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.

Show a little more

Last week of November, and I was worried for a second there I won't be able to give my account for October. It was a bit of an insane month, yet nothing compared to November.

So let's get cracking. First show of the month was Space Karaoke on the 2nd, who did a great job at transforming the space at Barons Court. Great set design, good actors, unfortunately not a script to match.

First weekend it was Marius' visit to London, so I took him to London Cabaret Club to see London Never Dies, and I have to say I enjoyed the show more as a spectator than I did teching it.

Saturday they went to Harry Potter studios, but then on Sunday we wanted to see a West End show. Titanique at the Criterion ended up being the most attractive option. Not the best introductory show, but silly enough to not elicit too much of an effort.

Second week was the calm before the storm. I watched the last week of Reboot Festival on Tuesday, Molly's Four Sisters on Wednesday, and Emigrantii on Sunday, so spent the week locally.

The first week of Grimfest I only saw Unlikely and The Quiet Light, but Velouria was definitely the highlight of the month. Ella's Cabaret 4 Cause could have been great, but as it turns out, her producing skills are not as honed as she thinks they are.

Bit more Grimfest for the second week, seeing The Constant Cold, Falling For, Montselier, and culminating with October's Burlesque Idol, which I am marking as a separate show from the September one or from the final in November.

It was good to see Maggie Castro and her direction of This App is a Haunted House at the Etcetera even if Maggie won't work with us anymore. But it was during the day and close to home, so I could go and see Conspiracy at Barons Court in the evening. 

Quick flight to Italy on Tuesday morning to see Ambra in The Beauty Queen of Leanne (La Reginetta di Leanne) in the good old Franco Parenti, a lot less welcoming in the winter. But it's how I discovered Ivana Monti, who did a great job in the play.

Back in London the next day, and straight to Bread & Roses to see Roger's Lucifer, 'the play I inspired writing'. Which is a pretty big deal I guess, I just wish the play was better.

But then I went for the record. 7.30 at Bread & Roses, show finished 8.35, and I was aiming to get to CPT at 9 pm. Bike to Clapham North, Northern Line to Warren Street, and I was only 6 minutes late, which allowed me to get into CPT from the back for the first time. I did want to see Maria Telnikoff's Just the Two of Us though. Super-chaotic, yet still charming.

And on the last day of the month I went to Theatre Deli to see Jessie's reading of a very interesting script, Abortive Attempts at Explaining Myself. I hope it goes to production soon. This and Maggie's show I marked as halves, so both of them make one. Plus another 17 shows, that's 18 for the month, 115 for the year. It sounds pretty incredible to me too, but it does look like I'm actually seeing closer to 200 shows per year, and probably more than 300 performances. Though in fairness, this has been something of a busy year.

After Summer Coming Down

My monthly round-ups are coming later and later, to the extent that I worried whether I'll manage to keep it up until the end of the year. But November is the last busy month of the year, and once Voila Festival starts, my schedule should be looking a bit tidier.

Anyway, September. So tired was I after Camden Fringe that I didn't actually see any new shows until the 10th. And it was Rosemary's A Rose by Any Other Name, intensely sabotaged by the TfL strike.

As was out Kibo Autumn Season launch on 11 September. I still had a lot of fun though.

Melanie Branton's The Full English show went a bit better, and it was the first show where I saw signs of the audiences coming back after a dreadful summer.

Two more shows in our spaces at the weekend - I'm glad I managed to see To Mars, the first children show at Arches Lane, and The Bear & The Proposal as a one off script in hand at Barons Court (I think I marked this as the half-show).

Halima Rifi and Shilpa Varma in The Missing

The Bald Primadonna, transferred from RCI, was a fairly successful run, then I watched the first week of Reboot on the Wednesday, and then Burlesque Idol on the Sunday. By the way, burlesque is now well and truly at home in Arches Lane, and I'm all here for it.

Last show of the month was the second week of Reboot, one in which I got to direct John Mabey's play, The Missing. It was an adventure, but it marked a few big personal achievements. Hence, my pick of the month.

Adding 9 shows to the total so far, which now stands at 97. by the time of writing I have surpassed 100 unique shows for the year, which means my brag was not an empty one. Then again, I do spend most of my time in a theatre or other.

Festival Feast

It's been such a hit over the head, August and Camden Fringe, that in many ways I'm still recovering. Hence the August post coming so late.

Camden Fringe has been an extraordinary feat, one that we will repeat for sure, but some interesting things have happened. I've seen the greatest number of shows I missed in Barons Court and for the first time I have seen less shows than we have actually hosted. Only 7 shows out of the 24 we hosted for Camden Fringe.

Starting with Shedwood on 3 August, from Kailin Xu's company, whose 404 Reading Club I missed despite having more promise than Shedwood.

Sunk Into The Earth, by Charlotte Ritter and her very nice all female company, though this was very much where I had started to lose it. 4 August.

Nothing for that week until Sunday, but I'm really glad I managed to see Alexandra Jorgensen's Confessions of a Jane Austen Spinster in its last performance in the UK for a while, Alexandra being now back in the US.

Anthropocene by Ben Wendel on 14 August, an inspiring piece and one through which I discovered the amazing Naomi Paxton.

Oh, that's what it is! I was wondering why I haven't seen more, but of course, I had to rehearse for Lobster Pot. Because, on top of Camden Fringe, Copacabana and Arches Lane, I had to also direct a play, didn't I?

All in all, I was reasonably happy with how Lobster Pot came out, which is fairly unusual when I direct something. So I am worried that maybe I didn't care enough about it? I saw the opening night, buggered off to Edinburgh, came back on Friday for Copacabana and took over West End Musical Brunch, returning to Sway after a one year stint at Proud City. Guess how that turned out?

Oh, and by the way, I'm counting Lobster Pot as a show even though I've seen/done it once before in January, because it's a new space, a reworked script and altogether quite a different show. I am also counting WEMB as one, even though it is now a weekly occurence. I watched Maybe You Should Know on closing day of Camden Fringe, and next week I though I'm reentering some sort of normality/baseline. I have seen A Fan of War, but also been to two shows we've been invited to: The Last Black Messiah at Etcetera Theatre and A Microscopic Odyssey at 503.

But then Grimfest - which is more or less on track now, and then Voila, which is another blow to my mental health. Eh, we'll live.

Oh, and because I choose the picture from my favourite show of the month, a few words about A Microscopic Odyssey: seen at 503 on a random Thursday at 1 pm as part of LAMDA directors' showcase. I didn't not have high expectations. But boy did it blow me away! Phenomenal show, one of those that gripped me from the beginning and kept me engaged, one of those rare shows that restore my faith in theatre. I probably do come across one of them once a month, but that means top 10 percent of shows. Anyways, we're meeting the producers tomorrow.

The counter is looking steady, 10 shows in London plus 8 in Edinburgh to add to the 70 by the end of July, means that we're at 88 now.

Take me to the Fringe

Like a proper addict, I had to take my yearly dose of Edinburgh this year too, despite directing a show this week, running a festival in Barons Court, doing an LX op gig for 2 days a week and, apparently, revamping a venue little by little.

It was only two days, so much less than in other years, but a good, productive even, two days, with reality matching expectation almost 1:1.

Arriving in Edinburgh Wednesday morning off the night train, I knew I had to dose my efforts if I was to make something of the shows I'd be seeing. I did however jump straight into Ancient Coins from Forgotten Kingdoms, a children show I had eyed ever since Brighton Fringe, and I'm glad I saw it, if only to find out that no, it would not be a good fit for Arches Lane. Mark Saltveit is American, and the show is much more of a lecture than a story which, despite the great interactive bit where the audience can actually touch real ancient coins, would be a deterrent for the hedonistic crowds of Battersea.

Ah, I should mention the bit where I flyered for Stephen. Meeting Stephen was one of the goals of my trip, and smoothed the way for East of Adelaide this autumn at Arches Lane (this is an exclusive btw). Also, flyering on the Mile was fun. Of course it's fun without the pressure of actually trying to sell tickets, and I also shoved a few meetings in those two hours that in London would have taken 2-3 weeks to organize.

For my second show I had a choice between Windrush Secret and a dark comedy about cannibalism from a company of young graduates. I think I made the right choice, as wingman Olivia set up a good premise for a chat with Rodreguez, which led to a meeting, which might lead to a run. Olivia is always great company, even more so when it's unexpected. I enjoyed having an Edinburgh buddy for a bit, though I was annoyed that I had to leave her at 'What If They Ate the Baby?', one of the three sold out shows of Xhloe and Natasha, which I am very curious to meet. Olivia might come through once again.

The last show of the day was Rodney Black: Who Cares? It's Working, the most thought provoking show I've seen in a while and my personal pick of this year's fringe. Ben Willows always does great work, but I also suspect more ambition than I care to deal with. We'll see.

Weird to close the day with just three shows, but it was the right thing to do after 20k steps and a night of train sleeping. I'm not a young man anymore.

Also right thing to do: listening to Everleigh's showon Hoxton Radio and doing some work rather than chasing crazy early show. Rest was needed and was well received. Which meant I started my second day of shows with Eggs Aren't That Easy to Make by Maria Telnikoff. It's great to see Maria finally taking the big step forward into working collaboratively rather than being a one-woman band, however good she is at that. 

Being a bit aimless, I wandered into Zoe Coombs Marr's show, The Splash Zone. Better than her show I saw at Soho some years ago, but still nowhere near Wild Bore, once of the most amazing theatrical experiences I've had. She co-created that, so I'll always hold her to that standard.

The Unstoppable Rise of Ben Manager was a complete punt, only because the time fitted. And of course, it's one the highlights, a trippy moralist fable about the corporate world incorporating electronic music, puppets, mask, and a big nod to Kafka's Metamorphosis. Got in touch with the company and it would be a serious win if we manage to bring them to Arches Lane.

I had to see Ioana's show, Goodness Me, and I'm happy to see her maturing into her art. It's slow, painful and expensive, but there is a reward at the end of it.

And I closed the day with a recommendation from Ioana, Role Play (or the hottest day in Belgian history). An intense, very physical show about sexual awakening, love and relationships. Refreshing banality of the subject matter in the age of all-encompassing political discourse, but this show is sold on the performance. Cameron Murphy is an amazing performer, he was fascinating to watch and this was the fastest hour I spent in Edinburgh this year.

I closed the day at this, just 8 shows in two days, which is actually good going. It was short, but I had my dose of Edinburgh to last me for another year when again, I will probably not have the courage to take the dive and bring a show in. But soon...

Also, I have now become one of those motherfuckers who are stuck to their laptop on the train, which is where I'm writing this from. We just passed Durham.