We Enjoy Silliness

Last night we saw The 39 Steps--Hitchcock's 1935 movie reimagined as a madcap, hyper-British comedy. There's a cast of four: our hero, an actress who plays all three of his romantic interests, and two actors who play the dozens of other characters we encounter. This concept made for a lot of delightful quick-changes, and one case of an actor wearing one costume on his right side and one on his left and having a conversation with himself. The theatrical conventions used were all as low-tech as possible--a frequently used one was actors manually fluttering their clothes and hats to simulate wind. My favorite gag was probably when our hero escaped through a window (mounted on wheels and free of any other scenery) by sticking one leg through it and then simply running away with the window between his legs. The play was a fantastic example of British silliness. The 39 Steps served as a nice companion to The Mentalists, which was more of the dark, everything is terrible for everyone but you laugh anyway type of British comedy. We enjoyed both immensely! Plus, last night we ended up talking a lot (before the show and at intermission, because we are civilized theatre-goers) to a Canadian couple who sat behind us. They were delightful, even though they opened up about eight bags of snacks during the performance.

Before we saw the show, we ate at a nearby Italian restaurant. Jon ate a pizza margherita which I'm not convinced had anything margherita about it ("You can kind of taste basil in some places!" Jon argued), and I had a disappointing 12 oz slab of steak. It was absolutely drowning in a gorgonzola sauce, and had no companions--no vegetables, no potatoes. And there was no crust to it--the outside was just sad, colorless, and saucy. This is like my third instance of encountering disappointing steak here, and I thought that was something the English were supposed to know how to do. I am determined to find good steak in London! Maybe I should try, you know, a steakhouse.

After the show we went to a bar called Waxy O'Connors. When we first peeked into it, we saw a ton of people at the bar and thought that it was probably too crowded. However, we walked into it and soon found that it was like entering Narnia through the wardrobe--it was huge! There at least three levels (with a bar for each one), a restaurant area, and a live band. It was a great time. A lot of the songs the band played were popular American songs, and then they played one song that we had never heard in our life but all the English people in the bar got really into. Google told us it was "Parklife" by the band Blur, a popular English band from the 90s. They were really big here but never really got popular in the US except for their song "Song 2," which was used in commercials and whatnot. Anyway, check them out!

While Jon went to work that day, I did some shopping in Oxford Circus. I spent a fair amount of time in Topshop--like Waxy O'Connors, it was unexpectedly enormous! There were four floors, and every time I thought I had explored an entire floor it'd be like OH WAIT THERE'S A HUGE ROOM FULL OF SHOES OVER THERE. For the most part it seemed like an H&M or a Forever 21, but the further downstairs I went the more things started to look like this: 

And it cost 60 pounds.

I sent a picture of me trying it on to Jon (that picture, while hilarious, is too horrifying for the internet) and told him I'd bought it for date nights, did he like it? Because Jon is perfect, he very diplomatically told me that it confused him and he was not a fan. When I revealed that it was all a simple lampoon*, he confessed that it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen. What possible occasion would this be appropriate for?? Ironic space-age themed clubbing?

I found a store called Mango which I liked a lot. It seemed to be roughly equivalent of Express.

English shopping was quite orderly. You know how when you try clothes on you get a tag with a number on it? And then you hang it in your fitting room and forget about it when you're done? At every store I went to, there was an exit attendant who took your tag back and counted the items you had to insure they matched. So that's why those are a thing! Seems obvious now, but I have literally never encountered that system actually being fully implemented in America. Also, all the fitting rooms I went into never had clothes left in them, everything was neat and tidy.

Today we are going to become super cultured and visit not one but TWO art museums--the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern. Probably also eating will be involved.

xo

Hannah

*"Simple lampoon" is a reference to the British TV show Peep Show. If you enjoy dry and cringe-inducing British comedy, check it out!