I'm ready!

Half an year in, and 2026 is proving to be just as difficult, and a bit shittier than its predecessor. Always too much to do, never enough money, people being dicks right and left... but at least there's an World Cup.

Somehow, The Man is trying to take the joy out of that too, but not quite yet, baby. It is an annoying and disturbing habit lately to have the World Cup in countries where basic human rights are regarded as optional. The last one where it was all about unbridled joy was the 2014 one in Brazil. Since then... Russia, Qatar, USA, and Saudi Arabia in 2030. I swear, it's the gallery of authoritarian states. What's next, North Korea for 2034?

Still, let's ignore all the political bullshit going on in the world, and remember that everything important in the next month and a bit will take place on a square of grass, some 100 x 50 yards in size. And let's hope there's no cheating this time around, although if there is, I'd like to see Mexico go as far as possible. Always liked Mexico in the World Cup.

My favourites this year are Portugal, and the strongest contenders are probably France. I'd like England to go out of the group stage without scoring, it will be quieter on the streets.

Quick look at each group until football takes over:

Group A: Mexico, South Korea, Czechia, South Africa. Easy, Mexico and Czechia to qualify, Schlick to be a hero once more. 

Group B: Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, Bosnia. I have a feeling that, because of the new format, no group has two solid teams. I'm going with Bosnia to win the group and Switzerland second.

Group C: Brazil, Haiti, Scotland, Morocco. Brazil will win it, and I'm hoping for Celecao to be back into always being the threat, always in the top 4. Cunha and Ederson will be representing United, and hopefully they'll both score. Second place, I'm hoping Scotland, but Morocco will have something to say about it.

Group D: USA, Australia, Turkey, Paraguay. Turkey to win it, second place will be contested. USA has home advantage, Australia are always a dark horse, and Paraguay are bringing South American flair. Maybe USA will edge it, pushed forward by the croowds. My heart says Paraguay though.

Group E: Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Curacao. I remember what a good account of themselves Costa Rica gave in 2006, and I hope Curacao will do the same. Favourites are Germany and Ivory Coast though, in this order.

Group F: Netherlands, Sweden, Tunisia and Japan. Netherlands will breeze through, Sweden looks second favourite but Japan is always a tough nut to crack. Sweden - Japan will be a great game.

Group G: Belgium, Egypt, New Zealand, Iran. Iran always played well, and with the political situation loaded as it is, I'd love to see them going through the group stage. Belgium will win it, but will annoy all the neutrals in the process.

Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde, Uruguay. Gone are the days of Saeed Owairan and Sami al-Jaber, the romantic football of the 90s. Nowadays Saudi Arabia is trying to buy everything, including sporting success. No sympathy for them anymore, Spain and Uruguay to go hand in hand through an easy group.

Group I:  France, Iraq, Norway, Senegal. Oh, poor Iraq! France will win it, and Norway should go through, all going well, but Senegal should be a worthy opponent.

Group J: Argentina, Austria, Jordan, Algeria. I swear, they draw them alphabetically or something. Never really liked Austria for some reason, not with Linderberger in 1990, not with Arnautovic in more recent times. Argentina to go through, and I hope Jordan, though I have no idea about their footballing prowess.

Group K: Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia and Congo Kinshasa. Portugal and Colombia says the paper, but I have a feeling about DR Congo. Big country, politically stable for years, they might be the African team that could on this one occasion. There's always one, isn't it? Cameroon 1990, Nigeria 1994, Senegal 2002, Senegal 2010, Morocco 2022, they might just be the little team that could. I'd say watch out Colombia, but Portugal has been known to stumble too. The defeat to Morocco in the QF of WC 2022 was painful. Congo have Wan Bissaka and Tuanzebe in defence, and are a far cry from the naive Zaire who lost 9-0 to Yugoslavia in 1974. Who shall it be, who shall it be? Let's go with POrtugal and Congo.

Group L: England, Ghana, Panama Croatia. Ok, in fairness, England has it easy. But if they lose the first game to Croatia (likely), and draw Ghana in the second, there might be a few squeaky bums against Panama. So let's be consistent, and say Croatia and Ghana to qualify.

Now, I know there's 8 out of 12 groups who will qualify 3 teams rather than 2. But we're not gonna go into predictions about how the tournament is gonna go just yet; it never goes that way. I'll just check how many of the first two places I got right come 28 June, then we'll discuss the round of 32. Who should the 3rd place qualifiers be? Morocco, USA, Ecuador, Japan, Senegal, Jordan, Colombia and... ok, England.

Swear to God, nothing like losing your shit at 1 am for Canada - Qatar. That's what I'll be doing on 18 June.

December Drought

Alright, might as well finish my 2025 in 150 shows in time for the World Cup. Then we'll figure out another topic to write about in 2027, a very dull year, without World Cup or Euros, but who knows, if United win a couple of trophies I might go back to writing about that.

December 2025 then, was dominated, as it should be no surprise, by Christmas shows. I watched the Christmas Bond show at London Cabaret Club (London Never Sleeps I think they call it), and I don't remember exactly, but I must've teched a couple. I was slowly carving my place at LCC, but in the meantime the relation ship has broken down completely, and I think it had very little to do with me. I was on the fence about that environment anyway, they do some things really well, and some things really bad. It probably evens out and it's an ok place all in all, but the lead is with the hospitality team, not the artistic one, so I probably won't be back for a while.

Wednesday the 3rd I saw Kill Local at Barons Court, which I dubbed 'the best KDC show I've seen at Barons Court'. Even for that title there's some competition, however, Kill Local was a great show. Directed by Saskia, starring Olivia Cordell of Bog Body and a good cast all around, and some great special effects, plus a very funny script. Would've hit a couple of 5 stars if only KDC would be more open to reviews.

7 December was the stand-up show produced by my brother. Atentie! Stand-up! 4 young Romanian comedians, pleasant enough and hard working enough, but stand up has to be outstanding to be of any note. There's a future in there, if only anyone would be able to work to make it.

There was, unfortunately, a feeling of the year wimpering out rather than finishing on a high. I was by this point pretty burnt out, so I didn't care much. Regardless, and regardless of what the future holds, we have seen more than 100 individual shows in Barons Court Theatre, and this is an achievement I will be proud of. Not something to shout from the rooftops, as only the people who've done it know how hard it is, and of these, there are not many.

But yeah, I finished with a few very seasonal shows. Unwrapped, Tempest Rose's second show at Arches Lane that happened mostly without Tempest Rose, was good, but she set too high a standard with Velouria, and Unwrapped didn't quite hit that.

Mitch Benn's A Christmas Carol, third year on the bounce, went better than 2024 but not as good as 2023. This is encouraging, however. In 2023 it was a novelty, but in 2026 it will be a tradition. And we have a good base to grow from.

And finally, my last show of the year, with a full 2 weeks to go of 2025, was Riverside's Dick Whittington and his Cat, done for the purposes of recording it as a radio drama.

A meagre six shows in what normally is a much busier month, but they bring my total to 151 unique shows for the year. What does this mean? Not much, really. Just that I can back my words when I say I see a lot of theatre.

Voilala Land

 If I was to pinpoint the exact moment when my current burnout reached its peak, it must be November 2025.

A lot has happened this month, and I'm not even upset I didn't manage to write about the shows I've seen until today. There's heaps of them though, mostly from Voila. 

Generally, I kept an average of one show per day. Nothing on 1 November, but Sunday 2 November we've had The Last Oak Tree and The Black Burlesque Festival in Arches Lane, both of them proud achievements.

Moving over to Barons Court, I saw the most successful shows of Voila in one day, on Wednesday the 5th: Absent, which is making a return this week, and I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf Too, which needs a redrafting. I saw Mr Stevens in Arches Lane on the 6th, Invisible Border and Nadia in Barons Court on the 7th, and Everleigh's Codachrome at the Cockpit on Saturday the 8th. Semi-Automatic Smokeshow and Waiting for Julieta on a relatively quiet Sunday, the voice-only Facility 111: A Government Experiment on Monday and The Sea Horse at Golden Goose on Tuesday. 

Wedenesday 12 November I saw OffBeat at the Etcetera because Daniel, the guy doing the show is an interesting Moldovan-Portugese blend and he performed a 10 minutes bit at the festival launch. Then Dying to Meet You at Arches Lane and back to BC on Thursday 13 for The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer and Letters to Joan. 

Eat and 30 on Friday, and 13th house: The Basement and Identity on Saturday, which made me late for the Speakeasy and I fumbled the tech a little bit. The lesson was that I cannot watch the 3.30 pm in Barons Court.

And then, before a 3-days break that helped, but not as much as it should have, I saw Of Coincidences and Other Spells, a show from Mexico created especially for Voila, and When I Was Backpacking through Western Europe from Yoyo Chan.

Back on Thursday the 20th for the late night offering of Solo in Barons Court, then we did our own little cabaret for Sharon's birthday, which I'm counting as a half event. Maybe because I was on stage for half of it.

Elsa Siebert in Tannie Koekie's Birthday

The last Saturday of Voila was Tannie Koekie's Birthday and Unfinished Business for me, then the last week of November was a lot more chill: East of Adelaide in Arches Lane on Tuesday, A Christmas Carol at Alexandra Palace, invited by Michaela Bennison, Treasure Island at Imperial College on Thursday, invited by Lauren, our intern.

On Friday the 28th I had marked down Buried, and it took me a little bit and a look at the calendar to remember what it was. It was the reading organised and directed by Effie Loy in Arches Lane, and I also remembered why I've forgotten it. Will now do my best to reforget it.

And in the evening I finally saw La Bella Bimba, at Canal Cafe rather than Barons Court.

Saturday after the Speakeasy I came back to Arches Lane to see Stephen's Dog/Actor, and that's the month.

29 shows plus 3 kind of shows: the reading of Buried, the cabaret which I compered and Treasure Island at Imperial, which we abandoned at the interval in favour of food from the amazing ICL canteen. Let's round it down to 30 for the month, meaning we're at 145 for the year. December was quiet, but I still hit 150 shows without trying.