Bleak Expectations

So, we took a trip up to The Criterion one of our favourite London theatres again recently, it is a theatre that seems to feature comedy which for me and the better half is a good thing, you can catch up with the last play we saw there at the link on this site Passionate Friend?

We decided for a change to go up town and get something to eat first before the start of the play, so I booked a table at the 'Old Compton Brasserie' which sits (oddly enough!) on Old Compton Street! We hopped off at Tottenham Court Road and took a short stroll down to it.

Just Getting Some Food Dude

I have to say the last time we visited the Soho area it was 'carnage' in that PRIDE was taking place (catch my previous post 'To Love Somebody') and revellers were out on the street having fun and the mess of bottles, cans etc was enormous, but wonderfully tidied up after the event. Anyway, back in the restaurant the food and service were great and the Sunday Roast 'hit the spot' and was exactly what was needed. We trotted around Soho and Chinatown before heading down to Piccadilly Circus to the theatre where we handily got our 'cheaper seats' upgraded free to a better viewing position, which was nice!

Bleak Expectations & Comedy Theatre

The title 'Bleak Expectations' is obviously a play on Charles Dickens 'Great Expectations' but all performed and followed to the book in the loosest sense, kind of like a pair of comedy trousers that just won't stay up! It kind of follows the plot but throws so much humour at you you kind of forget the original story and throw the book out of the window. It was really quite hilarious in all it's 18th Century Victorian based humour, fast paced and with manic performances by the brilliant cast and on the occasion we went it was narrated by Hugh Dennis, comedian, presenter and actor known for comedy duo Punt & Dennis, Mock The Week and Not Going Out who just drips sarcasm and humour so well. The play, like most at The Criterion is on a 'short run' and has a revolving cast of narrators from Tom Allen, Robert Lindsay, Julian Clary, Stephen Fry the list is endless! I'd love to see them all (can't afford to though!). However as a recommendation please do go and see it, you might get to see a comedy hero performing live.

The Bleakness Continues🌩

To be honest 'Bleak Expectations' seems to sum up the mood of the U.K. Every week more rubbish, from interest rates and hikes in mortgage repayments, rising food prices, stagnant growth, strikes as workers have no other choice and the threat of recession looming. My latest annoyance is the very real threat that many rail ticket offices are to be closed as according to the Rail Delivery Group 'not as many people use ticket offices' and the railways need to 'modernise'.

It is B****cks! They just want to cut costs and still reap in the money as they have been for years, the fares don't go down, the service is still at times 'average' due to lack of investment in the rail network due to the RDG making truck loads of profits and not feeding it back into the system. I feel sorry for those who work in the ticket offices at stations throughout the UK as the company will either 'redeploy' them to have to stand on the station probably being abused by the general public and having to fire fight issues with ticket machines, irate customers (sort of similar issues to self service checkouts in supermarkets). The other sick thing about it is that it destroys the ability to travel with ease for those who are perhaps less able bodied, partially sighted, elderly etc who don't have access to be able to book tickets on line or need assistance and in some cases it is the Ticket Office staff who are able to do that. The other complete lunacy of the whole thing is that if the staff cannot be redeployed they will end up unemployed (soul destroying enough) which in turn means the government then has to provide unemployment benefits etc. The money these people earned in their jobs meant they contributed to the economy, brought goods and services which in turn feeds the economy. 

I suspect if the RDG get their way they will cut staffing down to the bone and stations will become lawless and scary places to go especially at night whether you are male or female. The ideas of cutting staff have been widely criticized already. I hate this government and what they have done to this country and I hate the greed that capitalism has created, again profit over people 'greedflation'. I look forward to general election next year and hope people 'wake up and smell the coffee'☕ and give this shower of sh*t 💩 the kicking they deserve!

Still, There's Always The Sun🌞

Whenever I get this ranty🤬 I always love to listen to this track, it is 'barbed' in that can be taken in different ways i.e. the literal sense of the title or conversely a sarcastic dig at a British right wing paper 'The Sun' and it's hideous 'The Sun Says' column or finally about Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen a corrupt right wing Convservative politician hence the Australian themed album title ' Dreamtime' from whence this track comes . Either way a song that cheers me and in a strange way makes me feel positive, the lyrics:

"Who gets to say? Who gets to work and who gets to play?

I was always told at school, everybody should get the same."

 

Kind of sums it up, (to me at least). For all the big companies we slave away for, we are just corporate 'slaves' ourselves, the words equality and fairness are just 'lip service' paid by greedy corporates to employees to keep them 'in their place' and put profit before anything else.

And Cue The Music

Catch The Stranglers with Always The Sun on the youtube link. It was released in the U.K. in 1986, I remember it so well. It was also the first track on the band's album in the same year called 'Dreamtime' their ninth studio album. The single only reached #30 in the U.K. Singles Chart of the day but, seemed to fare better in France and Australia. You can, of course,  catch my converse post to this one called 'Great Expectations' featuring the band New Model Army at the link above.

P.S. Signed the petition to stop ticket office closures (in case you wondered what my views on it might be!😁).

Picture Sources

Bleak Expectations Criterion Theatre London

Old Compton Brasserie via Pinterest Concept Bars

Always The Sun Discogs.com

Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash 

Save Our Ticket Offices Picture Source: aslef.org.uk