Divinely decadent daahling

We had another fab evening at Polari at the grotty Concrete Bar on the South Bank last night. John-John and I (as usual) took the theme of "High Society" as an excuse to dress in our best bib-and-tucker, and host Paul Burston looked relieved to see fellow dressing-up fans, as he changed his flat cap for a glorious top hat to compliment his luxurious (and borrowed) evening jacket and satin trousers combo.

Concrete Bar attracts a peculiar mix of people, from regulars at the Hayward Gallery to aesthetes, and of course fans of our evening's readers - the lovely poet Mark Walton and former Lesbian Avenger-turned-"straight" authoress Stephanie Theobald. We grabbed a front-row table in a packed house, and immersed ourselves in red wine and decadent culture of the highest order.



Mark read a few of his sublime poems from his anthology Frostbitten, taking the "high" theme to a new level, with poems about drugs, sex and even Jesus! Excellent stuff, and such a shame he is still looking for that elusive mainstream publisher for his work. I hope he gets signed up very soon, as what the world needs right now is more of this great man's ascerbic observations on life...

After a brief hiatus, Miss Theobald read a passage from her new novel A Partial Indulgence - a divinely decadent tale of the life and loves of aristocratic society. Described as "a contemporary gothic voyage through a decadent world of high society and low morals", this certainly sounds like a fantastic book, and one I will definitely get round to reading asap. Read an extract from the book on Stephanie's website.

Sated with literature, I was thrilled when Paul introduced me to his gorgeous special guest, the American actor and star of the film Big Gay Musical (I am dying to see this film if it ever gets a proper cinematic release in the UK!) Daniel Robinson.

Although I had my photo taken with the lovely Daniel, he declined the suggestion to replicate the poses he did for a rather gorgeous recent revue called Broadway Bares. Damn! Never mind, he had a hot date in (of all places) Croydon(!) so perhaps he was saving himself, lol...



Despite the enduring grimness of the venue this was a brilliant and well-attended evening, and I look forward to the next one!

Polari