I went to see Waiting For Godot last night, at the Haymarket Theatre, starring acting greats Sir Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup (who he?). Just before the interval I leaned over to my boyfriend and whispered "Next time can we go see We Will Rock You" into his ear. Boy was it heavy!
If you're feeling restless, a bit miserable or hungry, don't go to see it. It's long, dark and the ice creams cost £3 for a tiny pot. But if you want to be stimulated intellectually – perhaps you've spent too much time socialising with under-fives or reading baby books – it's the night out for you.
The play might have pushed my currently short attention span to its limits (it's about nothing, nothing happens in the first half, nothing happens in the second half, but somehow it's about everything too), but to its credit it has inspired my choice of subject for this week's Totally Honest Guide To Baby Names.
McKellan and Stewart are acclaimed Shakespearean actors, plus I'm feeling a tad cleverer than normal after a night of high art, and so this week's list is names from Shakespeare's plays. There are some real gems here that might even make it on to my own list.
For Boys
Aaron -Titus Andronicus
Amiens - As You Like It
Angus -Macbeth
Ariel -The Tempest
Balthazar - Romeo and Juliet
Caliban - The Tempest
Christopher -Taming of the Shrew
Curan - King Lear
Curio - Twelfth Night
Dion - The Winter's Tale
Dogberry - Much Ado About Nothing
Donalbain - Macbeth
Edgar - King Lear
Fabian - Twelfth Night
Fenton - Merry Wives of Windsor
Flavius - Timon of Athens
Florizel - Winter's Tale
Gonzalo - The Tempest
Hamlet - Hamlet
Hero - Much Ado About Nothing
Horatio - Hamlet
Iago - Othello
Jaques - As You Like It
Laertes - Hamlet
Lennox - Macbeth
Lucio - Measure for Measure
Mamillius - Winter's Tale
Marcellus - Hamlet
Nathaniel - Taming of the Shrew
Oberon - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Orlando - As You Like It
Paris - Romeo & Juliet
Prospero - The Tempest
Romeo - Romeo & Juliet
Snug - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Speed - Two Gentlemen of Verona
Timon - Timon of Athens
Toby -Twelfth Night
Tybalt - Romeo & Juliet
Valentine - TwelfthNight
Vincentio - Measure for Measure
For girls:
Adriana - Comedy of Errors
Audrey - As You Like It
Beatrice - Much Ado About Nothing
Bianca - Othello, Taming of the Shrew
Celia - As You Like It
Constance - King John
Desdemona - Othello
Dorcas - Winter's Tale
Emilia - Othello, Winter's Tale
Francisca - Measure for Measure
Gertrude - Hamlet
Hermia - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Hermione - Winter's Tale
Imogen - Cymbeline
Iris - The Tempest
Julia - Two Gentlemen of Verona
Juliet - Romeo & Juliet
Katharina - Taming of the Shrew
Lavinia - Titus Andronicus
Lucetta - Two Gentlemen of Verona
Miranda - The Tempest
Nerissa - Merchant of Venice
Ophelia - Hamlet
Perdita - Winter's Tale
Phoebe - As You Like It
Portia - Merchant of Venice
Regan - King Lear
Rosalind - As You Like It
Silvia - Two Gentlemen of Verona
Titania - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ursula - Much Ado About Nothing
Valentine - Twelfth Night
Viola - Twelfth Night