Dalston Junction Blues

Well, Saturday was good fun.  Dalston Junction and the area around it is full of the usual mix of weird take aways selling some meat type that might be chicken or then again, who wants to take that risk?  There are also a number of Turkish restaurants.  Dalston has a market.  I took a photo of the debris that remained after the market and as soon as I can work oout how to do it, I shall upload it.

The play at the Arcola Theatre was an adaptation of the Pushkin play, 'The Queen of Spades'.  The play was performed in the smaller of the two studios in the theatre.  The cast were very close to the audience and I was tempted to wink on numerous occasions at them as they performed, as a means of expressing some kind of solidarity with them.  The set consisted of a huge dustsheet or blankets covering what appeared to be stage blocks or some kind of wooden structure that the actors could perform on and under.  It was great to enjoy the action with Rachel and Caroline.

Rachel had observed earlier how there seemed to be more beggars around than usual in Dalston and as we walked to the Turkish restaurant we eventually ate in, sure enough, there was a one legged beggar.  The Turkish restaurant was nice then back to Dalston Junction Overground station, which has one of the most austere and elaborate signs I have seen for some time.  It's like entering into a posh hotel like the Savoy.  It's interesting how the London Overground stations are all pretty distinct, depending upon how new they are and whether the line has simply been channeled through an existing station.

Dalston Junction was an interesting first choice and I look forward to the next and hopefully, Razorlight won't have written a song about that area!

An Opening

Finally, I begin the L.O.P. today.  I still have no ideas of the logistics of the exercise and I have no fixed time scale attached to it.  Also the London Overground is a work in progress, which is fascinating.  Will it ever be finished or will it simply become a circulatory system that links the sprawling metropolis with other cities around the U.K.?  I hope that this does not empower London at the expense of other cities and towns.  This exercise is about learning more about the city.  The beauty and its horror.  Both fascinate me.  The reactions of others are also of interest.

Anyhow, today I start in Dalston Junction.  It's a lovely station from the outside.  I am going to the Arcola Theatre, which is very near to Dalston Junction to see an adaptation of a Pushkin play called 'Queen Of Spades'.  The Arcola Theatre is a curious venue.  It currently resides in an old paint factory and consists of two studio theatres.  It has a small bar and as a venue, it feels unfinished but its very embryonic nature is its appeal.  It has a sense of character.  It is not trying to be as clinical as the National Theatre on the South Bank.  Austerity is not the name of the game for the Arcola Theatre.  The productions it puts on tend to be more eclectic than the fare served up by the more commercial theatres.  It's a theatre for people who want to be inspired as opposed to being fed the same plays over and over again.  Anyhow, after the play the Citysocialising group and I are off for a meal in a Turkish restaurant with any luck.  I will try to keep my heart open today to detect the nuances of Dalston.  It's often more astute than my brain.