London bombings and the West End

The Guardian's arts blog reports on the impact of the London bombings on the West End:
For the first time since the second world war, every performance in London's West End was cancelled yesterday. With police advising people to stay out of the capital, most other venues cancelled live performances yesterday evening. Today however, London's vibrant cultural life is slowly returning to normal. The Barbican's Mostly Mozart festival season will begin as scheduled tonight; the arts venue have decided to make the performance - of Haydn's Creation, free of charge (space permitting), and will refund ticket holders.
There's something about that stoic life-hasn't-changed-for-us, show-must-go-on attitude that's quite admirable. Diamond Geezer, a London blogger whose blog I stumbled upon one day and who's remained in my blogroll since, put it really well in reposting his post after the Madrid bombings:
London's been here many times before, of course, and London's by no means unique. The IRA's bloody mainland bombing campaign kept Londoners alert thirty, twenty, even as recently as ten years ago, and you still can't find a litter bin on the Underground as a result. And sixty years ago we endured the Blitz - night after night of terrible bombing, and night after night of terrible casualties. 17 died in a direct hit on Marble Arch tube station, 68 at Balham, 56 at Bank, 173 at Bethnal Green... and even that was but a tiny fraction of the overall death toll. A very heavy price was paid but London continued, and so it will again. Even if 'it' happens which, please God, 'it' never does.

Which, alas, 'it' just did. Please God 'it' never happens again.

(Link)
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