Is it me, or did May fly by? With me spending the first week of the month on holiday, coming straight home and into my new job (which, I’m delighted to report, is still wonderful nearly a month in) and a healthy dose of what my mother has taken to calling “gallivanting*”, it only seems like yesterday I was reflecting on the end of April. And yet here we are, in June. I’ve not had much time for writing (sorry), but I’m back to give a bit of a whistle stop tour of some of the things I’ve enjoyed most this month.

In writing this month’s roundup – the fourth I’ve done now – I went back and read over the previous months’ offerings. It’s been interesting to see how much has changed, both in my life in general and in the kinds of things I’ve been up to. And actually, with the end of April came the end of a pretty rotten year, for a lot of reasons I won’t bore you with. That doesn’t mean that everything is sunshine and roses now – a healthy dose of imposter syndrome from the new job, along with the biggest anxiety spike I’ve had to deal with in well over a year (probably closer to four) haven’t been much fun – but all in all, things seem to be a bit more even and a bit less dramatic. Which is nice.

*By which I mainly mean that I’ve been out of the house a lot, both because of the strange new feeling of “wanting to be in the office all the time” and having beaten my April record by seeing a grand total of seven shows this month.

Although it feels like I haven’t done much this month apart from The New Job (and lots of theatre), I’ve still managed to fit quite a lot in. Mostly this is thanks to my holiday, and so this month ‘s round-up is quite heavy on the Stratford-on-Avon content.

There’ll be a Things I watched in May (or maybe two) coming shortly, because there was far too much of it to squeeze in here. This is all the other fun stuff I’ve been up to, so strap in as I take you on a trip to the beautiful Midlands and…

RSC Guided Tour (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon)

It is a truth universally acknowledged** that when you’re in Stratford, you must do as many Shakespeare-related things as you can. And with my relatively recently revived love for the theatre, the RSC seemed to be the perfect place to start. I had a free morning the day after my trip to see Love’s Labour’s Lost and spending it finding out more about the building’s history seemed like a perfect choice.

There was something really wonderful about doing the tour the morning after I’d seen the production; it was a delight to step back into the world I’d enjoyed so much before (literally) stepping behind the curtain. That day was the first time for a while that tour groups were allowed onto the stage (timed that well, didn’t I?!) and it was such a thrill to step onto the hallowed astroturf, still littered with remnants of the previous night’s props. I also never thought I’d find myself reciting Shakespeare on the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, but there I was, giving it my best Caliban.*** I probably won’t be making my stage debut any time soon, though.

I still can’t quite believe the tour was only an hour, we packed so much in: from the original stage boards and gorgeous 1930s Art Deco box office still hidden in plain sight to the secret wardrobe change spots, the inside of both the main and Swan auditorium and the main stage, wardrobe and the audio description booth, I saw pretty much everything, and learned loads. It helped me fall even more in love with the world of theatre: not just the stuff on stage, but the whole process of making it happen.

There was a lot of emphasis throughout the tour on the importance the RSC places on making their productions accessible to as many people as possible, and it certainly came across. I loved getting a sneaky peek into the audio description booth; I’d never really thought about how it happens, I just took for granted that it did, and so it was a fascinating insight.

The tour finished on the bridge between the Swan and the main auditorium, giving us gorgeous views over the river and the town, as well as some mysterious former props on the building’s roof, and an extremely cool Lego rendering of the great man himself. And if you’ve ever wanted to be roasted by a piece of furniture, having a quick sit down in the Insult Chair is an absolute must. (I’ll leave what it said to me to your imagination).

**Yes, I know this is an Austen quote. I’m on a deadline and I couldn’t think of a Shakespeare one that would fit. Stop whining.

***The best speech, from the best play, I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t agree but not before I’ve made them watch this – if Sir Kenny B doesn’t give you goosebumps the Elgar will)

Our guide was brilliant – he works front-of-house as well as doing the tours, so he had plenty of stories to tell along the way, and clearly loved the place. They say no two tours are the same, so I’m definitely planning on doing another one the next time I find myself in Warwickshire.

The tours run most days, and you can find out more and book tickets online through the RSC website.

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Unravel (Barbican, London)

I read somewhere that the mark of a good reviewer is being able to reflect and detach their opinions about whatever they’re reviewing from their emotions and mood at the time. In that case, I’m not a good reviewer – and I’m fine with that. For me, the ability of a thing (be it a place, show, exhibition, book…whatever it is) to affect my mood for better or worse is an integral part of whether I enjoy it or not, and I need to acknowledge my existing mood before I can judge how it’s done.

If I’m honest, I was in a foul mood the day I went to see Unravel. I’d had a very late night the day before, it was hot and humid in London, I’d spent twice as long as I should have actually getting to the Barbican thanks to some nonexistent buses**** and by the time I made it, I’d missed my booked time slot for the exhibition. And I’m really, truly not a fan of the City of London; as The Kids would say, the vibes are off, and I’d prefer not to visit if I can help it. All of that meant that I was a tiny bit stressed and grumpy by the time I set foot in the gallery. 

What I really hoped would happen at this point was a Hayward Gallery-esque step into another, more peaceful world (sidenote: I’m super interested to see if I have the same response to the Hayward’s upcoming exhibition as I did to When Forms Come Alive, and finding out if it was the space or the art that I fell in love with). Fibre arts in general (knitting in particular) are my bag, and I’d heard really good things about Unravel from folk I know who’d visited before me, so my expectations were high. 

Sadly, I went away a little bit disappointed. 

It was good, sure – the individual works were beautiful, meaningful, intricately crafted and many of them had brilliant stories to tell. Sadly – and without shelling out forty quid the full exhibition catalogue – I can’t find any of the information online anywhere. (Another place where the Barbican could learn a lesson from the Hayward, where I can see everything from past exhibitions on the Bloomberg app…). I think the exhibition as a whole, by including a number of subversive or hard-hitting works, thought it was being edgier than it was. 

I’m not one to judge anyone’s parenting choices, but it made me pretty uncomfortable viewing some of the more explicit works (of which there were quite a few) with infant-school aged kids around. 

Despite grouping the works into distinct themes around the gallery space, the exhibition as an entity felt incomplete. Partly, this was because it was, indeed, incomplete. A number of artists had withdrawn their work from the exhibition in an act of solidarity with Palestine, and the space their works would have occupied was held, sometimes alongside an additional statement from the artist themselves. Other artists had requested that statements were displayed alongside their work. 

Actually, these acts, and the reminder that art is by its nature political, were the most thought-provoking and powerful part of the exhibition. 

****although this did lead to me getting to finally take a trip on the Elizabeth Line. 9/10, a very good line, excellent station design. But I’d rather my inaugural trip wasn’t on this particular occasion when I was too frazzled to truly appreciate it.

Unravel ran from 13 Feb – 26 May at the Barbican, London, and will be in Amsterdam in September 2024. 

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Oh…and a bonus Thing I loved in April But Forgot: Birdsong Walk (London Wetland Centre)

Last month’s Things I’ve loved was a bumper one and, despite making a list (and checking it twice, it’s not just for Santa) I still managed to forget one of my favourite things from April.

As someone who writes mostly about city-based things that happen indoors, you’d be forgiven for thinking I’m not much of a nature lover. You’d be forgiven for thinking that, but you’d still be wrong. I love being outdoors, in the wild, especially by water. The London Wetland Centre is one of my favourite sanctuaries for this, getting to hang around with some cool birds and forgetting I’m in the city. 

Having been on one of their bat walks last year, and had a terrific time, I booked onto one of their early-morning birdsong walks. There isn’t much that gets me out of the house at 7:30am on a day off, but spending an hour before the centre opens, listening to the tail end of the dawn chorus and learning how to identify some of the calls is one of them. And it was glorious. As well as the usual robins, blackbirds and ubiquitous parakeets, we heard (and in some instances saw) a host of other birds including chiffchaffs, blackcaps, reed warblers, Cetti’s warblers, sand martins and reed buntings. It was bird nerd heaven. 

It’s such a friendly thing to do, too – the only people who’ll turn up in Barnes at 8:30 on a Wednesday morning are people who truly love doing this kind of thing, and so chatting with them, and the guides, as we walked around, was a delight. 

There aren’t any other birdsong walks scheduled at the moment, but if and when they offer more dates, I’d absolutely recommend it.

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Songs on repeat

I’ll be honest with you: at this point, my ears are really only interested in the Eras Tour (Ear-as tour? Is that something****?). There’s been a lot of Taylor, obviously. But I’ve also gone deep into a Paramore re-listen. I’ve loved them for years, so to get to see two of my all-time favourite acts in one show is going to be a bit of a dream come true.

I’ve been trying really hard not to get too annoyed at all the “who is Paramore? The band supporting Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour in Europe” articles churned out by the usual suspects gagging for clicks – it’s not the Baby Swifties’ fault they haven’t been given the chance to hear Brand New Eyes before. So, instead, I’ve used it as an opportunity to remind myself of how marvellous their back catalogue is, all in the name of making sure I’m adequately prepared for the show.

Plus, it turns out they’re the perfect mood for a morning commute; my only challenge is not singing along (harder than you’d think when you’re blasting crushcrushcrush and Still Into You into your ears at 7:30am).

*no, no it isn’t. And I can only apologise

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One last thing…

Before you go, I’ve got a little favour to ask. If you’ve enjoyed this post, or any of my others, I’d really love it if you’d subscribe. You’ll get my posts straight into my inbox, which means you won’t miss anything (for some reason the algorithms often bury the ones I’m proudest of) – and every now and then I’ll write something extra just for subscribers. It won’t cost you anything, I promise not to spam you, and best of all, you’ll earn my undying love and gratitude

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So, that was May. And it’s been lovely. Of course, there’s been lots of other things I loved that didn’t warrant their own segment: brunches, cat cafés, walks, reading books in the sunshine (and in the rain), spending time with friends and eating what I can only describe as shedloads of ice cream. 

So far all I know about June is that it’s going to feature yet more theatre. I hope there’ll also be some museum visits in there; I just haven’t had the time or the energy, but I’m starting to miss them already. Although we’re approaching peak Tourist Season, and I hate crowds, so we’ll see how that turns out.