The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Donmar)

This seems like a strange paradox...

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

The idea of removing urinals and making all toilets unisex has been mentioned a few times on this board. While I definitely agree that changes need to be made to deal with the ridiculous imbalance of queueing times, in my opinion removing the urinals isn't the best way forward.

I don't say this because of issues of sexual equality, but simply practical factors. While less talked about than emissions, reducing water consumption is an important part of the sustainability agenda. While there are measures to reduce the water demand in toilets (low flush, water recycling, rainwater collection etc. [the latter two apply not just to WCs though]), urinals still generally use less than sit-down toilets. The other thing is time; part of the reason that the gents' moves quickly is that using a urinal is generally faster than a sit down toilet.

My feeling is that a better approach would be to change the numbers of male vs female toilets in design standards (or use urinals alongside unisex toilets).

According to this (https://www.washroomcubicles.co.uk/how-many-toilets-do-you-need/#sports_entertainment ) it seems that a 1000-seater theatre in the UK expecting 50:50 male:female should have 26 female WCs; 3 male WCs and 11 urinals. I haven't been in a ladies loos but I suspect that these numbers don't match with reality.

Are Lia Williams and Angus Wright an item?

Looks like a gang of us were there. I swanned past the downstairs pre-show ladies queue which was quite substantial. Then past the upstairs one at the interval. I didn't want to look like I was enjoying the lack of queue as I walked in and out. I obviously was enjoying it though. It's great being a man, I'd recommend it. I won't wade in to the "scrap the urinals" saga other than to say that it doesn't make sense to get rid of the most efficient form of toileting, what you want is more toilets for ladies (and anyone else etc etc), not fewer toilets for everyone. Men at urinals are faster than men in stalls, and urinals take up a fraction of the space. I don't really understand why you'd want to make it less efficient and force men into bulky cubicles when you could be using the space (as is often done) for more stalls for ladies, although I fully understand why you want to make it more equal.

Mild spoilers generally follow.

I was upstairs in B11 and had a fine view. I could see people struggling though, and a few seats downstairs had issues with a light shining quite brightly at them, a woman popped her sunglasses on at one stage. I didn't like the lighting very much, it was quite fussy, and honestly if you've got patrons that can't see the action because of a light you've hung for significant portions of the show, you have erred. I did like the bells though. They really do 'strike', it's not a speaker inside. That's the sort of theatre gimmick I'm into, more bells please.

I really really liked this, I've never seen or read it which I think always gives one an advantage over wiser and more experienced people of culture. I had a great time, Lia was at times mildly over the top in doing her own-special-thing. She has enormous stage presence and commands the character. I disagree with a lack of development, I really enjoyed piecing together as things went by more and more about Brodie. You start off with a sense of this mildly inspiring renegade teacher and by the end even without the denouement you have a much more complex, sad and disturbing figure to reckon with.

Something about the actors and the way the "book" scene is written was really difficult to watch, I'm not even sure what it was I was just mildly overcome with sadness. Did someone say childhood trauma? Someone definitely said that. No no, I'm fine, it's hayfever. Nicola Coughlan was a real winner, I forgot until midway through the first act the whole thing about the reviewer, and then I couldn't believe that that was what he chose to comment on. She was brilliant. This is possibly the first thing I've seen Angus Wright in, where I don't wonder why he got the role. There's a particular section where he has a moment of affection with Lia which was just beautifully handled. And on that line I thought there was a lot of very well directed pieces throughout the play.

Anyway I had high hopes and they were met. I'd probably give it five stars. For context I think I've given out 5 stars (in the review journal thats in my head) up to twice so far this year. Reading around I'm slightly off kilter with general opinion, and I wonder if it's because I'm new to this material, or possibly because I think Lia Williams is something near a kind of stage goddess and I'd like her to play me in a show about my life. If we get the budget, we'll have her flip a coin at the start with Juliet - oh that's a different show? Never mind.

The bells have got a contraption inside that pushes a rod sharply onto the inside of the bell, so they don't need to be 'rung' to be 'struck', if that makes sense. They look like they're doing nothing, but I spent long enough inspecting them to ascertain their dark mysterious truth. Shame to have missed you peggs!

Knew a little about the, disappointing, short story but absolutely loved this production. Lia Williams was magnetic and although I'm hopeless at predicting award nominees I'm certain she'll get something at the end of the year.

Thanks for the warning about the two front row seats, I had a spare sweatshirt to ease the buttock burden.

The others were good too, but it was Lia's show.

This is the problem with writing female characters as wives and girlfriends and mothers for all these years. We end up with an industry where the overweight woman gets sidelined as the funny best friend and never cast as Juliet, even though fat women fall in love - and have people fall in love with them - all the goddamned time in real life. Building a great acting career is a challenge for everyone, but directors who think "sure, Hamlet can be chubby, why not?" never seem to extend the same courtesy to Rosalind. We end up with a pervasive, insidious, toxic message that only thin women can be desirable, and that only thin women deserve a great career. And feel free to pop up with a fat woman who has a brilliant career in an attempt to prove me wrong, I'll show you hundreds of thin women that prove the imbalance is very real.

Kathy Bates?

Pauline Quirke's size was often made fun of in Bird's of A Feather by Dorian in retaliation for her comments about Dorian being a slapper.

But as Pauline and now Linda have lost a lot of weight this can no longer apply.

There are certainly less larger female actresses than male ones when you think about top careers.

Sharon D Clarke isn't small, has done plenty of TV and theatre, though musicals rather than plays. I'd hope that Sharon Rooney becomes the SRB equivalent in a few years time.