In The Importance of Being Earnest, while assuming the role of dutiful guardian in the country, Jack lets loose in town under a false identity. Meanwhile, his friend Algy takes on a similar façade. Unfortunately, living a double life has its drawbacks, especially when it comes to love. Hoping to impress two eligible ladies, the gentlemen find themselves caught in a web of lies they must carefully navigate.
Last night, my husband and I took a trip to London to watch a show. It wasn’t our usual musical, this time it was The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde and being performed at the Noël Coward Theatre.
After dinner at Mother Mash (see my review), which is literally around the corner from the theatre, we were ready to watch the show.
Oscar Wilde statue in Dublin
I studied The Importance of Being Earnest for my O’Level English Literature exam, yes I know that makes me old, along with The Merchant of Venice and To Kill A Mockingbird. I am ashamed to say that all I could remember was it had something to do with a handbag and a baby being left at a station cloakroom….
The cast was the main reason we decided to watch this play which included Stephen Fry, Olly Alexander, Hugh Dennis, Shobna Gulati, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kitty Hawthorne and Jessica Whitehurst.
Of course, Stephen Fry stole every scene he was in as Lady Bracknell and her witty, dry one-liners were delivered with precision and wonderful comic timing.
But the remaining cast more than held their own in this play, from Olly Alexander as Algernon and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Jack, their chemistry was undeniable and they acted their socks off.
But my favourite were Gwendoline and Cecily, Kitty Hawthorne and Jessica Whitehurst, their range of facial expressions, the different tones to their voices when angry or excited was a joy to witness. One scene when they were arguing with each other, they had trouble controlling their giggles which delighted the audience.
The cast stuck to the original story of Oscar Wilde, who I have to say was way ahead of his time with his comedy, both physical and verbal, but modern touches were also added like Olly playing a pop song on the piano.
Our only disappointment on the night was that Hugh Dennis didn’t appear as the Reverend…
Overall, a thoroughly delightful show, a superb cast and a fabulous theatre. I would definitely recommend it, though you will have to be quick as its run ends on 10th January, 2026.
The group leave Atlanta and head for an army base not far, But soon they find their way blocked by abandoned cars. The RV's radiator hose breaks, they search the cars and trucks, Glenn and Dale manage to fix the hose, that's a bit of luck.
Rick spots a walker, but behind it is a very big herd, it's badass, He tells the group to hide under the vehicles until they pass. Dale lies flat on the roof of the truck, Andrea is inside busy with her gun, she suddenly sees the walkers outside the RV.
Dale lying on top of the RV while the walker herd passes by.
She scrambles to the bathroom, a walker wanders through the open door, Andrea tries to assemble her gun, but a piece drops to the floor. The walker hears it and pushes the door with all its might, Dale sees that Andrea's in trouble, she will have to fight.
He throws down a screwdriver for her to use, She stabs it in the head, until the blood begins to ooze. Once the herd is past, Sophie emerges from her hiding place, But two stragglers have seen her, they then take chase.
Sophie runs into the woods, followed by Rick, He manages to grab her, and tells her to be quick And run back to the highway if he doesn't come back, But when Rick returns, Sophie's gone, but there are some tracks.
Rick and Sophie
Daryl tracks Sophie and she was heading to the highway, But then her tracks veered off to another path, to his dismay. They continue to search and Rick kills a walker to see, If it has any remnants of human flesh in its belly.
They find that a woodchuck is all that the stomach contains, There's still hope, they will continue the search again. The next day the group goes back into the woods and they hear The sound of church bells and they sound quite near.
They hope that Sophie is responsible for that sound, But when they get there, she's nowhere to be found. Rick, Shane and Carl continue searching and they find a deer, Carl moves closer, he's curious but without any fear.
Then suddenly, the sound of a gunshot rips through the spot, The deer falls to the ground, so does Carl, he's been shot!
Obviously I have my favourite Abba hits, but what about the songs that weren’t released on their own merit? These are album tracks and B-sides to their singles, I choose my top ten favourite non-hit tracks!
10. That’s Me
This was the B-side to one of Abba’s biggest hits, Dancing Queen, but plenty of people received a nice surprise when they flipped the single over and heard That’s Me for the first time!
It was released in Japan as a single, with Money Money Money as its B-side but only made it to number 75 in the official Japanese charts.
This is an upbeat number about a woman simply saying, “This is me, like it or lump it!” The video was filmed during the making of the TV special, ABBA-dabba-doo and includes original footage and some outtakes from previous ABBA videos.
Agnetha has said that this is one of her favourite songs.
9. Kisses of Fire
Another B-side, this time to Bjorn’s lead vocal on Does Your Mother Know, which reached number 3 in the UK charts. It was released as a single in Venezuela with DYMK as the B-side!
Agnetha sings the lead vocals and it’s about a woman whose found true love for the first time and is not used to the insecurities of holding onto that relationship.
This song was performed by Panos Mouzourakis in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
8. Cassandra
This was the B-side to the wonderful Winner Takes It All, it wasn’t included on the original album, The Visitors, but was on the special edition bonus track versions.
This was a song about a mythical Greek figure named Cassandra who could make accurate prophecies, but unfortunately nobody believed her. Bringing it back to modern day, it is about feeling unheard or misunderstood which resonates with so many people.
The lyrics, melody and arrangement is perfect and together with Frida’s wonderful vocals makes this a must in this list!
7. I Let The Music Speak
An album track from The Visitors featuring Frida as main vocalist. It is the fifth longest Abba track after Eagle, The Day Before You Came, The Visitors and Chiquita.
The lyrics are incredible in this song, really highlighting how far Benny and Bjorn have come since the early days –
I’m hearing images, I’m seeing songs No poet has ever painted Voices call out to me, straight to my heart So strange yet we’re so well acquainted
The underlying message in this track is that you can have good times and bad times, but music will never let you down!
6. As Good As New
The opening track on Voulez-Vous album. It was released as a double A-side in Mexico with I Have A Dream, where it was number one.
Featuring Agnetha on lead vocal, it is an upbeat and vibrant track which tells the story of somebody who has been heartbroken in the past, but has now found somebody with whom there is a bright future.
5. When All Is Said And Done
A track featured on The Visitors with lead vocal by Frida. It was released in the USA with Should I Laugh Or Cry as the B-side and reached number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also released in Australia and Canada.
The Winner Takes It All is synonymous with the divorce of Bjorn and Agnetha and When All Is Said And Done is about the divorce between Frida and Benny. Frida sings about her emotion and sorrow, not only personally, but for everyone who has gone through a divorce. Frida said, “All my sadness was captured in that song.”
4. Slipping Through My Fingers
A track from the album, The Visitors and which was only released as a single in Japan where it was a red vinyl promo single for Coca-Cola and there was no B-side, just a picture of the group.
The inspiration for this song was Bjorn and Agnetha’s daughter, Linda who was seven at the time of recording. It is about a mother’s regret as her daughter is growing up and going to school and she feels as though she is losing her. Agnetha’s vocals are superb, you can feel the sadness through her voice and the lyrics.
3. If It Wasn’t For The Nights
An album track on Voulez-Vous which was intended to be the lead single from the album until they recorded Chiquita which took that honour instead.
The harmonies of Agnetha and Frida are outstanding on this song. It is an up-tempo song which deals with the pain of somebody who has recently ended a relationship and having to face the night alone with their own thoughts. I often think this comes as a pair with Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight), it would make an interesting mash-up.
2. Lovelight
B-side to Chiquita, not originally released on the Voulez-Vous album, but was included as a bonus track on later releases.
This song opens with an amazing guitar solo, which would have been a fantastic opening to a concert (just my thoughts!). An upbeat song about how much brighter and better life is when your partner is around. A belief that their partner had a special ‘lovelight.’
And my favourite track is….
1. Should I Laugh Or Cry
This was the B-side to One Of Us, it wasn’t included on The Visitors album, which I think it should have been instead of Two For The Price Of One, (sorry Benny and Bjorn), but it was on the compilation album, Thank You For The Music.
The narrative from this song, comes across as a rather bitter end to a relationship. There is personal emotion from Frida, exploring how she feels about the relationship, together with Agnetha’s soft echo vocal which adds a sense of sadness to the relationship.
So there you have it, my top ten non-hit Abba songs – there are some I haven’t included which deserve a mention….
Me and I – My Love, My Life – Soldiers – to name a few…
Please check out the video to accompany this blog which I have uploaded to YouTube….
My husband and I arrived at The Mayflower Theatre with different expectations: I was looking forward to seeing the presenters of Most Haunted in person after many years of watching them on the TV – my husband, who is something of a sceptic was interested to see if they could change his mind.
Most Haunted Stage Show
Never to miss an opportunity, Yvette Fielding’s books were on sale in the foyer, a great marketing strategy, but I resisted the temptation to buy. We found our seats and wondered at the array of people who came to watch, a very mixed bag.
The show opened with Yvette coming on stage, she laid out the format the show was going to follow and then introduced Karl, Stuart and Glen to the audience.
Stuart Torevell and Karl BeattieGlen Hunt
Now, I’ve never been a huge fan of Karl, the rumours of him throwing stones and coins and claiming it’s spirits and the famous ‘rope-gate’ at 30 East Drive haven’t done much to endear him to me, but I was willing to give him a chance tonight.
But when he started swearing as soon as he opened his mouth I didn’t think I would be changing my mind about him anytime soon.
Stuart and Glen didn’t really have much to say, only speaking when Yvette asked them a direct question. Stuart looked especially uncomfortable with being on the stage.
The show mainly centred around them showing their favourite clips and then talking about them. They showed the infamous Stuart ‘ghost’ and explained it was Stone Tape theory and they also showed the doll catching fire which they strenuously denied any misdoings.
In the second half there was audience participation: a séance and a mini investigation backstage of the theatre.
The theatre opened on 22 December, 1928 originally called The Empire Theatre. It’s the largest theatre in the South of England. It has held concerts by famous artists such as Bill Hayley & His Comets, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Queen.
Yvette said that an old man has been spotted sitting in a chair backstage and tapping has been heard and so they picked four people out of the audience to go backstage with Karl and Stuart with a night vision camera. They also picked out four people to participate in a Ouija board session.
The people who went backstage heard lots of knocking and a lady said that when she went into the toilets she felt the presence of a little child who tried to hold her hand. The remaining three concentrated on knocking and asking for it to be repeated. When they came back they recounted their experience when one of the men revealed he was a sceptic and he wondered if the tapping was because they were directly under the stage.
The séance started off quite calmly, but they received a spirit who spelled out C3 and Glen suggested that could be a seat number. The lady who was sat there got up on stage and it was revealed the spirit was called Peter and was her deceased husband. She told him she was “doing fine,” without him, that touched the heartstrings of the audience.
They then had a question and answer session with the audience, where Karl for no reason that I’m aware off, decided to speak in an extremely effeminate way, which again didn’t endear him to me at all. His swearing was even worse than in the first half, to the point where Yvette told him to stop.
The show then came to an end, after plugging their Most Haunted Experiences in different locations and I left feeling a bit dissatisfied with what I had seen and it had done nothing to persuade my husband that ghosts do exist!
I found reviews online and most seemed to agree with me regarding Karl’s behaviour, here’s just a few, there are a lot more, I can assure you!
A journey through the meaning of life and anything else that grabs my attention!
Making My Home A Haven is important to me. Sharing homemaking skills. Recipes and food. Bible Studies. This is a treasure chest of goodies. So take a seat. Have a glass of tea and enjoy. You will learn all about who I am and Our Neck Of The Woods.
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