the manganiyar seduction @ barbican

Indian Celebrity Squares, anyone?

For my birthday present, one of my mates asked me if I fancied seeing something at the Barbican (as I love going there).  of course, I jumped at the chance, we decided on a show and for the past few weeks, I’ve been looking forward to seeing The Manganiyar Seduction, which is an Indian music and song troupe.

I always feel so ‘at home’ at Barbican – in fact I had been there  with The Man &  The Girl on Friday night to see Alice in Wonderland (but more on that in another post).  We had something to eat first (spicy lamb meatballs in a thick, tangy tomato sauce with coconut rice and mango chutney – absolutely scrummy just like their food always is!), and a lovely bottle of wine and then skipped down to the theatre where we soaked up the wonderful air of expectation that I love.  There’s nothing like sitting in a theatre as it fills up, the excitement building up steadily.

The set is as in the photo, but the squares all had their curtains pulled across, and they only opened them the first time they played/sung.  There was always this little frisson of excitement that you could pick up across the theatre as you noticed another set of curtains rustlign slightly, and you knew the square was going to open, and what was it going to be in there?  The last square didn’t open until about 15 mins from the end, and when finally all of the lights were on, and the full crescendo hit, it was breath-taking!

They were fantastic – if you can ever get along to see a show, I highly recommend it.  You’ll never see anything else like it.  Although from the moment we first saw the promotional pics, it did put me in mind of something from my childhood… (notice Bob Monkhouse’s wonderful 70′s style!)

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