I confess I did not take my camera with me, so managed to miss some quite visually stunning sights. The sky as it faded into a patchy red sunset and an interesting piece of Banksy style graffiti (It was of a black angel and on the side of a shop). Nonetheless, I was there and it was a splendid and revealing evening.
Coming out of Highbury and Islington Station is similar to descending onto an affluent alien terrain. Yet, Upper Street in Islington still suffers from the horrors of modern life i.e. Starbucks, the restaurant with the Golden Arches and more mobile phone shops than you can salute with two fingers. Then if you walk down towards Angel, you are overwhelmed by the range of card shops that scatter the environment inviting you in to buy post ironic commentaries on the modern art scene and upon a life lived inside a sweet wrapper. Wonka's 'Golden Ticket' is up for grabs for everyone around this neck of the woods and the rose tinted glasses are blinding. There is a problem with homelessness in this area but that is offered as an observation, not as a judgement. It is a London problem overlooked in the miasma of Boris Bikes and royal babies.
Whilst walking down Upper Street on my journey to the Hilton Islington, I felt caught up as though in a Bret Easton Ellis novel. Wealthy people happily engaging in their Friday night frolics. Sojourns into restaurants with minimalist names. I wouldn't have been surprised if one had simply been called 'Yes: The Restaurant You Want'. There was in fact a restaurant called 'The Fish and Chip Shop'. I was left wondering what sort of food they offered? I think my favourite eatery was called 'Snog'. Basically, it appeared to be an ice cream parlour where everybody sat on upended toilets. Actually, having done a little bit of research, they sell frozen yoghurt. How silly of me to think that ice cream would be served these days in London outside of a Haagen Dazs or Ben and Jerrys?
Anyhow, Islington has the Almeida Theatre and the Union Chapel. Both of which are worth visiting. Indeed, the reason why I found myself in the foyer of the Hilton Islington at 9pm on a Friday night was thanks to the Almeida Theatre. As is the case with many so-called 'fringe' theatres at this time of year, the Almeida Theatre puts on a festival. Normally, short performance pieces or works in progress. Last night's event was 'I Do', a site specific event wonderfully created to maximise the impact of six unique rooms and a corridor. As the audience arrived, we exchanged our tickets for flowers. We got to choose our flowers. I opted for a dark purple pinhole, which went with my eyes after a day at work. There were six groups and six guides, who could be recognised by their matching flowers. At 9.15 pm promptly, we were led to the third floor after being instructed as to the appropriate protocol within a functioning hotel. Also intriguingly, we were advised to walk close to the walls, in case people passed us. Each group was taken into a different room and through the six separate 'scenes' as I will call them then led out into the corridor where a member of cast dressed as a cleaner repeated her backward progression down the corridor and then out of site as music played backwards. Essentially, the play was comprised of the six interrelated scenes that when slotted together formed a complete story. Each scene being set fifteen minutes before a couple get married. The scenes were small intimate pieces. Some were funny and the audience had the dubious pleasure of being acted around and indeed, occasionally pushed out of the way. At one point, as the Bride and Bridesmaids got ready, I ended up temporarily shut in a bedroom! Without giving too much away, think last minute doubts, newly discovered bisexuality and troubled familial relationships and you get a sense of the narrative and its development.
Now the production itself was wonderful because it emphasised a point that seems to be overlooked by some producers of 'immersive theatre', that you do need a plot or structure to anchor the audience. The visual aspects of a production are of course, important but in order to remain memorable and to hold the attention of the audience, you need something that engages their soul and intellect. I need to feel what I experience. Using the hotel, the theatre company, Dante or Die could use bathroom mirrors to show a Best Man giving his speech. Also some of the rooms were intimate enough to portray highly emotional scenes. A man in a wheelchair (I believe the Groom's father) and a woman (probably the Groom's mother) trying to get him ready for the wedding. The woman revealing her love for this man, paradoxically tied to an inherent frustration with the endless daily rituals performed as she is forced to be both a wife and carer.
'I Do' was brilliant and the Hilton Islington is on my list of places to stay if I ever become a millionaire. I want it made clear that as I left the hotel and indeed, the station, I like Highbury and Islington. Yes, it suffers from the current need for redevelopment sucking the history out of everything and rendering everything the same. Yet somewhere amongst the hatchet job, there remains a vibrant community with its own identity like Stoke Newington and Camden. Just ease up on the standard high street stores and lay off on the pretension.
Barry Watt - 3rd August 2013
Afterword
Haagen Dazs, Starbucks and 'the Golden Arches' are all copyright to their respective holders.
Willy Wonka and the 'Golden Ticket' appear in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' by Roald Dahl, one of the best children's books ever written. Currently available from Puffin Books.
Snog have a website and I will visit it properly to sample their wares in the future.
http://www.ifancyasnog.com/
'I Do' is copyright to Dante or Die and finishes tonight although, I believe it has toured. They have a website too.
http://www.danteordie.com/
Also the Almeida Theatre, if you want to try theatre that is more varied than the usual West End model of here's another Chekhov or Ibsen! (Not that I mind either of those two playwrights).
http://www.almeida.co.uk/
The Hilton Hotel has a website too but that won't surprise anyone. Here's the link to the Hilton Islington where you too can cry at the prices!
http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/hilton-london-islington-hotel-LONISHN/offers/100048084.htm?WT.mc_id=zMWGBAA0UK1WW2PSH3SearchEngines4GrGetawayXIII5EN7GW841547&WT.srch=1
BW
