Judas Kiss and the Pre-Raphaelites

Back home from Rome and just a day to prepare for a visit from an old friend and ex-colleague. Now just about my dream agenda, dinner on Friday night at my local Greek Cypriot restaurant then the last day of the pre-Raphaelite exhibition at Tate Britain, followed by lunch at his club and finishing with the matinee of the Judas Kiss at the theatre. Could only have been topped by a night gig somewhere but that would be greedy and James has a family to return to!

Anyway, as with most such things it all went well if not quite perfectly. That is frankly the best one can get from life.

Dinner was fine, but we were served by a new waitress, and there was live music. If I should add that English was not the waitress's first language (and maybe not even second) and that the music was very loud in a small restaurant, you may detect a snag. We ordered the meze which was very good, and conversation was great even if lots of "pardons" had to intersperse it. But in short communication with our waitress was a struggle and we were presented with dessert before the last meat course which we unsurprisingly didn't feel like after our baklava!

The pre-Raphaelite exhibition at the Tate was very good, but very crowded. Think Oxford Street in New Year sales. I am just not used to exhibitions this busy. It was a slightly odd experience inf referring to paintings we were very familiar with, plus several we had never seen because they are in private collections. So it was a bit like playing I-spy, with the "new" ones being the prize discoveries and the old ones probably not worth the struggle for a decent view.

Lunch at The RAC club was excellent as always, and then we settled into seeing the Judas Kiss, David Hare's play about Oscar Wilde and his betrayal by his young lover. While not the greatest of plays, still a very enjoyable one, even if it shows some of the darker sides of human nature - the poignancy of unreciprocated devotion. Rupert Everett is very good as Wilde, and Edward Fox's son Freddie was surprisingly well suited as Bosie. And I had got us excellent seats from which to see the gratuitous nudity!