Sinead Keegan

From the moment the first notes left Dave Willetts' mouth, I knew I was in for an enjoyable evening. The new musical, The Man Inside , with music by Tony Rees and book and lyrics by Rees and Gary Young is a take on the classic novella The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Limited space, sets and costumes in no way dampen the energy of this production. Even a cheesy, child-friendly lab and under-developed characters can't take too much from the talent that is clearly on show and the catchy, musical numbers. It's easy to imagine that this is on it's way to being larger production with ensemble, but, before it gets there, the ideas need more time and space to breath in this densely packed show.

I wanted to love Keepsake , a new offering by award-winning playwright Gregory Beam, and I almost did. Keepsake is almost a hard hitting, darkly funny look at the issues confronting modern, American families. Sisters Abra and Samara are back in their childhood home to bury their father and, through their conversations and a series of well-timed and well-presented flashbacks, we learn the secrets that plague this family and how they play out in the sisters' adult lives. Beam's script keeps us focused on the home and the nuances of family life while Katie Bellman's kitchen is a perfect left-over-from-the-80s, New England kitchen complete with light oak cabinetry and a giant, American style fridge. Unfortunately, the set is the strongest element of this production, even though Dilek Rose, as Abra, and Lou Broadbent, Samara, do their best to wade through the script which goes from dull and uninteresting in the first act to wildly dramatic and unbelievable in the second. ...

I must admit that I was pretty annoyed by the time I got into the 50-seat Hope Theatre at 207 Upper Street in Islington . As part of the show, a cast member appears at the bottom of the stairs to begin the show. This means the entire audience is left standing, winter coats on (there is no coat check) in a crowded pub for, in my case, twenty minutes. I was hopeful that this announcement would begin the show as they intended to continue, that it would be creative and entertaining and worth sweating it out pre-show. I don't like spoilers, but the announcement? "Ladies and gentlemen, the house is open. The house is open." Not worth the wait, but fortunately the production improves 100-fold from there. Filled with musical references and insider jokes, Ushers: The Front of House Musical , keeps the audience laughing for a one hour, forty-five minute running time, which is no easy feat in our digital age of six second memes and half-hour sitcoms. The energy of the six-person ...

When I was twenty-three I embarked on an around-the-world trip that I anticipated would last for at least a year and up to two...or maybe three. Who really knew? I was young, I had quit my jobs and the world was at my feet. I had a stack of traveller's bibles: Lonely Planet books for South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Austalia. I had some savings. I had my CV printed. I had wanderlust. What I did not have: organised packing skills. Mere hours before my flight took off I was sitting in on the floor of my bedroom surrounded by every shred of clothing I owned, staring at an empty backpack. My mother swore off helping me because the stress was too much for her. I began to hyperventilate. Eventually, somethings found their way into my bag and other things lay abandoned on the floor as I dashed out the door with my mother reckoning that the best she could hope for was that I would still have hold of my ticket and passport when we got to the airport. Against all odds, I did a...

A couple of weeks ago I was having a drink with a friend and she asked what the taller half and I were up to for the weekend. "We're going to Norwich." "Norwich? Who goes to Norwich?" "Um, we do?" "But why?" This was followed by the expected awkward moment while I tallied up the time and money we were planning to spend on our obviously ill-advised trip and she presumably thought something along the lines of Oops, that came out wrong. I followed up with some of my most eloquent reasoning, mumbling something about secondhand bookshops and the University of East Anglia. Then capped it all off with, "Oh! And they have a castle, too! I think." She just smiled the smile of a local who has heard a very silly idea from a foreigner and, the next morning, we caught a train to Norwich. Well, Norwich was great! And here's what we considered the highlights... Norwich River & the riverside path

I have always been a believer that holidays are best when you go somewhere new. Why go back to someplace you've already been? There are so many places to experience. Real travellers keep seeking new destinations. Don't they? Well, I'm ready to revise that statement. In fact, I'm ready to revise a lot of my so-called firm beliefs about travelling. I think this says as much about travelling as it does about me, but for today, I'm going to focus on why Vienna is definitely worth another look. The other half and I loved it when we were there in 2007 and recently, we got an invite from dear friends of ours from Toronto to meet them there for the weekend. We were a bit worried we'd be crashing their holiday given that we'd already seen the highlights of the city. Of course, we hadn't even scratched the surface of Vienna. Here's what I reckon we missed the first time around. Octopi graffiti doesn't generally make the hop on - hop off bus tour

Lest you all think that all we did was munch on tapas in Seville, we didn't we also enjoyed what has been called the most beautiful city in Spain. It's gorgeous. Soaring Moorish architecture, orange trees lining the streets (where did you thing Seville oranges came from?) and lots of pedestrian and bicycle friendly streets. We had a wonderful, if scorchingly hot, three-ish days wandering around the city. It's infinitely walkable and all the street side cafes make for amazing people watching. But you know all about the food and drink from this post and about the people watching we did from this one , so I'll spare you the repetition. Instead, I'll tell you all about the life of Seville, which it has in abundance. Just not in the late afternoon, when the tourists are the only people silly enough to be dragging themselves around in the blistering heat. Seville from la Giralda

Now I'm sure you're all massive bodhran fans so you also know all about Craiceann . What's that you say? You have no idea what I'm on about and suspect that I might be making up words? Ah, well, ye uninitiated, I'm not. I write all of this in seriousness, but with a pinch of divilment. The bodhran (pronounced "BOUGH-rawn") is the traditional drum of Ireland. It's made by stretching goatskin over a round wooden frame. The musician then strikes the drum with a stick - which come in ever increasing varieties - while using his or her other hand to control the tone and timbre by moving it on the back of the skin. The best players can create entire songs with just the drum, hitting a wide range of notes and creating a depth of sound that is incredible from such a simple instrument. And every year the little Gaeltacht island of Inis O í rr hosts a week-long celebration of this instrument called Craiceann. Using the tried and true method of judging an...

So the time has come. The time has come when I talk about London's newest tourist craze. The latest addition to London's over-priced, over-hyped tourist circuit. When I started reading J. K. Rowling's boy wizard series almost 15 years ago I remember saying to a friend of mine that the dual magical/muggle world would make for a brilliant theme park. Now, all these years later, there is a theme park in Florida and close enough to one (minus the rides) just outside of London. I am, of course, talking about The Making of Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour. Cue the screams of Potter maniacs, who, you should know, are not all under 30. Under 30? You say. That seems fairly old. It's a kids' movie . And yes, I grant you, Harry Potter is for kids, but those of us who read the books before they were a world-wide sensation are *shock! horror!* getting awfully close to 30 these days. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was first published in 1996, meaning th...

At the end of our first full day in Iceland, we came up against the dilemma that all travelers must face eventually: where to eat dinner. I am certain that this causes the breakdown of many a traveling partnership. Someone wants Italian and the other reckons they can eat pizza anywhere - why not embrace the local culture and tradition? Why not, indeed. The answer from the oh, so very helpful woman at the front desk of our hotel? You know Icelandic food is traditionally disgusting, right? Putrefied shark and things? The Pearl

We reserved day two of our trip for the quintessential Iceland experience. I speak, of course, of the Blue Lagoon . Famed hot springs and must-do, unmissable activity when in Iceland. We had the ultimate relaxing day there, floating around in the very hot water, so hot as to be uncomfortable in some places, getting a floating massage and enjoying the moonscape. Now, I promised you a shocking truth about the Blue Lagoon and I do not intend to disappoint you, dear reader. Iceland owes its dramatic landscape to the fact that it is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and a hot spot of geological activity. This means that over 90% of the energy used in Iceland is green geothermal energy. The naturally hot water from the earth is pumped through power plants where it warms clean water for use in homes and businesses and creates electricity. When the water has gone through the Svartsengi energy plant just south of Reykjavik it goes... Photo courtesy of www.bluelagoon.com

This weekend, as London went bananas for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, we made a break for it. Saturday evening we hopped a plane and took off for Reykjavik, Iceland. Ooooh. How exotic. How exciting. Yes, yes it was. We had a fantastic long weekend and I, in no way, feel like I missed out by not seeing the floating security show of the Queen's flotilla. In full disclosure, I must admit that Union Jack bunting hung from our balcony this weekend. Oh, the shame. A very enthusiastic woman came to the door one evening when I was out and convinced my laid back husband to let her hang it. Why on earth he let an unknown royalist into our home is beyond me, but being new to the neighbourhood and out of town for the festivities I decided to take a deep breath and let it go. Never did I think I would face a dilemma of whether to keep unsolicited Union Jack bunting on display. But I did and I think I may have failed that nationalist test. I flew the flag of my homeland's former...

OK, so I cheated. That's not a real blog title, it's actually our trivia team name. Also, by trivia "team" I mean me and my other half. Except for recently when we welcomed a third foreigner to our team, our science ringer and my dear friend, M. She was a star and helped us to continue our reign as last place team. It's a record that we are defending valiantly. Contrary to popular belief, this is Tower Bridge not London Bridge. Shock! Surprise! Disappointment. That, however was not even close to the highlight of her 10-day trip. We hit all the major tourist sites, plus a couple of Harry Potter locations, because since 2000, what is a trip to London without a stop at platform 9 3/4? When I was here all those years ago the kind folks at King's Cross Station set up a trolley half through a wall with a Platform 9 3/4 sign above it. We took many a goofy picture on our way to Hogwarts. Unfortunately, due to station renovations, the trolley and sign are now ...

Before we went to Oktoberfest we were warned by numerous people that Munich was ruined by the yearly influx of raucous, drunken tourists. Well it's one of our favourite cities in the world and we love a nice German beer, so we decided to risk it. Someone has to take hits like this for the greater good of travel writing. Luckily, you all have me. As you know, we showed up, felt silly and out of place and so went to purchase some leather shorts and a traditional Bavarian purple checkered dress, which we wore with our running and hiking shoes. That should solve the feeling daft issue. Day two was dynamite, the whole experience was, including the inappropriate footwear. That, in particular, endeared us to several Germans over the following days. Paulaner tent, shockingly early on Friday  Oktoberfest, or (as you all now know) Wiesn, is a massive festival that has a lot in common with the county fairs you find in the US. It has rides and food stalls and a plethora of junky toys f...

Yes, I know. Shame, shame, shame on me. Not to worry, plenty of self flagellation has occurred and you, my loyal (and not so loyal) readers, have been avenged. 6 weeks of silence? Such behaviour is unforgivable in the blog world and I am duly chastised. In my defence (cue the excuses, please), I've been very busy. Mainly, I have been feeling quite sorry for myself, drinking lots of tea and wondering how one throat can cause so much pain and for so long. I think I have a permanent impression of my body worn into the couch. The tea industry, both caffeinated and non, has, however, been booming. Nothing like cold season to boost a lagging economy. I have also had the great pleasure of foreign company. My very good friend of many, many years – so many, we wore biker shorts and danced to New Kids on the Block together – the first time – flew all the way from the US to London just to visit us. Although, I think the various high street retailers also appreciated her visit. B...

Ten years ago, I stepped off a plane in Gatwick Airport for what was to be an incredible experience. I was 18-years-old, wide eyed and ready for life in a castle. Oh, yes, I was headed for a year abroad in a castle. Do you remember what else happened the fall of 2001? Probably not, if you're over 30 and didn't have a child under 16 at the time - the first Harry Potter film opened! I flew 3,000 miles on a fluke that turned out to be the best decision of my life. Lets face it, very few of the decisions anyone makes at 18-years-old can ever be classed as the "best of their life, " but this one was. Life at the Queen's University International Study Centre was amazing. It introduced me to some fantastic people, both classmates and instructors, it afforded me the opportunity to travel like very few people ever can (I went to France for a history class - it was mandatory) and it let me live my Harry Potter fantasy. The ISC, now called the Bader International Study Cen...

Just before 7pm on Tuesday I got the email that everyone dreams of getting from their spouse who's abroad. Think there was just an earthquake here. What? First of all, when you're advising your wife of a life threatening situation in which you currently find yourself it is customary to end said advisory with "I love you." Or really anything in that vein. Not my fella. He's more the facts guy. I, naturally, immediately conjure up images of the sky scraper he's in swaying violently and the reclaimed land of Boston's financial district liquifying and the building sinking into the Atlantic. Then I read the message one more time and catch the all important word: think . Right, well, if he only think s it's an earthquake and has the email access to notify me, it's unlikely he's currently swimming for the newly defined Massachusetts shoreline. It reminded me of my first earthquake. I was living in Peru at the time with a lovely family and wa...

Today I really feel like I'm settling in to life in London. I applied for a drivers license, found out my fee status for university in the fall and am finally getting my food processor. It's real, it's official. We live in London. We are Londoners, now. Well, maybe let's not go that far, so soon. I'm terrified about the driving license. My beloved 1996 Toyota Corolla is a manual car (I miss you, little car!), I've been driving for over 10 years and I drive on both sides of the road - though not generally in the same trip - but I'm still shaking in my boots. Not so much that I'd have an accident or do something terrible during the exam, but more that I'll be watching all these little teenagers triumphantly waving their "pass" papers and I'll be slumped in the corner with a "fail" for some silly mistake. In fact, what's really getting my blood pressure up is the "show me/tell me" section of the exam. Apparently...

Tomorrow we are moving house and I'm ready. It's been a long time coming and it finally looks like it's going to come through. It was a learning experience renting a flat in London, though. Most specifically, we learned a word that in any other circumstances I would have loved: gazumping. It just rolls off the tongue. Unfortunately, it also rolled us right out of a lovely little flat after the landlord had accepted our offer. He decided he'd just prefer to get more money. Instead of saying that to us and letting us decide if we wanted to raise our offer, he held our deposit and kept changing the move-in date and delaying signing the paperwork. When we finally said "enough" he had said that we could move in until 6 weeks after the original date, but he'd let us know for certain a couple of days before the date. Insanity. However, we've found a bigger, cheaper unit in a better location, so karma or whatever it is is smiling on us. Take that, landlord. ...

Perhaps I should say "long lines?" Now that's a culture conundrum. Is a queue still a "queue" if it's made of Canadians waiting for that most Canadian of institutions, Tim Hortons? Somehow, it just felt a lot more like a "line." Oh, yes, my loyal readers (all two of you), Timmy's was in London. Amidst the hustle and bustle of a gorgeous summer day in the Big Smoke there were flashes of red everywhere on Friday. Canadians were out in force with their flags, maple leafs (again, this just feels more right than "maple leaves"), hockey jerseys and all manner of Roots gear. Nowhere were they more apparent than in Trafalgar Square. London has the largest Canada celebration outside of Canada and, on this 144th birthday, Canadians and London were in it to party! I took a walk to Trafalgar and arrived at about 2:45 in the afternoon to find the party in full swing. The two enormous bars were serving Sleeman's Honey Brown and...