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FOR SAYLE: BRUM LITERARY FESTIVAL
Being as we're pretty much locked in a cold war with Russia and everyone's wearing ripped jeans, you'd be forgiven for thinking we're re-living 80s. But where being on the brink of nuclear Armageddon and questionable fashion were some of the downsides to that decade, British comedy was coming into its own. A true legend of the era, Alexei Sayle, is Brum-bound as part of the extraordinarily strong Birmingham Literary Festival line-up. Sayle's teaming up with Brummie novelist Kit De Waal to discuss their stories on the Anti-Vietnam War Demonstration and Malcolm X’s visit to Smethwick as part of Protest: Stories of Resistance. The event will include contributions by 20 authors who have re-imagined key moments of British protest — from the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. More
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PREVIEWS, DISCOUNTS AND POPCORN, OH MY!
Cinema prices can smart a little. Step forward the luxey Everyman in the Mailbox, who are offering I Choose Birmingham readers not just a preview, and not just a preview at a hugely discounted rate, but a preview at a hugely discounted rate wth free popcorn. We've teamed up with Brum's best cinema to show Amanda Seyfried and Clive Owen's ANON, two days before general release, for just £9.50. That's £4 saved on the ticket, plus £3.50 saved on popcorn, plus ahead-of-the-curve, money-can't-buy, bragging rights. The story (as if you care because you're already trying to book tickets) is set in a Soviet-style future where the government is trying to fight crime by eliminating privacy, thus creating total surveillance and de facto self-censorship. So sort of relevant. May 9, 7pm.
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ROMEO AND JULIET AND MERCUTIO
"The Royal Shakepeare Company doesn't f*** about," a famous actor once said to us. His, ummm, colourful language may not have quite been to everyone's tastes, but you can't really argue with his point. When the RSC produce a new show it attracts the best board-treaders, and each newbie is almost unanimously worthy of your hard-earned coin. Next up, Romeo and Juliet, a quirky little number you may have heard of. Bally Gill and Karen Fishwick (pictured) play the eponymous and ever-so-slightly doomed star-crossed lovers, but we're getting all trigger happy on the ticket booking thanks to the female Mercutio. In 2013, and at the age of just 23, Charlotte Josephine wrote the first draft of Bitch Boxer in a rage after a passerby commented on how unladylike she looked lifting boxes in her day job. It was a brilliant and heart-pulverising one-woman show that won the Young Writers Award at the Soho Theatre. Subsequent acting credits included being part of the Lyric Hammersmith’s Secret Theatre Company and Phyllida Lloyd’s Julius Caesar at the Donmar. And we predict she's going to own the Stratford stage as Romeo's moody BFF. From April 21 to September 21. Tickets
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Venue: Don Diego, 8 Chad Square, Edgbaston, B15 3TQ; Website
Choice: King prawns in lobster sauce (£8.95); Chooser: Owner
You know that square opposite The White Swan as you drive into Harborne, up the hill? That's where you'll find the dining room of Don Diego, basically the only Spanish restaurant in B-Town that laughs in the face of tapas — doesn't do any of the stuff. What it does do is hearty plates of home-style food, home-style if your house was located in Spain that is. A brother-brother outfit, Eddie is front of house and Alfonso (formerly of Simpsons and El Borracho) is in the kitchen. His signature dish is a grilled octopus leg (£17.95) with a paprika olive oil that our guest would tell you is the pick. But we say it's all about the king prawn starter, and more specifically the unctuous lobster bisquey broth it comes in. Our approach to said sauce was three-fold. There was polite prawn-dunkage while we assessed how into the dish our guest was, followed by more forceful bread moppage, then rumour has it we may have used our fingers to secure those final drops of rich, perfect, mollusky goodness. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AGREE TO SHARE THIS DISH. Menu
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