The Merry Wives of Windsor

I was all set to go to something else, but hadn't it booked, when ShowFilmFirst came along with a free ticket to The Merry Wives of Windsor. So off I went to that instead.

I thought I'd never get there. I got home at a reasonable time, and had milk to put in the fridge, which is a good thing - otherwise I'd never have realised that someone had turned it off! I'm guessing it was the one who always turns off the microwave switch, which is beside it. Anyway, I hadn't anything perishable in it, but it would have caused a right mess, for which I'd have been blamed. Hey-ho, I've finally decided to move out anyway, can't stand living with these people anymore. Watch this space.. I still had to clean up the fridge.

Then I had to Skype my mother, who has a woeful internet connection. Of course, it turned out to be one of those evenings.. where we had to wait to get connected, then wait to see whether there was a delay in the call (there always is), where it takes several seconds between someone saying something and the other person hearing it. Then we constantly had to endure calls freezing, then crashing with a "Hold on while we try to reconnect you" message, before finally dropping entirely. And you try again, and go through the whole thing again. Generally when it does finally reconnect, the delay has improved, at least. All in all, it took 25 minutes to give her the number of the hotel I'm staying in for the weekend and add five extra items to the grocery list. That's as much communication as we got done, and then I had to rush off. It's a long way to Croydon.

Tube to Victoria - clunky and slow as ever, and then push through the crowds to get to the mainline station for a train to East Croydon. I'd looked it up on Google Maps earlier, and they said that was the best way. It occurred to me, as I started off, that I hadn't looked up what train to take at Victoria - just the stop I was to get off at, but not the train destinations. O dear, too late now! Well, I consoled myself with thoughts of the large electronic departures board at Victoria - I know it well from the days when I used to fly from Gatwick, and took the train from there.

Sure enough, I came upon the train eventually. There are so many.. this one went to Brighton, with East Croydon the second stop. Lovely! And it was on platform 16, all the way towards the end. Not so lovely! At least I could use my Oyster, and didn't have to get a ticket. I had three minutes, by the station clock.. and I was too tired to run. And I had all those crowds to push through.. and I made it with 90 seconds to spare, by the station clock! Dashed through the first door at the back of the train, to make sure I didn't miss it.

The station clock must have been fast, or those 90 seconds passed very slowly. I would've loved to sit down, and there were a couple of seats, but then I started worrying about an announcement I'd vaguely heard as I was dashing for the train, about this train and something about what stop you had to be in the front for - and of course, I was in the very back.. so I spent the whole twenty minutes to Croydon worrying unnecessarily about that.

And then spent a solid five minutes trying to find my way out of East Croydon station! To be fair, it was my first time here, and I wasn't the only one. Turns out you don't take the overbridge.. I'm so used to that being the way out! Not here, it ain't - you have to walk past it to the end of the platform, where there are ramps. Huh. So by the time I'd figured that out, and made my way to Fairfield Halls, where my event was on (Google Maps showed me the path to take from the station), I was, of course, late.

They asked whether I had my ticket already. I said I had. They asked whether it was an actual ticket, or a ShowFilmFirst ticket. I said it was from ShowFilmFirst. They said I'd have to get another ticket, which they gave me, then pointed me in the direction of the theatre. I was shown in with hushed directions, and entered the theatre. Where.. there was a play on. Yes, this turns out to be a theatrical production, by a company called Creative Cow! Goodness. Not a film at all, then.

Well, I have seen it before, and it is a good yarn. Don't be put off by the initial farcical scenes - it is actually very funny, and this company did themselves credit. They can certainly play comedy! They're touring England, I recommend seeing this if you get the chance. I see that, among other places, they're in Islington and Guildford next month.

At the interval, I headed out in search of a toilet and something to nibble. I was quite impressed with the venue - it's multi-function, with several usable spaces and ample toilet and eating facilities - a brasserie, a "cloakroom" that sells snacks, and a sizeable bar. Plenty of seating too. All you'd need, really, in a large enough space to accommodate a crowd.

And, heading back, I was struck by the length of Laura's commute, in comparison with mine. Yup, must try and get somewhere within walking distance of the office again, it really is worth it!