomes known as Herr Shut Yer 'Ole.

Hilarious Rev star, Tom Hollander, is feverishly funny in his dual-roles: as upper-crust Victor and contrastingly lowly, bell-hop, Posh. The entire ensemble are uproariously impressive; Emma Campbell-Jones - standing-in for ailing Lisa Dillon - as Victor's distraught wife, Raymonde, was a seamless success, on the night I was in the audience.  The much-missed John Mortimer's wonderful translation only enhances the glee - along with Richard Eyre's superb direction.

If you're in need of an injection of fun and laughter in your life, to counteract London's grey days, there's no better place than the glamorous Old Vic Theatre - a stone's throw from Waterloo station.  The run concludes on March 5th - enjoy it, while you can!

Production flyer courtesy of The Old Vic

Straight from Brazil - a true story and review...

Once upon a time there was a girl whose head was endowed with dramatic dark curls.  She nurtured her locks, grew them long and let them flow.  Sometimes they behaved like good little curls but, on other occasions, they were hard to control  - appearing to have a thought process and rebelliously wild intention, all their own.

Then, when she grew-up and had stylish, image-conscious teenage nieces, our ringlet-ted protagonist was persuaded that it was time to go straight.  This led to an addiction to hair straighteners and a decline in the condition of the previously lustrous locks.  Then - suddenly, last summer - she heard about an exotic remedial treatment, originating from Brazil.  Fortuitously, an invitation popped through the ether - from UR Beautiful in Kingston-upon-Thames - and our happy heroine skipped into the salon for an un-winding experience. 

Red-headed Jade started the treatment by washing the aforementioned locks, in a special shampoo - devoid of nasty sodium-suffused chemicals, before drying the hair seriously straight.  Next, a thick paste of red and white clay, blended with coconut oil, was applied, coating every wanton strand. To ensure that it did its job, the keratin-powered paste was dried into the hair, on a top-heat setting. After twenty minutes or so, it was shampooed-off and the  hair styled poker-straight.  The 'heroine' was issued strict instructions to keep her newly sleek (but rather oily) hair dry for three days (no washing or extreme exertion, no tying it back or resting sunglasses on top of her head). As she learned, hair has a memory - so must be firmly guided into good behaviour.

The former curly-haired heroine felt a touch embarrassed at the state of her dead-straight and oily locks but was obedient and did as she was told until the instructed days had passed.  With a great sigh of relief, she washed her oil-suffused locks. Wow, it dried - naturally - into a well-kempt super-sleek style and remained frizz-free, all of its own accord - even following all-too-generous London rain showers and high humidity.

Three months on, in London's delightfully cold November (brrr! - rarely far from the threat of rain) an element of frizz has begun to creep-back into our heroine's locks.  Time to own-up and reveal (in case you hadn't guessed!) that the 'heroine' is me - so that I can sensibly sum-up the virtues of the treatment...

It's been great having to do very little styling and being able to cast-aside the straighteners - for the past few months, on all but a couple of occasions.  Although it initially appears quite a pricey endeavour - starting at £130 for short hair - if you divide the cost, by the time it lasts, it makes sounder economical sense.  Not only does it save styling time (and stress), but, for someone who visits a hair-stylist often, the savings could be considerable.  It's particularly worthwhile for hair with a medium-to-thick texture that's hard-work, unruly, exasperatingly frizz-prone or time-consuming to style, but it could be a little too flattening on finer hair. When you're going on a sunshine holiday (ah!, if only...) and want to look effortlessly sleek, it could be just what you need for an effort-free vacation.

Gambon in Krapp's Last Tape

Covent Garden's diminutive Duchess Theatre is currently home to the Gate Theatre (Dublin) production of Beckett's 1958 one-man piece.  Written as a vehicle for Patrick Macnee, the 50-minute performance opens in protracted silence - with Krapp seated, head-in-hands, bent over his desk, in the dark.  Minutes ensue, until eventually, he stirs and we begin to learn a little about him, by way of his penchant for bananas - with some hilarity. 

Appetite satisfied, Krapp starts to reflect on his life - largely via his recorded voice - on tapes he made thirty years back, as a 39-year-old.  Poignancy predominates, suffused with humour, as he toys, not just with bananas, but with the resonance of words: spoooool...

Shortly, Krapp dips into his baser cravings; despite saying that he wouldn't want those years back, he returns - repeatedly - to a significant encounter: "my face in her breasts, my hands on her" and dwells on "the beauty of her eyes".  Although, as an audience, we don't uncover the finer detail as to why it didn't endure, we understand that his dalliances took on a less than wholesome and happy turn when he refers to his later entanglements with "Fanny, bony old ghost of a whore".

Sir Michael Gambon is completely captivating, totally involving as sadly reflective, limping Krapp in his lonely birthday reflections.  The piece remained with me, and my companion, for many thought-provoking moments and hours.  Brilliant Beckett, stellar Gambon, great production.

It runs at the Duchess Theatre, Catherine Street, WC2, until November 20th.