Micro-opera at the King's Head pub theatre

The King’s Head Pub Theatre

The King’s Head pub in Upper Street, Islington, consists (for the present) of a small, old fashioned bar area, with a horseshoe bar and just enough space for a few tables and an open fire, and, immediately behind the bar, a small theatre. Or rather, there is a room that serves as a theatre, seating just over 100 on fairly squashed benches. (The theatre will close soon and move to new purpose-built premises around the corner. So hurry if you want to experience the unique atmosphere for the first, or last, time.)

Auden in an age of anxiety

Auden in the Age of Anxiety

A recent BBC programme on WH Auden sent me back to his poems, and to the biography by Humphrey Carpenter. The programme sought to bring Auden’s poetic themes to bear on our “Age of Anxiety” (so labelled by the programme’s title). Auden’s own Age of Anxiety was, of course, the 1930s, when Europe and other parts of the world once more lurched towards global war.