Week 23

The Museum of London invested over £20 million to the new Galleries of Modern London, which I visited this rainy weekend. Anyone in love with London would love this museum, as it documents the life in the city from pre-history until our days. However, I find the Museum of London too Disneylandish. Hundreds of interactive displays, videos with actors dressed in period costume, etc. are great for children, but for adults the depth of information is missing and genuine objects put in pretend display cases loose their authenticity. The biggest mistake is to visit on Sunday – way too many families and lost tourists.

One of the most amazing concert venues in London – 1901 Arts Club – is a house in Waterloo, beautifully restored and kept to the period standard. Inspired by Europe's Salon culture, the Club is perfect for chamber music performances. Before the show you can enjoy a drink on the roof terrace spotting the trains zooming past you to Waterloo. In the season opening concert the Spanish mezzo soprano Nerea Berraondo and pianist Juan Urdániz presented a recital of Spanish and Argentinian songs. The mixture of subjects (love, humour, animals) in these folk songs allowed Berraondo to show not only her voice but also her performing skills.

This week I also read a humorous short novel by David Lodge. The British Museum is Falling is a story set in one day about a research student, who spends his day thinking about his numerous problems (3 children, a possible fourth on the way, his Catholic beliefs and unfinished thesis) and encountering many adventures. The book feels slightly dated as it was written in 1960s and many issues are not important for the present day reader. Nevertheless, it's a great test on one's literature knowledge as each chapter is an allusion to various writers' styles and motifs.  

Week 22 - The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Last week I experienced some black Irish humour at the Young Vic. On the last showing week I saw The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. It's a play from the 1990s painting a grim reality of provincial Ireland. The Beauty Queen is Maureen, 40 year old virgin taking care of and hating her old mother, who sits in the rocking chair and nags at her daughter. Their relationship is based on hatred and sarcasm, although they are two lonely souls and can't live without each other. However, Maureen starts a fling with a nice bloke, who came from London to see his family. Through her mother's sly plotting, she loses that chance to escape and the play ends with Maureen murdering her mother. The evening contains many gruesome moments, just a few examples: the mother pouring her night pot down the kitchen sink over the dishes, Maureen scalding her mother's hand with hot oil. And still in all this bleakness there is plenty laughs and love and some hope. The cast acted superbly, although Susan Lynch as Maureen was a bit too beautiful for her role.

The book of last week was The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I was attracted to this book purely because of the cover. Since I saw that boy in fancy outfit, some higher power didn't let me put down the book. The title also helped and the fact that it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 increased the need to read it. And what a disappointment! The story of the Dominican family spans through three generations and it is full of murder, torture, tough love and too much bad language. It reminded me of Vernon God Little a lot (similar language and pointless story about a loser). Never judge a book by it's cover – that cliché is proven to be right by this tome.  

Week 21 - The pictures

August is great to lie on the beach, but not when you are hungry for gripping theatre or awe-inspiring exhibitions. Worst of all, that there aren't any free tickets going around. On the other hand, there is always something happening in London, but Barbican is empty until September, I've seen everything of interest at the National and the big galleries don't have any exciting shows going. So it's perfect to catch up with West End circus and permanent museum displays. However, this week I spent at home catching up with good unseen films on the smallscreen.

Real Larry Flynt

And so the marathon started with The People vs. Larry Flynt. I love nothing more than a media person fighting for the freedom of speech. And might it be a porn mogul, but he's got exactly the same right to express his views (even if it's a cartoon of Santa with a didlo in his hand) as everyone else. And once you remove this right, that's where the problems start. Mr Flynt was so unlikeable, but so real, along with other characters.

Another picture based on the real story was I Love You, Philip Morris with Jim Carrey. A story of a con man, who meets the love of his life in prison. The film trailer makes it look like a cliché gay film, but actually it's about the ridiculous bureaucracy that rules America. The main character managed to escape prison numerous times, but the most shocking was when he faked his Aids result and even his death and no one in the whole system noticed that he was pulling their leg all along. In addition, there is a sweet love story and great soundtrack.

After seeing Audrey Hepburn on millions of postcard stands and Argos posters, I finally saw Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is really an old fashioned romcom. But back in those days people new how to dress and how to entertain, and you couldn't be ashamed admitting you watched it as you would after watching today's equivalent like Valentine's Day or something similar.

Week 20 - Inception

Everyone is going crazy about Inception, a movie event of the year, so I had to be part of this event. I rather liked the idea of the Matrix and people say it has some similarities. The premise is simple – a group of criminals and architects can transfer to other people's dreams and affect their conciousness. Surprisingly no one thought of this before (at least I haven't heard). Nevertheless, it's a great idea and the film worked rather well. Leonardo di Caprio with a group of 'characters', including a way too young-looking student are trying to accomplish a new mission and 'unpredictable' obstacles keep coming up. A fault of the movie particularly annoying and typical to thrillers – millions of bullets never hit main characters even from 1 meter distance. But otherwise it was an enjoyable evening spent in the cinema.

Also this week: started reading E. M. Forster's A Room with a View and not much more...

Week 19 - Earthquakes in London; As You Like It; Mid August Lunch

A packed schedule was waiting for me straight after my holiday. It all started with a preview of an epic new play by Mike Bartlett Earthquakes in London at the National. The National rarely disappoints and this wasn't an exception. The story is a staple – a dysfunctional family of three sisters and their hated father try to find their way in modern day London. Every character has their issues and global warming is high on the list. But what makes this state of the nation play extraordinary is the playwright's humour and Rupert Goold's excellent direction. There is no conventional stage, but a curvy bar on which action takes place and audience sits and stands around. This works especially well in clubbing scenes. The show contains off the press current affairs topics, remade recent pop hits and fantastic performances.

Can you consider yourself a cultured person and not enjoy Shakespeare? Well, I am one of them... Out of all the stagings of Shakespeare I have seen, only one was enjoyed – As You Like It at the Globe last summer. So I was excited to get tickets to the Old Vic to see Sam Mendes' direction this week. That was the last time I forced myself to try the greatest bard's plays. Instead of a joyous adventure in the forest of Arden we got a dark and grim take on the tale.

The week ended with a light-humoured Italian film Mid August Lunch. It is a perfect illustration of the Italian lifestyle – food and wine, an empty city in August and most of the people living with their parents (Italy is number one in Europe on this). As holiday season starts in Rome, Gianni is left with four old women to take care for the weekend. We observe his struggles to make them happy and stay sane.

Also this week: Just couldn't finish the kaka film Creation about Charles Darwin and thoroughly enjoyed Educating Rita at the Trafalgar Studios.