John had an agenda- an early dinner at the Lina Stores, a cocktail at Claridges and then a show at the Playhouse. Oh sounds delightful darlings!!!! I’ll get my red hat!!!

We found ourselves in pretty St Christopher’s Place browsing the high end boutiques when we happened across a young woman and her sugar daddy. She was effervescence on speed and she described ‘daddy’ as, well opposite to her. I suggested to him she may have meant ‘dull’. We both laughed indulgently. She was truly wild. Ahh it really is interesting and wonderful people who make the world go round. 

Lunch at Lina’s was great – pasta with truffle for me and pasta with crab for John followed by  tiramisu and affogato. Ah lovely. They have a number of restaurants across the city and abroad now and they are a good standby for a wholesome Italian meal at reasonable prices. 

Next Claridges where we met Bob. He was on for a chat. It was he who told us that one comes to Claridges to be seen while one goes to the Connaught to be discreet. Umm the things you learn. He was the concierge and we met him in the main foyer and once we started talking about the renovation well…. It just so happened we had seen the documentary – the Mayfair Megabuild- and he was away. He told stories about the situation during Covid when he had a suite to himself as well as another fellow, a guest, who lived outside the UK and couldn’t get home as there were no flights and eventually found a private jet lying around and escaped after months being incarcerated in Claridges….Oh pick me!!!

We were escorted to the Painter’s room where we were greeted by Romello, who was our mixologist. All the bar staff are well versed in the art of cocktail preparation. I had an Old Gold (Tequila and Mezcal and a couple of botanicals) and John a Whisky Highballer (Scotch and Dry and a couple of botanicals). It must have been the botanicals. They must have been exceptionally rare maybe covered in gold-dust. Or it could have been the extraordinary 15cm cuboid ice stick in the drink that made it so ‘valuable’. Still, it was worth it. It’s not every day you get to be surrounded by such fabulous examples of Art Deco.

Next -the show-this was more my agenda. I really wanted to see ‘Cabaret’. I had read where the Playhouse had been awarded a 2023 British Architect award for its transformation.  We entered through the stage door and were immediately met with a request to cover our phone cameras. Actually she took a large sticker and stuck it on just in case we might forget. Absolutely NO photographs! With a faux Weimar 1920s ambiance, patrons were ushered into the theatre via a narrow staircase meandering through the confined basement past dressing rooms and bars with players literally hanging from the rafters. Every guest was offered a shot of schnaps to celebrate and then we were shown to our little table complete with art deco lamp and bakelite handset. Our bottle of wine arrived soon after. 

 The star players were Cara Delevinge as Sally Bowles and Luke Tredaway as the Emcee. They took us on an incredible journey. This was a truly immersive experience, from the fun of the tawdry, risqué and shameless behaviour of the burlesque troupe to the sinister and wicked underbelly of Fascist 1930s Berlin. A rollercoaster ride of emotions – and then the finale – Sally Bowles rendition of ‘Life is a Cabaret’ was harrowing and we were left bereft.  It was time to call it a day.