If you can focus on the main performers, though, you will witness some of the human body’s most elegant and powerful movements. A mesmerising routine with a woman bound in a waterfall of red silk literally put the audience on the edge of their seats. Three women lithely twisted their bodies around, rotating and spinning rings in time to the music, while later a larger troupe performed acrobatic feats of tumbling and leaping that made us collectively gasp.
Perhaps the most moving moment of Quidam, though, was its simplest. In a long dance of form and expression, a man and a woman used only their bodies to continually bind and separate themselves . At times, you could be forgiven for thinking the two forms had fused into one. For a few lovely minutes, no elaborate costumes or blaring soundtrack competed for attention. It was simply a graceful expression owed to the remarkable power and ability of the two performers that kept everyone mesmerised…as long as you ignored the man twirling in the pink tutu just stage left. (Words: Barbara Cole) 

Quidam is on until 16 February. For more info, visit: www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/quidam/default

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Sort of.  In case you can’t remember, Shawshank Redemption tells the story of a man thrown in jail, accused of murdering his wife and her lover. He pleads innocent but gets on with doing his time until he discovers evidence which could set him free. His initial years locked up are pretty harrowing to say the least – and inside the world of Future Cinema, we get a taste of this prison life that at times is almost too authentic for entertainment.  During the first part of the production, a few participants are shouted at and humiliated, while I witnessed  a few disturbing moments that I imagine was particularly uncomfortable for my fellow ladies in the mix.

That said, there’s no denying that Future Cinema are brilliant at what they do as the production values are incredibly high (I’d go so far as to say mind-blowing) – and any questionable factors of the spectacle are soon overcome by the convincing actors, activities and the eventual screening of a film that’s deserving of the homage.  But playing make-believe incarceration may falter in comparison to more light-hearted FC productions like Grease, Bugsy Malone  – and in a few weeks Casablanca – which you probably wouldn’t mind paying 45 quid for. Still, if you’re brave enough, want to play along and oddly fancy the kicks, this could be the ticket. Just don’t take a date if you’re a fella – and ladies, you might want to leave the girlyness (and heels) at home. On until February 24th.

For more info, visit http://www.futurecinema.co.uk

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Fashions change however, with each new restaurant opening now seemingly contending to be more niche and novel than the last, so just as I was thinking we’d all moved on to places serving only hot dogs and champagne or authentic pork-bone ramen, it came as a not-unpleasant surprise to hear about somewhere as resolutely – one might say wilfully – old-school as Reform Social & Grill.

Located in the Mandeville Hotel in Marylebone, Reform consists of a bar area (the Social) serving some pretty spot-on cocktails – they got my vodka Martini exactly right – and the Grill, a large room which with its bare-wood floors, dark Edwardian colour palette and studded leather banquettes and booths is attractive but almost oppressively masculine. On the night Alyn and I visited we were the only diners for almost the entire evening, word having clearly not yet spread that Marylebone, an area well-served for high-end eating establishments but less so for good everyday options, now has exactly that…

To read the rest, click here to visit Hugh Wright’s blog twelvepointfivepercent.com

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Ora is a fantastic smart Thai restaurant cursed with an abysmal location (location, location).  Little Portland Street is an alleyway in the unlovely area north of Oxford Street that property developers have tried unsuccessfully for years to rebrand as Noho. The previous occupant of this site was Annex 3, the short-lived West End off-shoot of Shoreditch favourite Les Trois Garcons.

Ora’s owners are clearly unperturbed that the eponymous three boys, with their pedigree, couldn’t make a go of it here. Money has been spent to good effect on giving the long, large dining room and adjoining cocktail lounge a sleek, dark, Christian Liaigre-ish makeover, and an elegant interlocking design rather like a curvy Union Jack runs across staff t-shirts, embroidered leather place-mats and menus. There’s confidence as well as incense in the air….

To read the rest, click here to visit Hugh Wright’s blog twelvepointfivepercent.com

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Expectations were understandably high then when I went along to try out Cinnamon Soho, the second, newly-opened casual offshoot of the SW1 original (the first, which I’ve not been to, is Cinnamon Kitchen in the City). As he’d been my date for that first memorable meal at The Cinnamon Club, best friend Anders was the obvious and only choice to come with me.

Located in a somewhat dark, fairly bland but inoffensive two-floor site on Kingly Street, home to both the estimable Wright Bros and execrable Fornata among others, Cinnamon Soho isn’t without competition for the stomachs and wallets of the price- and quality-conscious diners it’s aiming to attract. Based on what we ate, Vivek Singh isn’t taking the competition lightly, because there’s some seriously brilliant food coming out of the kitchen…

To read the rest, click here to visit Hugh Wright’s blog twelvepointfivepercent.com

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Only a restaurateur with the supreme confidence and chutzpah of Russell Norman would dare to open a restaurant as wilfully, joyously inauthentic as Mishkin’s, described on its website as ‘a kind-of Jewish deli with cocktails’. Even as I write this, I can’t help but wonder if from conception to delivery Norman wasn’t chuckling knowingly to himself at the froth some critics would work themselves up into at just how un-kosher the place is, not only in the sense of the food not adhering properly to kashrut  – there’s a pork hotdog on the menu for G_d’s sake – but also in the liberties it takes with Jewish culinary tradition.

I make no claims to any level of expertise in this area (hell, in any area) so I really can’t tell you if the matzo balls are dense (or light) enough, if the salt beef has enough (or too much, or too little) fat, or if the oxtail cholent needs more or less seasoning. But to judge the food qua Jewish food is to completely miss the point of Mishkin’s, the point made by that all-important ‘kind-of’: this isn’t meant be an authentic Jewish deli, this is Norman’s own playful take on one – and oy is it fun…

…To read the rest, click here to visit Hugh Wright’s blog, Twelvepointfivepercent.com – London Restaurant Reviews Of Real Discretion. 

Follow Hugh on Twitter: @HRWright

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To celebrate the season of eating, drinking and being merry, The Book Club  held their “Bad Jumper Jingle Bell Rock” on December 9th. Shoreditch hipsters were invited to don their most cringeworthy jumpers and get ready to rock around the Christmas tree. Well, dodgy jumpers were aplenty, while reindeer, snowmen, santas and snowflakes all made a knitted appearance your gran would be proud of.

However the festive knits weren’t enough to stop a “disaster” during the night. News reached the Club that Rudolph (the reindeer,  of course) had broken his nose and a replacement was needed urgently. Guests saved the day by taking part in “reindeer testing activities” to recruit a replacement reindeer, with challenges that included:

• – demonstrating your galloping
• – braving arctic conditions (holding an ice cube against your nose)
• – being able to unwrap a present with your hooves
• – finding food in a bale of (glittery) hay
• – showing off your reindeer socialising skills
• – steer the sleigh without going off course
• – Being able to identify everyday sights from a flying reindeer’s perspective in the sky (well maybe not “everyday” sights – one of them was a man in a sombrero riding a bike!)

The reindeer recruitment was overseen by “Santa’s helpers” who played the panpipes and rewarded good skills with Christmassy goodies, candy canes or cinnamon shots. We recovered from the reindeer activities with some quirky cocktails, such as the Don’t Go to Dalston and The Angry Pirate. The celebrations continued with The Bikini Beach Band – who were in fact  wearing flares and fez’s – and their funky take on an eclectic range of music got even the dodgiest-dressed punters on the dance floor, before the night was wrapped up with a brilliant set from DJ Sean Rowley.  (Words: Clare Ebberson)

 

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…To read the rest, click here to visit West End Wendy’s blog, westendwendyblog.blogspot.com – The Life And Times Of A London Theatre Fan. 

Follow Wendy on Twitter: @Westend_Wendy or Facebook:www.youtube.com/MsWestendwendy

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Don’t go looking for smart new Thai restaurant @SIAM on Twitter though; the username does exist, but it’s not them – in fact it’s one of the thousands of dormant accounts which include, frustratingly, @hughwright, an Evangelical Christian in the US who’s not tweeted since May last year. And not that you would, but don’t go looking for it in Siam either – you’d have a job to, as no such place exists, the Kingdom of Siam having become Thailand for good in 1949. Do however go looking for it on Frith Street, slap-bang in the heart of Soho, where you will find it, especially if what you’re looking for is some really very good Thai food at not-too-hideous prices…

…To read the rest, click here to visit Hugh Wright’s blog, Twelvepointfivepercent.com – London Restaurant Reviews Of Real Discretion. 

Follow Hugh on Twitter: @HRWright

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