Friday - A Few Good Men

It hasn’t been a terribly active few days. Friday we got a late start then headed into London to do some shopping. Father wanted to visit Fortnum & Mason’s to see whether they had their rather good Christmas chocolate liqueurs on sale yet (they didn’t) and then we went on to the Apple shop on Regent Street to pick up an iPod Nano for my sister’s birthday present. (Unfortunately she has fallen fashion victim and wants one.)

It was a frustrating and embarrassing few minutes on the way to the Apple shop as we wandered up and down this street that the signs said was Regent Street, but clearly wasn’t. In the end we worked it out and I was amazed to discover (after four years living in London!) that Regent Street has two non-contiguous sections on either side of Piccadilly Circus.

Once the shopping was done we headed towards Upper Ground for lunch with my sister at the little bistro above the Mulberry Bush pub. (See here and here.)

After lunch we headed home for a break before the show. I had a nap and then we all had some of the cheesecake that my dad had brought with them. (He is a pretty good cook and had brought Rosie a chocolate cake for her birthday, so I’d asked him to bring me a cheesecake down while he was in the baking mood…)

Friday evening, we were off to watch A Few Good Men at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. I wasn’t actually that impressed by it. They were cardboard characters reciting lines. Actually that’s not fair as there is a fair amount of character development of the lead character Kaffee during the story, but that just didn’t come across. I got very little feel for the actors being involved with their characters’ emotions. The worst one of all was Rob Lowe; I’m not sure whether it was because it was him playing the part, or because Aaron Sorkin wrote the dialog, but it felt like I was watching Sam Seaborn from The West Wing on stage! The two key emotional moments of the play, where Kaffee punches the marine he’s defending and when Jessup actually admits to ordering the Code Red, were almost cringingly badly acted.

I think we’ll be steering clear of ‘Celebrity Theatre’ in future unless something is getting really stunning reviews.

After the show we went on to the Texas Embassy just off Trafalgar Square to get a bite to eat before heading home (See here.) Quesadillas and margaritas abounded, all served by a delightfully polite waiter from Oklahoma, who called us all ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ all the time.