2015

Wassuuuuuup. Happy 2015! I was going to wait to do a hello again post until after I’d caught up with all my reviewing, but to be honest that day may never come (see list below). So here I am. Still alive, still pigging about in south London and you know, various theatres. However, I have some news. From mid-April this year I will be trotting myself back up to my homeland of the north (Newcastle, to be precise) to live there instead of here. I won’t technically be a Brixpig any longer (even though now I’m really a Hernepig anyway), and I’m not sure what I’ll do about this blog. I’ll probably carry on. I’ll let ya know.

 

In the meantime, I am planning to massively enjoy my last few months in our fair capital. I spent New Year’s Eve at my friend’s lovely boarding school in Banbury, drinking half pints of prosecco in the common room and dancing round tables, eating excessive amounts of carrot sticks and dicking about with sparklers. And this year I have already seen some stupendous theatre, eaten a load of leftover Christmas cheese, discovered Magic FM’s new Sunday evening radio show starring John Barrowman (you know you want to), and eaten more bags of Mini Eggs than I care to think about.

 

Music-wise, I am still loving Bleachers who I get to see in February (yesssss), and HIGHLY recommend Marina and the Diamonds’s new stuff – she is releasing one new song a month until the Froot album release in April and I can confirm that they are all brilliant so far (particularly Immortal). And in my traditional style, I’m about six months behind the rest of the world and have just discovered how amazing Sia is. I am obsessed with her album. This video of her new single Elastic Heart is amazing (and features Maddie from Dance Moms – who knew my mother’s TV viewing was actually on trend?).

 

 

Telly-wise, I’m catching up with new episodes of Girls and Glee (both underwhelming but I’m sticking with them), and undertook the perhaps unwise feat of watching series 1 and 2 of Broadchurch simultaneously. I have now seen the whole of series 1 so can rumble along with the rest of the nation from this point on – so glad to see Eve Myles back on my screen, she is a cracker. Episodes is also back in the US (and therefore online…) and is on top form so far – Greig, Mangan and le Blanc are a dream trio. Final recommendation is Catastrophe, which started a couple of weeks ago on channel 4 and is fucking hilarious – just watch it and I guarantee you’ll be laughing out loud.

COMING UP IN 2015:
The Changeling at the Wanamaker
How to Hold Your Breath at the Royal Court (Maxine Peake!)
London Gin Festival
Bleachers at Bush Hall
Stevie at Hampstead Theatre (Zoe Wanamaker!)
Antigone at the Barbican (Juliette Binoche!)
The Broken Heart at the Wanamaker
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at the Playhouse (Tamsin Greig!)
Sweeney Todd at the Coliseum (Emma Thompson!!)
Fleetwood Mac again in Leeds (Christine McVie!)

 

And when I finally get my writing shit together, here is what you can expect to see, reviews-wise:
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore
Kylie
Electra
Urinetown
The Crucible
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Chrissie Hynde
Edward Scissorhands
Elephants
Made in Dagenham
(Can you see why it takes me so long??)

 

Lovely to be back.

 

Brixpig x

Lena Dunham: Not That Kind of Girl book tour

When: Friday 31st October

 

Where: Royal Festival Hall

 

Why: Dunham + Moran = Dream Team

 

“There’s nothing I love more than a swearing woman.” Lena, I am so on board. And I should have utilised my well-worn cursing skills on the grumpy man sat next to me in an otherwise buzzy twittering excited audience of people with fantastic taste (and great booking skills – the show sold out in about 12 hours apparently). Grumpy man had clearly been dragged along by his girlfriend, who spent the rest of the show appeasing and stroking him – slightly not in the spirit of an evening of strident feminism, but never mind. The rest of the audience were on form, and the crowd included even more exciting people such as Sandi Toksvig, Sarah Millican, Richard E Grant and the cast of Call the Midwife (MIRANDA!). I was in good company despite being there (obviously) by myself (as is my wont).

 

The legendary Caitlin Moran introduced Lena, and after a reading from her new book, they settled down together for a chat and some top banter. They’re both inherently hilarious people, and I hadn’t just laughed out loud so much for ages. At the same time they are hugely inspiring and empowering, not only because of all their combined hugely impressive showbiz achievements, but also because they were just chatting normally and openly about life and issues and funny shit that happens. I love Girls, Lena’s much lauded TV show, but don’t massively relate to it much personally. For me it was much easier to connect to what she was saying in a chat format, and later on in her book as I ploughed through it on the bus home. I literally felt lucky to be there and made sure I’d switched on my wisdom absorbers to full beam.

 

The discussion swooped over a variety of topics, and most prevalent were issues of representation and just attempting to exist successfully in a judgmental world. As Lena put it:
“2014 has been about the power of saying no. For women no is not a word we are taught to say enough. There is a sense that you have to be amenable and pleasing and when you're a successful women you feel you have to apologise for it. Setting boundaries is the only thing that allows us to keep going on and keep our light on.”

 

I also loved a piece of advice from her father that Lena shared: “Fear isn’t what keeps the plane in the air.” She added, “… that was what made me think that actually, by worrying, we can’t prevent what’s challenging. All the things that have really thrown me, have been the things that I have not thought to worry about.” Which I immediately identify with. Another Dunham prescription for anxiety is just having a sleep. More sound advice, particularly when combined with the revelation that she owns more pyjamas than clothes. Oh god me too.

 

Fantastic and hilarious evening in the presence of a couple of thousand excellent people and two in particular. Not That Kind of Girl is definitely worth reading (if nothing else it will make you feel comparatively sane) and I will treasure my signed copy.

 

Brixpig x