Alas, the hotel’s system doesn’t appear to like my laptop, so I have to use the business center computer, battling with an English type board. (The ys and zs are positioned differently, for starters.) However, I am happy to report that I’m in London, doing a variety of useful things and enjoying myself. In the later category was definitely meeting londonkds and rozk yesterday… and going to the theatre in the evening, where I saw Catherine Tate and Francesca Annis in Under the blue sky. The play itself was about six teachers, paired up into couples each and loosely connected, and while not particularly deep (despite occasionally wanting to be) engaging and at times oddly touching. It was also a demonstration of what acting can do. In the first section, you just want to slap the male teacher and wonder what on earth two of the play’s women see in him. In the second section, Catherine Tate’s character shows up who as written is probably meant to be worse than the guy from act one, but her presence is such that she makes you amused at her being awful and feeling for her when she’s maudlin (as opposed to act one guy who when he got to be self-pitying just invoked “slap him, NOW” feeling). Francesca Annis, who showed up in act III, was radiant and paired up with the most sympathetic of the male characters, so we were all left feeling pleased.

Afterwards, I waited with a couple of other people (not DW fans from what I could hear, they knew Catherine Tate via her show) and got an autograph and some photos.

( Behold! )