Happy end of March, everybody! Spring has sprung, the sun has been shining and I’ve seen some good shows this month! Here’s what I got up to.

Theatre/Live Shows

• First show of the month was seeing Russell Howard during his ten date stop on his tour at the Royal Albert Hall. I’ve grown up watching Russell do stand up on stage and on TV and I think he’s fantastic. His show had many interesting stories about being an uncle, filming for comic relief and some gags against Trump. He was brilliant as always.
• I took Jen to see La Ronde at the Bunker Theatre in London Bridge. It’s a fantastic play reinterpreted by Max Gill that bends gender norms. I did a review about it which you can read here. Unfortunately, the show is now closed but I hope it comes back soon.
• I, then, saw The Diary of a Teenage Girl at the Southwark Playhouse with Olivia, I really enjoyed the film and I enjoyed the play just as much! Rona Morrison was fantastic as Minnie. Unfortunately, this has also closed but another fantastic play to be on the lookout for.
• I took my second trip to School of Rock The Musical with my friend Aimee who I befriended on Twitter five years ago and we finally met! I loved the show just as much as the second time and it was so exciting to meet Aimee after all this time. You can read my review of the show when I saw it the first time here.
• I also saw the LMTO’s production of Honeymoon in Vegas starring Samantha Barks and Arthur Darvill and guest conducted by Jason Robert Brown. It was an incredible one night only production that was outstanding. I did a review of it here.
• My friend Bliss and I then saw Speech and Debate at the Trafalgar Studios starring Douglas Booth, Patsy Ferran and Tony Revolori. It’s an incredible play about being heard as a teenager and was so brilliant, we got last minute tickets to see it again before it closes on April 1st. You can read my review here.
• Ugly Lies The Bone is a play by Lindsey Ferrentino about a woman who returns home from Afghanistan and uses a virtual world as a form of therapy. It’s very interesting with incredible video and visual effects. You can read my review here
• And on the last day of the month I ended up getting a rush ticket to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Harold Pinter Theatre which I shall review some time in April!

TV

The only series I managed to binge this month was Marvel’s Iron Fist. I loved Daredevil. I enjoyed Jessica Jones & Luke Cage. But Iron Fist fell so flat, most of the time. Ward was the only character I found interesting and well developed. Colleen started off as being this badass dojo instructor and ended as a wet mop, moping all over Danny. It does start to pick up at the end, but overall, the show felt all over the place. However, I’m still pumped for the Defenders crossover coming later this year.

Movies

Managed to fit quite a few films/specials in this month! Sometimes you just need a film day.

• Whiplash

I really liked La La Land and wanted to see what the fuss was with Damien Chazelle’s previous Oscar nominated film. J.K. Simmons’ performance was definitely worthy of an Oscar win, but overall, didn’t see the fuss. I just didn’t understand the point it was trying to make?

• Katherine Ryan: In Trouble

I’ve seen Katherine Ryan on a few panel shows but I’ve never actually got round to watching a full stand up show of hers. With tales of dating, growing up in Canada & being a mum, Katherine’s stand up is filled with hilarious anecdotes. It’s very clear to see how she’s become such a national treasure.

• Trevor Noah: Afraid of the Dark

Another fantastic stand up that’s recently new to Netflix! I knew zilch about Trevor Noah’s stand up, I had only seen his comedy on The Daily Show. Politically driven with accents that had me crying with laughter, I hope he comes over to the UK and does some shows over here.

• Goat

Stumbled upon this film on Sky on Demand because it had Ben Schnetzer and Nick Jonas in it. I had seen Ben in Pride, The Book Thief and The Riot Club and I think he’s a fantastic actor. Goat is based on the memoir by Brad Land about the role of a brotherhood in a fraternity, particularly when his blood brother is in the same fraternity. It could’ve been so much more than it was. All it was, was angry males who spend most of the screen time just being angry, punching each other or having sex. It was just boring and didn’t add value to my life at all.

• Beauty and the Beast (2017)

I didn’t realise I had been anticipating the live action adaptation of Beauty and The Beast as much as I had. I was pure giddy when I was walking into the cinema with my aunt, ready to see this. It was perfection. It was everything an adaptation should be – taking the source and finding ways to make it better. Everybody was so well cast, including Emma Watson who I was pleasantly surprised by. The CGI was epic and I highly, highly recommend this film.

Books

• La Ronde by Max Gill

After the performance of La Ronde I attended, I thought the script was so well written I had to pick up a copy for myself. Only less than 60 odd pages, I devoured it. It’s so clever how well each of the narratives weave together.

• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

I’ve found that Patrick Ness’ books for me have either been a hit or a miss. And I found myself in the middle with TROUJLH. It’s a wonderful book but it didn’t move me as much as A Monster Calls did. TROUJLH is a book about the kids who aren’t the chosen ones. They just want to get through their senior years, graduate and move out of their small town. But strange things still occur in their town thanks to the indie kids.

• Suffragette by Emmeline Pankhurst

This took me most of the month to read, it was very empowering and hard hitting. I appreciated reading it though, without these women and their sacrifices, I wouldn’t have the right to vote. I was really disappointed in the film adaptation – the book was definitely better in this situation.

Other Exciting Things

• Divide by Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran has risen to save 2017. Divide is definitely an Ed Sheeran album, it’s filled with his classic sound. But it’s so good, it definitely deserves the success it has. My top 5 songs are Nancy Mulligan, Happier, New Man, What Do I Know & Dive.

• Day trip to Bedford

Claire and I went to see Jen in Bedford for the day for Jen’s birthday. It was the first proper warm day of March. We had a bite to eat at Whetherspoons, walked round a park and made pals with a dog. I find it nice to get out of the busy city at times, especially when it’s nice out. I even walked an hour home because it was so nice out!

If you made it to the end, thanks for sticking around! I have a quieter April so should be a shorter post. What are you up to in April?

Until next time,