Ditch; Tunnel; Bunker

On Friday night, for the first time in a shockingly long time, we went to the theatre.  It was one of those evenings where you remember all the things you love and can't quite remember how it's happened that you don't do them very much any more.

The play we saw was called Ditch and it played in the Old Vic Tunnels - a musty, damp, rabbit warren of space underneath Waterloo Station.  Have a look at this video narrated by a slightly excitable Sam Hodges (Co-Artistic Director of HighTide, responsible for the production) to see the whole thing being put together - he describes it all much better than I ever could.

Definitely not for everyone, and reviews of the play itself have been mixed, but if you're into that post-apocalyptic, steampunk, handmade sort of vibe you'll love it.  I did.

There's an even better thing about the Old Vic Tunnels though, and that's the bar.

And by far the coolest things about this bar (it's not the fact that it's in an ancient tunnel underneath one of the busiest commuter stations in the country; it's not that the staff actually manage to be nice and not the 'I work in the theatre bar and therefore I'm better than you' of so many theatre staff; it's not the lovely, lovely red chesterfield sofa sitting amongst the various other furnishing oddments throughout...) is that a company called Hendzel+Hunt built it.

"Who's Hendzel+Hunt?" I hear you cry.

Well, a couple of weeks ago we had a get together out back with the neighbours and a random assortment of friends and acquaintances, and there two things occurred.



One is that the only photo in the world of Bernie and I that I actually like was taken by the lovely Mark Charmer:

And the other is that we made a new friend called Jan Henzel.

"I make furniture for a living." said Jan.

"What's the last thing you made?" said I.

"Have you ever been to the Old Vic?  They'e just opened a new bit in the tunnels under Waterloo Station - we built the bar down there!  You should see it!  It's brilliant!" said Jan.

And we did see it, and it is brilliant.  And if you're in the area you must go down there too, it's well worth the momentary heart-gripping terror of descending into the underworld.

The other cool thing about all that is that Bernie's been helping Jan and Oscar (Oscar being the 'Hunt' part of Hendzel+Hunt) out in their workshop over the last week (he wants to learn + they need extra hands = match made in heaven).

Here's what he made:

I feel a kitchen for Our New House coming on...