Cruel Comedy is a double bill of short plays by the French anarchist writer Octave Mirbeau from his set of Farces et Moralités, first published in 1904. Mirbeau was a pretty savage critic of the society in which he wallowed and I hope I've carried through some of the anger and incredulity that informs Interview, a satire on the press of his day which we've updated to be a take on social media as Snoop. Les Amants - which I've translated as Lovers - is on the other hand a satire on the personal rather than the public.
Read more Cruel Comedy
If you want to learn to eat classic French food in style there are few places better to start than Le Train Bleu.
Read more Retro Resto #7 – Le Train Bleu, Paris
The Marais has some jewels - especially the Musée de la Chasse et Nature (also bereft of vittles) - but you have to pay for them in the tedium of expensive crapshops, chainshit and a swarm of arseholes, some on scooters.
Read more Resto 19 Des Gars Dans La Cuisine, Paris
Kudos to the guy in the Uruguayan rugby shirt for surprise outfit of the day.
Read more Resto 18 Brasserie Saint Maurice, Reims
Our go to pre-Almeida place is usually Radici but this week we fancied a change. La Petite Auberge is only marginally more distant from the theatre and at six on a Tuesday there was plenty of room inside, and given the state of traffic on Upper Street a pavement table wasn’t especially alluring. The room…
Read more Resto 11 La Petite Auberge, Islington
With 'A Soldier's Song' due to première in a week's time it's time to pay my respects to the London Library - without the benefits that membership brings I doubt that I would have got the project off the ground.
Read more Working on ‘A Soldier’s Song’ in the London Library
Good food, poor choices. I have to say that eating tête de veau isn't something I'll do again in a hurry. The meaty bits were ok but the gluey bits were ... gluey.
Read more Resto 38 L’Aubergeade, 11th Paris
High quality onglet on a sunny terrace. Good times.
Read more Resto 29 Café Populaire, Rouen
A testing day is rounded off at a good bistro with a world class view. I liked Le B, especially when the bill came in at a surprisingly moderate 60-odd euros. The ability of good food, wine and company to assuage middle class woes is something that I am very aware of and never take for granted.
Read more Resto 28 Le Bistroquet Chez Cédric, Rouen
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