Miniaturists 24, Arcola Theatre

There are few things theatrical which will draw the Whingers into the theatre on a weekend, still fewer on a summer’s day as sunny as Sunday’s was, and practically none at all if it also means getting on a bus to Dalston.

It was also Phil’s birthday and despite Andrew’s  bullying tactics to get him to attend made Phil even more determined to celebrate it in a manner of his own choosing. But then again, he has had far too many birthdays already, the novelty long since wore off and he agreed to sit in the gloom until the Arcola‘s metaphorical final curtain.

Review – More Light, Arcola Theatre

Ostensibly because they know so many people (but in fact because they increasingly struggle to dredge up names) the Whingers have evolved a language to aid conversation.

For example: to be clear which Paul is under discussion one refers either to “Toaster Paul” (who won a toaster at the first West End Whingers party) or to “Salad Spinner Paul” (can’t remember quite why now).

So it was a shame that Phil (“Anal Phil” due to his neurotic fastidiousness vis a vis hygiene in particular and life in general) was unable to make Bryony Lavery‘s More Light at the Arcola because the main characters are all named according to a similar schema: Moist Moss, Playful Kitten, Love Mouth and so on.

Miniaturists: more reports from the fringe

Well, now the Whingers have discovered the excitement of living on the fringe there’s no stopping them.

Yesterday saw them at the worlds’ first carbon neutral theatre, the Arcola which is in, well, nowhere that has seemingly been graced with a name, but it’s quite near Dalston Kingsland station.

This was Miniaturists 18. Yes, that’s right. Not only the fringe, but also a mix of established writers and “new writing” which is something the Whingers stopped bothering with some time ago when the penny dropped that “new writing” is all about the promise of “possibly good writing at some point in the future”; now they just wait for new writers to become established writers.