I Heart Soho Theatre - Comedy & Drinks : LOCAL LOVES

Hi everyone, happy Friday! TGIF indeed. I can never work out how four day weeks feel longer than five day weeks?? But thank the lord, Friday is here, the weekend is upon us and drinking shall be done! And as a London blogger I feel it is my duty to make some suggestions for your weekend festivities...

Soho has got to be one of my favourite places in London. Yes, Hampstead Heath is stunning and Buckingham Palace makes you proud to be British, but nothing is quite as exciting as Soho. Jam-packed full of little restaurants, bars, performance spaces, creative agencies and the odd naughty shop, it is a hive of constant activity and inspiration. It’s also where the wonderful Mojo was set which I blogged about back in November.

Neon on the ceiling of the Soho Theatre Bar

And nestled in these busy streets is the Soho Theatre. It’s only a few steps away from the West End but this theatre could not be more different to the ones you find along Shaftesbury Avenue. Sitting on Dean Street, this neon lit haven for London creatives hosts plays, comedy (lots of Edinburgh Fringe warm ups), music, cabaret, drag queen bingo....y’know, the usual. AND it has a brilliant bar.

It’s a favourite watering hole of mine so I often just pop in for a beverage even when I’m not seeing anything. The atmosphere is constantly changing as people head off to a show or come in excitedly chatting about what they've just seen. And if you’re an E4/BBC Three geek like me you may also spot the odd famous face amongst the pint swiggers....

But this week I was not there for the pints – I was there to see Nick Helm.....and then for pints. For those of you who don’t know of Nick, he is the ‘human car crash of light entertainment’. His words, not mine. He’s a singer-song-writer, actor, comedian type person thing. He’s blooming hilarious and I first came across him in Uncle which was on BBC Three recently. It’s a cracking combo of comedy and riotous rock songs. My friend Emma and I loved the show so when we saw that he was trying out material for his next BBC affair we grabbed tickets and popped it in the diary. 

However, it turns out that the Nick of Uncle is not the true Nick - he's much more scary when he does stand up! His act is very angry and shouty...and all done in a husky growl. Think sex line meets anger management meets comedy. That is Nick Helm. It was a hilarious hour but boy did we need a drink afterwards! So we happily skipped down to the bar for a medicinal gin and tonic or two.

We caught up on on life (Emma recently got married and is moving house and is working on an incredible new blog - busy lady!) and gossiped. We talked lots about our respective blogs and the various merits of Blogger versus WordPress. What do you guys think?

And then to walk off the gin we went for a wonder through the streets before heading home. Emma doesn't spend a lot of time in Soho so I pointed out a few of my faves and you might like them too....

FOR DRINKS

Dean Street Townhouse - a little on the pricey side but if you can snag a table outside under the heaters it's the most brilliant place to sit and watch the world go by.

Urban Tea Rooms - I'm a massive tea fan so anywhere that mixes earl grey with gin is a winner in my books.

El Camion - walk through the restaurant and down the stairs. You'll find a mexican drinking den with tequila done the proper way with spicy tomato chaser shots.

FOR FOOD

Rosa's - a no-frills thai restuarant that does a mean pad thai.

Pix - a tapas bar that does it the traditional way. A help-yourself bar of spanish delights with either short or long cocktail sticks in. Short costs £x, long costs £y. You pop them all into a pot on your table and count them up at the end to pay. 

Bob Bob Ricard - a swanky restaurant where each table has a 'champagne button' - just press it and champers arrives!

FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE

Barrio Central - for when 'a couple of drinks' morphs into 'going out-out'.

Let me know if you'd like blogs on any of these places! Soho is full of little treasures. 

xXx

My Week With London, Photos : LOCAL LOVES

How is it Sunday again? This week has absolutely flown, but I managed to snatch a few snaps as it did. It been a busy week of theatre, drinks and exploring new corners of the city.

My Week With London. 

Tubing around.

Piccadilly Arcade.

Sometimes prosecco just tastes better at home,

Covent Garden Market.

Floral Street

Birthdays in Barons Court.

Always important to keep hydrated.

Commute, commute. Never ending commute.

The best kind of door.

  

Spoilt for choice.

London's calling.

Hampstead Heath Heaven.

The Actors Church, Covent Garden

xXx

Bedford & Strand, central London drinks with a difference : LOCAL LOVES

“I know this great little place...”

I don’t know about you but I feel ultra cool when I get to say that. “I know this great little place....”. Well gang, I do indeed know a great little place so I thought I’d share!

I went for a drink with some pals last week to gossip about discuss newly acquired jobs, job changes and our career aspirations. We wanted somewhere fun and buzzy, but quiet enough to conduct our very important chats.  I knew just the place.

Hidden just of the Strand, Bedford & Strand is a secret Central London treasure. When you find yourself bobbing around Zone 1, surrounded by chain restaurants and crowded cocktail bars this is the ideal place to steal away to. The Guardian hits the nail on the head, describing it as "A neighbourhood bar in an area without a neighbourhood." Just skip down these inconspicuous stairs and leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind. 

Ideal for a date or catching up with friends, this dark wood and hops-covered bar is a Londoner’s heaven. Full enough to show its popularity but spacious enough to always find a cosy table or bar stool, this has been a fave of mine since I moved to the Big Smoke many moons ago. Many an evening has been spent propping up the bar, putting the world to rights and laughing uproariously. 

It’s known primarily for it’s cracking wine selection (which you can buy by the glass, carafe or bottle) but for me it’s the cider. I’m a big cider fan – not in a ‘lads, lads, lads’ way, but in a country pub garden kind of way – and Bedford & Strand serve one of my absolute faves called Bolée d Armorique Cidre Brut. It is scrummy and slips down a little too easily....

And with cider you must of course have cheese. You can choose your own selection if you like but I left it up to the handsome barman to choose and he didn’t disappoint. Within minutes all that was left was de-brie....haha!

So there you have it folks - a blooming lovely bar in central London that takes you away from the madness for a little while...and into the comforting arms of cider and cheese! We had such a lovely evening and I know I'll be back again soon.

Have any of you ever been? How did you discover it? Do you have any similar places that you would recommend?

And, most importantly, please share any cheese jokes. Cheese jokes are ALWAYS funny.


xXx

My Week With London, Photos : LOCAL LOVES

It goes without saying that London is one photogenic beast. I'm constantly snapping away, especially in this gorgeous weather. But all these photos end up just sitting on my phone. So, I thought I'd share them with you each Sunday. Here's the first and I hope you enjoy! 

Please let me know what you think in the comments - should I do this every Sunday?

My Week With London. 

Summer started to creep it's way in...

Brilliantly British

Russell Square looking like a total beauty.

The Crypt at St Martin's in the Fields, Trafalgar Square

Street performers by the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden

Seven Dials in Covent Garden, a lovely lunch spot even with black cabs zooming round you

A lovely bar that I'm going to tell you all about in my next post....see you there!

Flowers in St Martin's Courtyard

Flowers in St Martin's Courtyard

Trafalgar Square being all Trafalgar Squarey

Lovely painting on Shelton Street

Ching Court, just off Shelton Street, a little oasis of calm in Covent Garden. Shhhh don't tell everyone though. 

First 99 of the season on Neal Street

A Dirty Dog at the Jamie Oliver pop up diner on Shaftesbury Avenue

Said pop up

Piccadilly Circus. I always feel like Bridget Jones when I look up at these screens. What a film!

Underground inspiration

There were many late night journeys home

I took an Instagram workshop at the Cath Kidston flagship store and this was my best pic! My lovely friend Nikki.

xXx

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hi gang,

I’m now on Bloglovin so click the title of this post and follow me on there! It’s a great site and the app is brill too. Whether you’re new to this 'following' malarkey or a seasoned blogger I really recommend using it, it’s a fab way to bring all your favourite blogs together and discover new ones.

xXx

p.s. Look how gorgeous London is looking today....

Martin Freeman in Richard III, Trafalgar Transformed West End Season : LOCAL LOVES

My favourite theatre season is back in town! Trafalgar Transformed is back with a bang at Traflagar Studios and I think you should all grab tickets NOW.

THE FIRST SEASON

Back in October I briefly mentioned the Trafalgar Transformed theatre season that took place at Trafalgar Studios – directed and curated by director extraordinaire Jamie Lloyd, the inaugural season kicked off with a particularly bloodthirsty Macbeth starring James McAvoy. It was so bloody that if you were sitting on the front row and wearing dry-clean-only clothes it was suggested you moved seats. Pretty messy stuff. 

  
Macbeth was followed by the brilliantly mad The Hothouse, starring theatre-great Simon Russell Beale and current star of Prey John Simm. The highlight for me though was seeing John Heffernan and Harry Melling live on stage for the first time – they are both so incredibly talented. 

Harry played Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films and, I have to admit, I had no idea he was such a talent. Immensely passionate about his craft his aptitude for finding the subtle nuances in an exaggerated character is astounding. Check out what he has to say about playing dangerous characters here about his recent stint in King Lear in New York. 

 And John is a downright comedy genius.  Brilliantly camp with mischief glittering in his eyes, he’s a stage-force to be reckoned with. Check out this interview he did at the end of last year, just before taking on his first London lead role.

The final play in Season One was The Pride. Set in two time periods, the 1950s and the present day, it showed the changing attitudes towards homosexuality. Check out the trailer here. This incredibly moving show was bought to life by Captain America’s Hayley Atwell, Mathew Horne (of Gavin and Stacey fame), National Theatre regular Harry Hadden-Paton and another of my major talent crushes, Al Weaver. Next time Al is in a show I thoroughly recommend grabbing a ticket.

My flatmate and I saw this show twice actually and it was the first time she had made a repeat visit to a play. It was heartbreaking and had a wonderfully strong message.

And why is it called Trafalgar Transformed? Well, they transformed the theatre didn’t they! Check out the snazzy time-lapse video here.

THE NEW SEASON!

Richard III

So, yes, Trafalgar Transformed is back! And it’s opening in July with an absolute corker – Martin Freeman in Richard III. Yep, the Hobbit is gracing the stage, Watson is treading the boards, Tim from The Office is doing the Bard! It’s going to be epic. 

The cast also features a wonderful actor called Phil Cumbus – he was in Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe when I worked there back in the day, and he really is a marvel. I've followed his progress through the theatre world ever since. Come to see Martin, but keep a big eye out for Phil. I'd love to know what actors you guys follow that aren't perhaps in the centre of the limelight so let me know in the comments! 

East is East

 
Next up, in October, the wonderful Jane Horrocks is descending on the Trafalgar Studios in the cult classic East is East. Y’know, Bubbles from Absolutely Fabulous! She was most recently in Sunshine on Leith which is the brilliant musical movie that I mentioned in my post about the Electric Cinema.

Set in 1970s Salford, East is East is Ayub Khan Din's take on British Asian life. Married to an English woman but maintaining strong Muslim values George struggles to keep his children in line and stop them straying from the strict religious path he intends for them. 

The play was made into a film in the late 90s but it started it's life on the stage of course so I'm mega excited to see it back in it's original home. And what's even more exciting is that Ayub, the playwright, is taking on the role of the George, the father. I can't wait to see him onstage at George given that the play is semi-autobiographical. 
 
TICKETS

So there you have it folks, a big ole’ heads up that some excellent theatre is on it’s way. You can buy tickets for both shows here. Or if you want to chance it, all tickets on Mondays are £15 but are not released until the first Monday of each month so put it in your diary and grab a pair.

Follow Trafalgar Transformed on twitter for the latest news or follow me because I tweet about it a lot! Apologies that this post has been a sort of theatre geek expolosion - it's just really bloody exciting work!

xXx

All the world's a stage, What to see this month - Part IV : LOCAL LOVES

1984

I saw 1984 a few nights ago and I’m still reeling from it. I love a show that almost affects you physically, the fact that theatre can do that to you is why I adore it so much. My head felt so full, if that makes sense. It was such a bombardment of information, ideas and thought that I couldn’t compute it all at once.

Based on the famous George Orwell book, the play was originally staged at the Almeida Theatre in North London as a co-production with Headlong and Nottingham Playhouse. It got rave reviews and the theatre owners of the West End quickly battled for the transfer. It is now selling out the Playhouse and reactions have been amazing.

For those of you who haven’t read the book this is where the ideas of Big Brother and Room 101 come from – a dystopian world where free thought and emotion is banned, and every living person is watched in omnipresent surveillance. Those who go against these laws become 'unpersoned' - they are effectively deleted, any record of them that there ever was is destroyed. But Winston Smith dares to challenge this.

It sounds like an unthinkable hell doesn't it? Well the pure quality of this production makes you not want to miss a single second of that hell. With the slickest of scene changes, smack-you-in-the-face lighting and sound (from Natasha Chivers and Tom Gibbons respectively), and an endlessly astonishing set (by Chloe Lamford) this is a real theatre gem and I encourage all of you to beg, borrow and steal for a ticket.


WHAT: 1984
WHERE: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Ave, London WC2N 5DE
TICKETS: ATG Tickets  - for each show 101 tickets are sold for £19.84 - see what they did there??
DATES: On until 19th July 2014. Update! The show has extended to 23rd August - go, go, go!
WHO: Anyone who likes a bit of theatre that makes you think and feel instantly and for a long time afterwards. For George Orwell fans – this is a must.
TUBE: Embankment tube is less than a minute away.