Do you ever find yourself milling around the vodka and caviar table wondering: ‘Where did I go so right in life to end up here?’ Well no, we hadn’t really ever been in that scenario either until the premiere screening and after party of Catherine the Great last night. ?
Perhaps one of the most ostentatious events we’ve ever attended, this red carpet premiere and after party took the theme to the next level. To shed some light on the theme first, the show itself is about a female leader from the 1700’s many of you history fanatics may already be well acquainted with. Catherine the Great – played by the talented Helen Mirren – was fiery, powerful and super modern for her time, not to mention totally sexually liberated.
As a German woman who first moved to the country not having been able to speak Russian, she took over the country after the mysterious death of her husband and made it her own. She had liberal ideas and worked tirelessly to bring her visions to life. And of course, alongside all her hard work and dedication, she lived every hedonist’s dream. Extravagant dinners, costume parties, gambling with gems and rubies and taking her pick of any man she so desired… she was filthy, filthy rich after all.
So, in tying with the theme of ‘so rich it hurts’, the after party was held at Dartmouth House with an ever so appropriate old world atmosphere. A pianist and violinist played beautiful music as excited guests ascended the marble staircase and piled into the ‘Mironov Room’ for some roaming canapes of beef stroganoff, creamy risotto and salmon and mash. There was a table of desserts that were honestly too gorgeous to even touch. We swear people didn’t start eating them until half way through the party! Painted in the Russian flag colours of red, blue and white, expertly crafted macaroons, biscuits, chocolate cakes and cupcakes were set gracefully atop one another, waiting for their Insta moment. As aforementioned, there was a table dedicated to sipping straight vodka (do as the Russians do) and gorging down plates of caviar. Could things get any more opulent, seriously!?
We were also totally in love with the waiters in fancy dress, alluding to the final scene of episode one. This scene saw the rich people of the palace gathering together for a party of a bizarre kind – one where the men dressed as women and vice versa. In the show, we saw big, buffooning men looking very uncomfortable dressed in giant versions of 18th century corset dresses and pompous wigs while the ladies painted moustaches on their faces. The waiters at the after party had their faces to match, with men in women’s makeup and wigs and vice versa. We wonder if these guys knew that would be part of the deal before signing up to the job. ?
Thank you, as always, to Now TV for bringing us to the party and giving us an immersive insight into the lives of filthy rich Russians in the 18th century! We sincerely hope we come across a vodka and caviar table again sometime in our near future.
