Sunday 13 July 2014

Something wicked this way comes

I'm going to tell you a secret. I don't really like going to the theatre very much. This often comes as a surprise to people as both Wavey and I are members of a theatre group where we help to build and paint the sets and serve up icecreams and alcoholic beverages. Those elements of the theatre I enjoy, but the rest of it? Nyeh. Not at all fussed. Often the seats are uncomfortable, but most of all it just doesn't engage me in the same way that films do. One of the best things ever was when they started showing theatre productions at the cinema! Although in truth I've only been to two and a half of those. The half was because I felt really unwell and the play was pretty rubbish so I left at the interval. Anyway, that introduction was a very long, round about way of saying that shock, horror, Wavey and I went to the theatre on Friday night! An open air theatre. Where you can take a picnic. I am all in if food and drink can be taken.

The location was a most delightful park near to where we live:


Added bonus, the sun was shining, despite earlier forecasts in the week that had threatened rain. We arrived about an hour early so we could set up our picnic rug in a good spot and enjoy the last of the evening sunshine. Not being real picnic experts, we threw a few things into my lunch bag, mainly of the snack variety. Our picnic woefully underperformed compared to everyone else in the audience, but it was just right for us:

(not pictured: the sausage rolls which we noshed hungrily upon arrival and the Ferrero Rocher chocolates that lasted approximately 30 seconds once we opened the packet)

We chatted and relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine:

The play we were there to see was the Scottish Play by McShakespeare. It has a real name obviously but when I posted it on my social media a friend was shocked that I mentioned it by name, so as I've done it once already, I will refrain from repeating it again. I really didn't know much about the synopsis so buying the programme was definitely a good plan as it told me the plot, and lots of other information. The programme was a very worthy £3 spent. Glossy and packed full of information, way better than our meagre offerings. 

We were literally sat by the side of the stage, very good 'seats'. I say seats as clearly we had a picnic rug. One man actually turned up with a wheelbarrow full of seats! He probably had a really big picnic as well...I digress. 

The play began with the witches, which actually turned out to be quite the comedic moment as some audience members had brought their dogs with them, and the dog immediately started barking at the evil witches before him. You couldn't have paid for better comedy timing! Again I digress. The performance was very good, I was fully engaged the whole time as the cast of 5 swapped outfits and head gear to play all the parts (how do they ever learn all the words?) and I managed pretty well to follow along with what was happening. 

Here's a few pics of the performance. I was too busy watching to take lots of photos:


The witches were ace!


Overall it was an extremely enjoyable evening. It was so nice to do something completely different and we were lucky that the weather stayed so warm and dry. It was fab lying on a rug and sipping wine and munching on snacks while people ran around on stage entertaining me. Absolutely, positively worth the £12 ticket price. The company are actually touring at the moment and I would highly recommend it if they are playing near you: Illyria Open-Air Theatre 

It's in no way shape or form going to turn me into a theatre going person, but I would definitely go and see some more open air theatre as it's such a nice thing to do on a warm, balmy evening. I'm sure my review would have been very different if it was pouring with rain...but it wasn't, and so in summary, a most pleasant evening was had by all. Long live Summer! 

  

1 comment:

Librarian Girl said...

Some day I am so going to visit you. You're always doing such fun things!