England VS India, Day 5 / Lord's Cricket Ground / 25.07.2011

When the PA rings out across the serene green, and you hear the phrase “Welcome to Lord’s,” something inside you relaxes, and you have to shut your eyes and just take it all in.

At least… I do. For the past three or more years (it’s more, but it’s also semantics), I’ve found the Home of Cricket to be somewhere I feel… well, at home. On the best of matchdays, the sun shines, crowds of people jostle you, and you can’t help but smile because everyone – no matter which team is winning – is happy.

Okay, usually the losing fans are unhappy. But you know what I mean.

Just being there is uplifting.

Which is why, on the 25^th of July 2011, there were more than 20,000 people lining the streets of St. John’s Wood, twisting and turning along Abbey Road, around the Wellington Hospital – stopping traffic and causing more than one potential spectator to turn a corner and stop dead, muttering “Oh, my god,” as they realised they had at least another corner to turn.

I was one of those people, up at stupid o’clock in the morning (read as half past five), and on the bus by seven fifteen, in order to get in that queue. It was at least a mile long by the time I got there – god bless the mp3 player – and moving only ten minutes after I had established my place. Everyone was good natured, though – all of us hoping that we were within the range to get our tickets, and as we inched closer, our bubble of excitement grew, until we got onto Cavendish Road, and were assured, at about 09:17, that we were definitely going to get in.

Cue massively happy faces and wallets that were £20 lighter. Not that I minded. It was a small price to pay on a very sunny day, to see a high quality battle between two incredible test sides.

Also, I’d never seen such a good example of stereotypical Britain. People queued. From 2 in the morning. To anyone else, this would be madness, but no. We queued, and we did it politely, thanks.

But with a golden ticket (because yes, it was the 100^th Test Match between India and England, and obviously, they’re sentimental lunatics), and a little bit of luck, we were in and sitting downstairs, front row in the Warner Stand – and that meant sunshine, and the best view of the cricket I’ve seen in a while.

When the five minute bell was rung, the atmosphere jumped from fresh and exciting, to tense and exciting. We couldn’t wait to see the finish of the test match, and neither could any of the other 28,000 people in the ground. England needed nine wickets, India more than three hundred runs.

It honestly could have gone either way, but with half an hour gone, and my skin already burning (as a side note, would somebody find me some sunscreen that actually works?) the first wicket fell, and with it, rose a cheer that I had never – not even sitting in on the England/Australia Ashes test in 2009 – heard so loud. The atmosphere jumped, once again, from tense, to electric, and the place came alive.

We were treated to chanting from all sides, a Mexican wave – (the most entertaining of things to see at Lord’s, with cheers reverberating around the ground, and boos when the Pavilion don’t join in), even a spectator takedown from two very athletic stewards. It was nothing like the usual Lord’s crowd – more like the lively Saturdays at Old Trafford or the Oval, where the fans can be a lot less restrained.

It was the People’s Monday, (even tagged on twitter) not a corporate shindig like Lord’s can easily become. With it being the start of the summer holidays, prices being low and the probability of a decisive result, cricket fans had come out in force and proven that no, test cricket is not dead. It’s just too expensive to be able to attend all the days we want to.

From then on, the day became a treat. More than one standing ovation occurred – Tendulkar (12) batting was the occasion, the cheering nearly drowning out the PA system, even though the century he’d been waiting for was never delivered. Laxman (56) and Raina brought a little hope to what quickly became an unattainable total, both making half centuries and Raina going on to hit 78. Jimmy Anderson bowled his way to a five-for, taking down the Little Master for LBW a little while after Stuart Broad was denied the same. Broad was brought (briefly) to his knees, in fact, because decisions that should have gone his way, didn’t. It was unfortunate, but he pushed through for a 3-for, as Swann and Tremlett weighed in with one apiece.

It was just as entertaining in the stands as it was on the pitch. When there were lulls in the activity – for instance the age it took for Tendulkar to move from 11 runs to 12 – it was readily broken in the stands by the cheeky shouts of “Gun Show!!” to Chris Tremlett and his 6ft7 frame, and the players who were kind enough to sign autographs for the smaller fans.

Even when you are alone at the cricket, you are never lonely for long. People start conversations with everyone, you can listen in and laugh along, because chances are, you’re going to end up throwing in an opinion anyway. You become a part of the crowd, feel the highs and lows just like any other sports match. There is nothing boring about the cricket, especially on days like these.

Sunburnt all over – especially my nose – and with more than 600 photos on my friend’s camera, the day couldn’t have been more of a success. It’s not all about the action – sometimes it’s more about the atmosphere – though yesterday had absolutely everything you could ask for in a Test Match Day 5.

Even England got in on the joyous atmosphere, with a comprehensive 196 run win.

..........

England lead India 1-0 in a four match series.

The next match in the series begins on the 29^th July at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

The next match at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London is Middlesex VS Derbyshire, CB40, on the 28^th July 2011 

Anberlin / The Relentless Garage / 13.07.2011

You don’t expect much when you’re getting something for free – but sometimes, you end up pleasantly surprised. After a fiasco of a tour in April – they decided to cancel the London gig in order to go on tour with 30Seconds to Mars (or something) in the USA – and the outcry from the fans who had already bought tickets, Anberlin did us a solid.

That solid was a free show. They booked out the Relentless Garage in Islington, and they offered everyone who had already got tickets the very simple, but effective Guestlist ballot.

Three of those tickets were mine, and with some shuffling due to absentees, golf and people on holiday, I managed to find someone to go with me. I imagine they offered out the other ticket on the door. Good on them. Even though, when one of the door staff asked a couple of girls in front of us who we were seeing, apparently “Anne Boleyn” wasn’t on the list. (We were in the wrong queue, it was kinda poorly advertised. So sue us.)

The support were “WHAT NOW?” – and with a name like that, they seem to be forever destined to remain supporting acts. Especially because they didn’t seem able to find a cohesive image, and I might have wanted to scream at their whiny faux American accents, because, please, you’re from South Africa and you’re based in London. There is no America in there. So we spent their set laughing about the typical accent at the bar. I think their music would have been good, if they’d… well, it would have been good without the whine, but hey, what do I know. I think some people enjoyed it.

But onto the band themselves. With chants of "An-Ber-Lin!" shooting occasionally through the crowd, it was quite fun to feel the anticipation. They’d not been to London for a while, everyone was here because they’d kinda screwed up by running out on us – I think there was a comment on the announcement calling them sell-outs – but this proved that we were here for them anyway. And we played accordingly. Moments after they launched into Godspeed, all of it was lost, and I’ll tell you, this was better than anything I’d heard in a while.

Being the fangirl that I am, I couldn’t help but squeal every time they launched into one of my favourites, and I think the poor guy in front of me, the barrier between us and a mosh pit, thought he was treading on my toes (when in fact, I was getting smacked in the head by the guy behind – and they say mosh pits are dangerous. Pshht.) – but I was squealing a lot. It was just wonderful to hear the songs I’ve loved for ages on my iPod get transferred into something awesome and unforgettable live – I don’t think it’ll be possible for me to forget a full crowd chanting the lyrics of Dismantle.Repair. Ever.

And then there was the proverbial technical fault – there’s definitely a correlation between going to see Anberlin and there being a tech. problem. Last time (in Birmingham), the sound was bad enough to warrant people calling that they couldn’t hear Stephen Christian singing (a sad occurrence if ever there was one), and this time, in London, there were some smoking pedals and apparently a moderately busted amp.

Welcome to the impromptu acoustic set that I loved so much. With little else to go on, the band pulled out all the stops, joking around and playing some of their best songs – including the fantastic “A Day Late,” and “The Unwinding Cable Car” – which should always be enjoyed acoustically. This lasted a while – at least until they’d fixed the tech faults, and honestly, I was more than a little blown away. We were also treated to a rendition of an Anchor & Braille song – which was apparently the first and probably only time they’ve pulled that out of the bag. It was nice, something different and something very beautiful to share with a crowd that had been left wanting.

The night was something else, I’ll tell you – far better than I’d seen them before, and far more entertaining than I’d expected. Even if I woke up with a very suspect bruise.

Anberlin @ The Relentless Garage.
Anberlin's future tour dates can be found on their site

Star Rating: ★★★★★

In A Forest... / Vaudeville Theatre / 26.05.11

It was a dark and stormy night…

We’ve all heard the stories, the ones that start in a deep, dark forest, with nobody around to know what transpires, to know exactly what happens to the characters – be it good, bad or ugly.

With In a Forest, Dark and Deep, debuting worldwide at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand, we are lost in a claustrophobic cabin with only Bobby (Matthew Fox) and Betty (Olivia Williams) for somewhat reluctant company – admittedly, typically white-trash names, but in a small town like the one they hail from, quite acceptable.

I’ll not lie, I definitely hassled my friend into going, because, well, it’s Matthew Fox, isn’t it? Everyone Loves Jack-off-LOST, and I’ll agree that that was my main reasoning for going – but then again, it looked like more than half of the audience were there for that reason, and that reason alone (cue the wolf-whistles when he came onstage, and the bated breath at the merest hint of chest)… I didn’t wolf-whistle, I promise. She said she enjoyed it in the end, so I’d say it was a victory, of sorts.

Anyway. Set on two levels, and kept fresh by the sudden bouts of sibling rivalry, and ‘surprising’ revelations throughout, In a Forest is compelling because it scrambles to a climax that, from the off, is a little bit predictable, but a lot surprising. We kept watching because looking away was impossible.

Fox is interesting as Bobby. Aesthetically, he’s got the looks to be a leading man, but they let him down a little here – though with his (slightly frightening) beard covering most of his pretty face, you do get the sense that someone’s had a genius idea, and he at least looks the right part. With a checked overshirt and Nirvana tee underneath, everyone has him down as the bad-boy from the word ‘go’ – though, as with most pieces of fiction, things aren’t necessarily as they seem. Cue the lovely looking Olivia Williams (Of the Live-action-Peter-Pan fame), as his sister, having invited him to this cabin to help her pack and transport the hordes of books all over the place. Her tenant has moved on, and she really doesn’t know what to do.

It all spirals down from there.

The quality of the acting is pretty brilliant, I have to say – with Fox on debut, you’d maybe expect some kind of fear, but there was nothing in his eyes but fire and readiness – and he tackles the role almost perfectly, though I’d like to know where all of his beard came from, there were a lot of creepy whiskers in there. Williams, as a seasoned lady of the stage, is very at home at the Vaudeville, and uses the space she’s given impressively.

Personally, I was impressed with the whole thing, though my friend did point out some holes which I thought could be easily explained away. I won’t cover them in depth for fear of revealing too much of the plot, suffice it to say that Williams’ reactions are not those you’d expect in a simple sibling argument… even though I’d argue that with the time constraints they have (no interval, and approximately 90 minutes runtime), not everything can be expressed to its full potential. We had to agree to disagree on that one.

On the whole, In a Forest Dark and Deep is a pretty good play, and I’d definitely advise you to see it on its next run. Unfortunately, it’s closed since we went to see it, having had only a month’s run, but next time. I just advise you that next time… you go.

Seriously, it’ll be worth it.

In A Forest: Ran 3^rd March – 4^th June

Star Rating: ★★★★

Lord Of The Flies / Regent's Park Open Air Theatre / 27.05.2011

Evidence of a Crash - Pre-Performance, the wreckage (Credit: Isabella V.B)

In a normal theatre, it is easy to tell when the play begins. The lights drop, perhaps there’s music to set the mood, and the curtain rises across the stage. Not so in the bright, early summer light at Regent’s Park’s Open Air Theatre. People visibly jolted at the start of Friday night’s production of Lord of the Flies, and I’m unashamed to admit I was one of them. Everything was big at the beginning – big noise, big smoke, and a huge, wrecked British Airways plane that drew the eye from the moment you walked into the arena. In seconds, though, it became almost claustrophobic, smoke from the wreckage blinding everyone lucky enough to be close to the stage. Engrossed in a chilling play such as this, it was easy to forget that the late afternoon sunshine would fade into darkness, and with it seemingly all the light in the world.

From the fore, the boys – for the actors are simply that, more than half of them making their professional debuts – are forced into an athletically charged piece, Ralph (Alistair Toovey) entertaining with handstands, and Jack (James Clay) and Roger (Matt Ingram) swinging through the mangled set like the savages they eventually become. Nobody is left untested; however, every member of the cast is put through their paces in exhausting movement sequences that are deliberate, yet probably the weakest part of the play – bringing a slightly secondary-school drama to the otherwise almost perfect performance.

From the public-school, highly strung Jack, leader of the school choir and prefect who dissolves into a strangely demonic, almost regressed infant, king of the savages, to his adversary, Ralph, too kind to be a leader, but too angry to let it all go, the children are left on their own to fall into the worst parts of human nature, the stubborn, angry, humiliated parts which are so carefully hidden from the light of day, until they are given free reign.

It is perhaps most noticeable in Roger, beautifully acted by Ingram, the outsider from the school of ‘nowhere’, plugged into his headphones and certainly looking like the oldest there, who has become a chilling, manic and demented boy with wild eyes and a sick disposition,. Even as the drama unfolds, you get a sense that Roger isn’t quite there – both psychologically and socially. Less of an outcast than Piggy (George Bukhari), but still on the fringe because he steps into the gang after everyone else is introduced, he is just as lost as the rest of the boys, no matter how old he seems.

That is the beauty of this adaptation. Flies is usually student fodder, the book that children hate at GCSE; but this is something I doubt anybody could walk away from with dislike in their hearts. The story has been told so many times that it sparks knowledge from a passing reference, but this is different. Yes, we are presented with a group of children – for the actors are simply that, forced into an adulthood destined to fail from the start, but Williams’ adaptation is explosive – literally, with the opening of the second act unimaginably blinding and typically, theatrically savage. It appeals to the audience, whatever their age, because this is a show based on the shades of grey that everyone must face, at least once in their lives.

Lord Of The Flies: Runs through June 18th 2011. 

Star Rating: ★★★★★