Planet London Reviews: December 2011

Saturday, 31 December 2011

CODE - NYE

Date: Saturday 31 December 2011
Location: Green Carnation, Soho

Let me start this review with a confession - I love the Green Carnation (GC)! The touchy velvety wall paper, the friendly bar staff, the classy cocktails, what's not to love!? So I was properly looking forward to Code at GC, advertised as occupying all 3 floors. To be honest, I never even knew there were three floors at GC, and the discovery of the basement was an eye opener. It had a small bar and an intimate dance floor which was well serviced by harder dance music. It kinda felt like a mini-rave, what with the gyrating bodies in a confined place... mmm mm. Highly recommended!

The dance floor on the ground floor was the pop and RnB area, with a pretty good mix of tracks and a great crowd of women. Maybe it was the NYE spirit, or those double mixers they serve, but everyone was very friendly and up for a dance with a stranger. Circles of stranger joined arms to sing the obligatory ‘Auld Lang Syne’, and my mate came back from the bar with gratis drinks - now that is the NYE spirit right there!! There were also couches and little nooks that could be used for a break from the music, should one require this.

The upstairs floor had some great old 80's tracks early in the night, before I'd warmed up enough to dance, and before the cloak room queue had dissipated. Unfortunately, later in the night, after midnight, when my dancing muscles were warmed up and my sense of shame drowned in a fog of booze, the promised 80's & 90's kitsch had become generic pop too similar to the main floor, leaving me wandering listlessly between the floors listening out for some fun tracks to boogie to.

Last but not least, the toilets were kept pretty well stocked with paper and soap, and despite a whole club full of women the queues were not the worst I’ve seen!

OK, that was the love-fest but there are a couple of things that did not tick my box this NYE so let's get them out of the way. The cloak room was disorganised, the queue long, and not relieved by opening the second cloak room. I've also been advised that there was some disorganisation getting coats at the end of the night. I don’t think this was a failing by the organisers as I have attended other 'Rebecca & Nicki' events and not encountered this issue, nonetheless it was taken on board for next time.

The £8 price tag for a spirit and mixer is quite steep, and the fact that it is a double is a mixed blessing which can leave the night a bit, um... fuzzy (or is it just me?). I didn't buy a beer but believe they are served in bottles, with the price tag this involved.

Overall, I had a damn good NYE, and only wish there was more of it that I could remember ;) Have a great 2012 folks, and I look forward to partying with you for the next 12 months.

Review by Tali

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Lounge Christmas Party

Date: Thursday 22 December (Christmas special, normally 1st Thursday, monthly)
Location: The Penthouse, One Leicester Square
Price: £8/£10 (£5 before 10pm)

“Not just Lounging around..."

This event is funky, trendy and cool.

From the spectacular high rise views of the Penthouse over lit up London icons, to leather sofas, to music designed to get you up and dancing, there is a lot to offer.

The ticket price is pretty standard for lesbian club nights in London, however inside it’s on the pricier end of events on offer for cloakroom (£2 per item) and the higher end drinks charges (two singles with a dash for £9), be prepared to spend (we recommend you take cash as there’s also a 15% surcharge on paying for drinks by card). There were sweets, mince pies and free shots on offer though as it was the Christmas special!

But Lounge is a great night out to let loose on the dancefloor – with a fab mix of music current and retro dance classics (the DJs were Uncle Jane, Philly and Christine Townsend). It’s one to come along to with a group of friends – most of the crowd was various groups of friends. It’s a good range of ages of women up for a good night out.

The event is described as for "metrosexual women" based on a Sex and The City style night out for women. It’s definitely Cosmopolitan, darling!

Oh, and take the lift up – save your energy and avoid the 7 floors of stairs.

Review by Katie Hall

Friday, 16 December 2011

Drill Hall Darlings Panto - Miss Whittington & Her Cat

Date:               14-16 December 2011
Time:                7.30pm
Location:         Karamel, Wood Green
Tickets:            £8

"Oh My Word"

To summarise this panto: a country lesbian, Whit, moves to London with her cat, meets a girl and immediately falls in love. However there are challenges to overcome such as the girlfriend's allergy to Whit's pussy, a love triangle, a drug dealing villain and a permanently hungover fairy godmother. As you'd expect, it all works out in the end, via some random plotting, oh and there's lots of singing too.

Miss Whittington and Her Cat, part panto-part pastiche takes on traditional fairytale romance, panto humour and a gentle mocking of some of the iconic elements of lesbian London and British culture, and has you laughing on pretty much the whole journey (except when you're booing the villain or shouting 'it's behind you' or singing along)!

After being advised to set our mobiles onto vibrate the panto commenced. The humour was pleasantly saucy and the story told in traditional pantomime chaotic fun, and full of double entendre and audience participation. There were lots of references that would be well known the lesbians in the audience from paying £5 to get into the "Sweetie Bar" to remembering what your date's IRL name is to struggling to run a profitable organic upcycling ethical fairtrade business. The story even had that traditional lesbian dilemma: do you choose your girlfriend or your cat?

There were some star turn performances, in particular the villain, Ratty who was gloriously hammy, unlikeable, yet engaging. The staging was also done particularly well for the small venue and in the third act the cast managed to turn a plain stage into a ship in under a minute, brought to life by some very convincing swaying across the stage during the storm. The cast also responded very well to some lively heckling.

All in all a very entertaining evening, as we have come to expect from the Darlings and we recommend keeping an eye out for their next performance.

The Drill Hall Darlings have set sails to a new venue for their Christmas Panto. We travelled north to Wood Green to a lovely, intimate restaurant called Karamel (a franchise of the menier chocolate factory). The food was reasonably priced and served right up until 8pm when the show began.

Review by Katie Hall

The Drill Hall and the Darlings in 2012

We have learnt that the Darlings have lost their home at the Drill Hall due to the lease being sold - the Drill Hall will cease trading at the end of the year, and will become a RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) media hire and rehearsal space. We look forward to hearing that they have found a lovely new home very soon!

Miss Whittington & Her Cat

Miss Whittington & Her Cat by Giselle Johnson has been specially commissioned for the Darlings. Dyke diva Giselle has also written previous shows for the Darlings: Take Me Back to Lesbos and It's Christmas, Carole! The show was directed by Barcy Cogdale.

About the Darlings

The Darlings are a community lesbian troupe that was formed in 2007 to celebrate The Drill Hall's 30th anniversary with a one-off storytelling event. The Darlings are not professional performers, but do everything they can to be splendid.

If you would liek to become a Darling you can by signing up to their email list at www.outhouselondon.co.uk.

About the Director, Barcy Cogdale

Barcy trained at Rose Bruford College and has a degree in Community Theatre Arts. In 1997 she set up the award-winning Ruby Tuesday Productions to work on theatre that reflected the lives and issues of out lesbians.

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Only Amazon Knows I'm A Lesbian

Date:               11 December 2011
Time:                7.30pm (running time 1hr)
Location:         Hens & Chicken Theatre, Islington N1

“La la la”

If you’re a lesbian (especially in London), and you remember coming out, this one woman musical tells your story.

The joys of buying the L Word, reading the Whole lesbian sex Book, going organic, wanting to be in those lesbian TV shows, and your first Gingerbeer picnic, all told in a humorous and beautifully sung, part stand-up/part cabaret performance.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show, lots of laughs, and great original songs (to some familiar tunes) and very engaging with the audience.

If you get the chance to see this, it’s one we recommend – any further London performances will be on the calendar.

Review by Katie Hall

You can find out more about Holly Aisbitt and see what else she is doing on her website.

To get a glimpse of what you missed check out this YouTube video of Lesbian Picnic.

Saturday, 10 December 2011

Bijou at the Carter Rooms

Date: Saturday 10 December (2nd Saturday, monthly)
Location: Carter Rooms, 56 Carter Lane, City of London, EC4V 5EA

Cocktails, cocktails, cocktails

Bijou feels like one of those nights from ‘back in the day’. It’s down a quiet City street, and once you pass the front door and tell the security which night you are there for you are greeted warmly by the beautiful Lauren and Robin who run the night. The location has an intimate yet spacious feeling bar with a good number of comfortable booths to leave your bag and coat and to catch up with friends.

The music is a fun mix of newer pop and old classics, and is that perfect volume that encourages you to approach people (should you be brave enough) as you won’t have to shout in their ear! And if you are the type to approach women on the dance floor Bijou is the place to do it, they are a friendly bunch who seem to be there for a good laugh; Bijou is the only place I have ever seen people having splits competitions on the corner of the dance floor, and dancers creating an impromptu dance circle with people taking turns to dance in the middle.

Of course, if you are the type to approach women on the dance floor you’ll need a bit of Dutch courage, and in this respect Bijou again comes up trumps. There is a good selection of cocktails at about £8 a pop, but better yet there are two cocktails specially designed for the night at only a fiver. In the name of research I felt it my duty to road test both and can report that, though I personally preferred the ‘Dyke-quarie’, the ‘Pussy Galore’ was very tasty too.

The best part was watching the bartender mix the drink, pouring the ingredients free hand. It is all too rare that bar staff are given the freedom to pour Bacardi sans shot glass, and the result was a delicious drink that went down all too quickly. The beers are reasonably priced and a good stock on tap and perfect shaped bottle form.

Finally, a word about the smallest room; the toilet. These are shared with the other night in the venue and are clean, with a supply of soap. There is no toilet attendant in the bathrooms, which I prefer, and though there are 3 cubicles the queues didn’t seem any worse then other venues.

Review by Tali and Viene

Tickets are available in advance and we’d recommend pre-purchasing to ensure entry by emailing elysionevents@ymail.com.

So was the move from Tart Bar to Carter Rooms a good one? Well a larger space was definitely needed, but the Tart Bar offered a very 'Bijou' space (pardon the pun). In our opinion this venue was extremely well thought out. We thank Lauren and Robin for their hours of 'research' into venues as you have done us proud!

Monday, 5 December 2011

Robyn Hood and the gender benders - RVT Panto

Date:               Wednesday 7 December 2011 **PREVIEW NIGHT**
Time:                8.30pm
Location:         Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Vauxhall
Price: F£6.50 limited earlybird, £8.50 online, £9.99 on the door
Website:       www.rvt.org.uk/event/robyn-hood-rvt-panto

We don’t want to give too much away because this panto really is worth a visit, although this is certainly not the panto to take your children (or parents) to – Robyn Hood is strictly for adults only!

Voiceovers from Scottie (from the Barbican) introduces the production and encourages you to drink; use your mobile; take photos and talk so from the outset you know that this isn’t your usual pantomime.

Robyn Hood (that is Robyn with a Y not Robyn with an I!) is set in the glamourous space of Hampstead Heath (the Christmas tree is quite a piece of art!) and he is accompanied by Tired Fu*k and a Merry Man. The sherriff (*BOO*) is the bad 'guy' and the story is set around Prince Big Willy and Maid Middleton and a printing press – think a phone hacking scandal of days gone by, coupled with a Royal wedding.

The panto is interactive, but not so much that you can’t enjoy a good drink and a laugh. Featuring the RVT Community Choir (aka the audience!) on kazoos to Love in the First Degree, you can expect a number of non-traditional pantomime songs including two of our favourites: All the single ladies (cockney style) and Cell Block Tango (from Chicago but with rather different lyrics!)

The RVT clearly spent a lot of money on this panto(!), and the highlight was the flying pigeon (honestly!) – it seems a bird will fly anywhere for its special K!

We recommend you arrive early to get a seat as the place was packed for preview night – although it doesn’t matter where you sit as the stage is all around you! Overall this pantomime is chaotic, but very good fun, and the cast were very good at ad libbing where needed.