Saw 30 minutes of Southwark Playhouse's inaugural production at their new venue last night. It wasn't a bad production, that had me ducking out but unfortunately cast injury.

The show, Tanzi Libre, is set in the world of wrestling with each scene a sort of mock bout so the injury isn't a massive surprise although nobody realised at the time that anything was awry. The actor is OK - I should add - taken to hospital as a precaution.

At first it just appeared that we were having an interval, although no one was entirely sure whether to leave their seats or not. Then the stage manager came out and told us what had happened.
That the actor concerned is OK is the most important thing.

What I saw of Tanzi Libre was certainly interesting and different. It was livel, with the audience, sat on four sides of a wrestling ring and encouraged to cheer, shout and boo. Although I'm not entirely convinced that telling someones life story through the medium of wrestling was going to work completely - the portrayal of baby Tanzi being pushed about by her mother was distressing even if it was entirely acted by adults - I still would have liked to have seen where it went.

So in lieu of the review I thought I'd write a bit about Southwark's new space, the theatre's home for probably the next five years while their old venue is redeveloped as part if major work at London Bridge.

It is much brighter and airier than their former under the arches home, no damp smell either. The bar area is full of the familiar mismatched chairs, tables and sofas with lots of little nooks and crannies - certainly a place that would be pleasant to meet for a drink.

Tanzi Libre is in the large performance space which is a nice size and bodes well for different seating configurations.

The rumbling of trains overhead that added so much atmosphere to the London Bridge venue is absent but the team at the Southwark Playhouse have succeeded in recreating the essence and vibe of their old venue. Looking forward to going back.