Belinda Webb-Blofeld

Yesterday evening myself and a friend popped along to the theatre above the Latchmere pub, aka the home of Theatre503 in Battersea to see Paul Murphy's debut 75-minute Norse mythic play, Valhalla. And before I write anything else, if you want to see a taut, very-well paced and compelling play, then this is it! But it ends on 24th October (day after tomorrow!) Just don't go for the comfy seats, unless you plan on spending the evening in the comfy pub downstairs. 
Valhalla means hall of the slain, and whilst escaping from the rising crime of the city to a fairly isolated Nordic research unit 'we could see the Northern Lights!', our couple played by Carolina Main (GP) and Paul Murphy (scientist) portray an increasingly intense relationship in meltdown towards mania. Both were fantastic actors, but I was shocked to discover that Murphy had had to step in on press night because his leading man could't go on - and so it seems Murphy has remained. Carolina Main was mesmeri…

Yesterday evening the husby and I trotted off to Wyndham's Theatre to see Kenneth Cranham and Claire Skinner in the French play, 'The Father'. Cranham played the father, Andre, and Skinner his daughter, Anne, in what was a 95 minute series of 'pieces', rather like those of a jigsaw, in which each piece was different but related to the whole. The play has earned a raft of 5-star reviews across the press, and all the nationals - and it came to Wyndham's following successful runs in Bath and at the Tricycle. But it came from France initially, where it was awarded one of theatre's highest accolades. So it had a lot to live up to. It helps to know that Cranham as Andre is suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. But apparently I didn't impart this info to my husby - who wondered what was going on for a little while. What struck me particularly as Cranham was through yet another musing on where his watch must be (the constant and confused passing of time) …