It's the 200th birthday of the Theatre Royal in Brighton today, and being the kind of party animal who prefers not to bring a bottle, I have every intention of joining in the celebrations. They're throwing a street party, so no alcohol's allowed. Which is a shame, because you'll need a few drinks to endure the performance art and jive dancing. I expect.

According to this article, there'll be music, "fascinating talks" (I'll be the judge of that) and backstage tours of the theatre. Fortunately "visual artist Esther Rolinson" (whose website doesn't exactly inspire confidence, featuring a blank grey box on the home page) doesn't take to the stage until 10:30pm, so I plan to leave early.

The article goes on to state that "Staff at the Royal Pavilion will also be showing people what it was it like to visit the impressive palace as a guest of the Prince Regent in its 19th-century heyday". Apparently they feed you til you're morbidly obese, get you drunk, and won't let you leave til you're hooked on laudanum.

But the best thing about this birthday (which frankly the theatre has been milking for weeks), is that it's given rise to various theatrically themed news stories, as journalists at the Argus desperately try to find something to say. My favourite is this one from today's paper:

REVIEWER RECALLS INTERESTING EVENING AT THEATRE

No? Really? A reviewer actually had an interesting time at a theatre?? Surely it can't be true. No wonder it made the front page - I've never heard news like it. Well not since 26th November last year.