He bought another book! I go to London quite a lot, and I’m very familiar with the secondhand bookshops in the centre of the city. So, gradually, I’m trying to venture out to the ones I’m less likely to stumble across – though, sadly, there are far fewer than there were even a decade ago.
One of the bookshops on my list was World’s End Bookshop in Chelsea (or Chelsea adjacent?), which isn’t exactly off the beaten path, but is off the paths that I tend to beat. Well, imagine my surprise when I happened to walk past it yesterday! I was in the area because I was going to Finborough Theatre to see The Truth About Blayds by A.A. Milne.
(I will get onto the Project 24 purchase, but let’s take an A.A. Milne interval.)
I think it was my friend Jane who alerted me to Finborough Theatre’s production, and I am so grateful she did. It’s a tiny theatre, seating maybe 40-50, and you have to walk through a restaurant to get to it. How they landed on The Truth About Blayds, I don’t know – but I knew I had to go.
As you may know, A.A. Milne was a successful playwright before he wrote Winnie the Pooh, and there is a volume called Three Plays that has arguably his best work – The Dover Road, The Great Broxopp, and The Truth About Blayds. I have loved them for more than 20 years, but I never thought I would get to see them on stage. The tiny Jermyn Theatre put on The Dover Road a few years ago and that was absolutely wonderful – and now I can say the same about The Truth About Blayds.
It’s a play about a revered poet on his 90th birthday. His family are gathered to celebrate him with a special address from a representative of the younger generation of writers (who I think is meant to be in his 40s, but was played by someone in his early 60s). Blayds’ grandchildren are tired of growing up in his shadow, his daughter (also meant to be 47 but…) has long-sufferingly devoted her life to serving his whims, and his other daughter and son-in-law have done the same with less regret and more sycophancy.
At the beginning of the second act, we learn that all is not as it seems…
It is a very funny play, and surprisingly fresh and timely in its examination of authenticity – and how much being authentic might suffer when profit is to be made. The acting was wonderful, with the whole cast on exceptional form. Sometimes bringing across 1920s comedy can feel a bit stilted or stylised, but they did it in a way that felt funny and genuine – and the pathos and moral elements of the play were done beautifully too. Rupert Wickham was the standout for me, as the ‘younger writer’, though I will also rush to see Catherine Cusack (the put-upon daughter) anywhere again. The two, with a secret history between them, share tender, moving, believable scenes – which, again, feel slightly different from how they’re written when the actors are a decade or more older than the roles suggest. William Gaunt, as Blayds the poet, was beautifully characterful. Helpfully, for such a small theatre, no changes of scenery were needed.
As I sat there, I kept feeling wonder that I was getting to see this play I love so much. I never thought it would happen, and I’m so grateful it did. And you can do the same until 4 October, although apparently a lot of performances are sold out. (I did enjoy the woman forcing her way into a front row that clearly didn’t have room, because she couldn’t see the back row – though I can’t mock, as I struggled to find the way to get to the back rows, and the punter I asked wisely ignored me.)
Oh, one lovely coincidence – as I walked to the theatre, I went down a back street and – completely unknowlingly – stumbled across the house where A.A. Milne lived! So many of his early Punch columns are about living there, and it was special to be able to picture the house now.
ANYWAY onto the book! It wasn’t by A.A. Milne, though wouldn’t that have been pleasing. Rather, it was The Flying Fox by Mary McMinnies – with rather a striking dustjacket. I absolutely loved her novel The Visitors, so was delighted to come across her only other novel.
I’m still a little ahead of target (Book 19 should come midway through October), but my birthday is in November and, of course, Christmas is not far ahead – so those are good times to wave lists of book-wants in front of friends and family.
All in all, a really wonderful London day – and I haven’t even talked about the delicious pizza I got at Mucci’s and the ice cream I got a Venchi. Hope you’re having a good weekend, and sorry for slightly intermittent blogging of late!
