Vipers, or ‘everything I probably should have said in my first blog about Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Emilia’

TRIGGER WARNING: this piece include discussion of sexual abuse and assault allegations in the music industry.

Act 2 Beginners

Before the lockdown started I was going to London, on average, twice a week.

Christ, I think now, how on earth could I afford it?

The truth is I couldn’t. Not really. I was living ever so slightly beyond my means and it wasn’t sustainable.

Turns out there were quite a few things that weren’t sustainable, my theatre habit the least of them.

A COMPLETELY UNOFFICIAL AND MOST LIKELY TOTALLY UNNECESSARY REVIEW OF: Oscar Conlon-Morrey Singing Losing My Mind From Follies On The Piccadilly Line, Probably

It is official: Everything Currently Sucks. Theatres across the land have gone dark, thousands are out of work, productions are cancelled and I am trying to remember what I did before my all-consuming obsession with live performance. This is quite a way for a girl to discover that she doesn’t actually have any hobbies or discernible personality. Rude, Covid-19 – just rude.

2019: The Obligatory End of Year List

A last minute end of year list? From this blogger? With a shoehorned in meme reference?!

It’s more likely than you think.

Olivier Predictions 2019: Creative and Everything Else

Once more, with feeling!

Olivier Predictions 2019: The Plays and Directors

Oh Christ, oh no, it’s tomorrow, I’m so behind, I’m sorry.

Olivier Predictions 2019: The Musicals

HERE WE GO… AGAIN.

It’s that time of the year once more, where the Olivier nominations are announced and everyone tweets in a passive-aggressive manner when certain shows are inevitably snubbed. That’s showbiz, folks.

What Do You Want To Get Married For?: Company West End Cast Recording

It’s 2019! And even just one month into the year theatrical news has been wild – from &Juliet and a Mischief Theatre residency (I would like to thank God and also Jesus) to… that Mamet play. Yeah. Anyway. But on the plus side, the Company cast recording is out!! You know, the gender flipped, weirdly logical, Bunny-Christie-designed, Marianne-Elliot-directed version with a spookily relatable perpetually single protagonist, watching all her mates get married (I know art sometimes imitates life but yikes)? That one. Coinciding handily with a snow day, I’ve been able to have a proper listen to the soundtrack and decided it was high time I break my blogging mini-hiatus (I’ve been busy, shh) with this:

Your new favourite band: Patent Pending

Is this a series? Can we call this a series?

April 2016. The Joiners Arms, Southampton. In a market overrun by hideously overpriced VIP experiences, Long Island rockers Patent Pending seem to have actually got it right – their exclusives go for around £30 and consist of early entry and getting to basically muck about in the venue for an hour or so.

This laid back set up allows for selfies and chats in a genial atmosphere, and I get talking to Joe Ragosta, Patent Pending’s irrepressibly likeable frontman. I’ve witnessed Joe be equally charming to everyone he encounters, be they first time gig-goer, or the reluctant accompanying parent. A rare example in the scene, he speaks to everyone who approaches him in a friendly and open way. As much as he flings himself around onstage and demands circle pits, offstage it is difficult indeed to feel intimidated by Joe. As we talk, I commend this attitude. I know first hand how much it means to a fan.

“I wish I’d had a band like Patent Pending when I was growing up!” I joke, a roster of since proven problematic former idols flashing through my head.

Joe brightens, grinning at me, “Now you do!” He declares “Now you do.”

Ugh, gross, feelings, ugh: On becoming a more emotional writer

Image: Unsplash

I re-read a few of my oldest posts the other day. More for curiosity’s sake than anything, but the thing that struck me the most (after I’d stopped cringing behind my fingers at the overall terribleness of the writing) was how surprisingly clinical they were – the way I’d speak about things I remember experiencing with such joy, in such a bland, disconnected way. Damn Soph, I thought, scrolling through another generic paragraph, did you even have feelings?