My Culture Show........and tell.....

Last week started well with a screening of West is West, the dung and dusted sequel to the brilliant East is East, although as a movie it does stand alone. It's been more than a decade since we first met George and his unruly Salford-raised sons. This time around it's the youngest, Sajid, who's the focus of his father's ire. Om Puri, a man whose nose must surly have it's own agent, reprises the role of the troubled George; watching him is like slipping one's foot into a well-worn pair of flip-flops, he just fits. Back too is the fabulous Linda Bassett, a woman who looks like her name sounds. Having deserted his first family, George now despairs of his second. The boy is his last hope and a return to Pakistan his only chance to save the rude young adolescent. Again drawing inspiration from his own life, the writer, Ayub Khan-Din, spoke eloquently about the loss of ethnic identity, cultural change and exchange. But this is no politiscised-God-baiting-soul search for the truth behind the lies of today's fundamentalists. There are no answers to the problems in Pakistan nor indeed are there any questions. He has instead, written a refreshingly comical romp through the heat and dust of the Punjab.

Next up was press night at the Hampstead Theatre to see Penelope by Enda Walsh. Apparently this went down very well off-Broadway. In fact the Sunday Times said:

'Best of all, though, is Enda Walsh's grandiose Penelope, which mixes classical myth with a bit of Beckett, as interpreted by Father Ted after watching an episode of Lost.'

...... if only. Personally I found it to be a load of gentleman's genitalia, of which there was rather too much on show in an ill-fitting, orange speedo, sported throughout by one of the four ensemble cast. But quite frankly, if I'd wanted to spend an evening listening to four Irish blokes shout at each other, I could have gone to Finsbury Park station.

Finally it was off to The Chocolate Menier Factory, to see the singer Judith Owen co-star with the comedienne, Ruby Wax, in Ruby's one-woman show...... as she put it ......Losing It. This is a jolly romp through the American star's life of ups and downs and depression. This is not a show for everyone, hence the small but perfectly formed theatre, but it is a show for me. The second half has Ruby and Judith on stage for a Q & A, a bold move considering the audience was made up primarily of celebrities, people with mental health issues and celebrities with mental health issues. Really, it was like one of those weired dinner-party-wish lists: Nigella Lawson and her dad Nigel, AA Gill and The Blonde and Samantha from Sex And The City to name but a few..... and for the record, Nigella in the flesh, of which we know there is plenty, looks amazing. Honestly, at 51 she looks like a fabilous 41. Really, I know she's had a bit of botox, but she is blessed with incredible cheek-bones and a jawline to die for..... Some of the comments and questions were tear-jerkingly moving. Ruby is quite genuine about her mental health and who her people are, but one woman, who clearly had not read the poster properly, said she'd found the whole thing so depressing and why would you want to talk about your depression? Oh how the rest of us laughed........

Top tip: M&S Pistachio and Almond Cookies.......I am quietly becoming addicted.....