Play: Hay Fever

Ah, another day, another trip to Leicester Square! Three days in a row - this is becoming quite the habit. Anyway, the London Dramatic Arts group were headed to Hay Fever at the Duke of York's Theatre tonight, which looked like about the best thing on, from a quick scan of my Meetup groups. However, they're keen on sitting as close to the stage as possible, whereas I'm keen on getting the cheapest (reasonable) seat possible, so when I managed a ticket in the rear stalls, from LoveTheatre, at a 47% discount, I took it! (They have a special offer until Friday.) The group organiser was good enough to put me on their list, though.

By the time I was finished at work, there wasn't any point in going home, if I were to meet the group in the theatre bar for drinks beforehand. So I made straight for Earl's Court, where I effectively caught a cattle train to Leicester Square. Truly, I haven't seen such a combination of crowded platform and crowded train at this station before. The first train was too jammed to get on, but I managed to get on the second one. (As usual, being at the very end - back or front - helps.) It wasn't until we got to Leicester Square that the announcer explained that the congestion was due to delay caused by a faulty train down the track.

I turned down St. Martin's Court again, heading for St. Martin's Lane, like on Monday. Passed a fascinating map showing the location of West End theatres. As I passed the Noel Coward Theatre, this time, the homeless guy was further down, rather than on the corner.. When I arrived at the theatre, the ushers who saw my printed ticket thought it was just a booking confirmation, and sent me in the direction of the box office. Which was a good thing, because that's where the organiser was, collecting the tickets for the rest of her group! When she'd collected them - and herself - we headed upstairs to the bar, where she'd reserved a table.

I'd thought I hadn't been to this theatre before - how handy this blog is for checking! It so happens that I've been twice before, but both times back in 2013, and I'd forgotten. Interestingly, both times, I'd also bought my ticket from third-party sellers, and for the rear stalls - once before from LoveTheatre, in Row R, like tonight. Well, well.. I definitely hadn't been in the bar before though, those were the days before I got myself organised to arrive early.

The bar is lovely - plush seating, comfortably upholstered, with rich curtains. There's also a terrace, which gives its name to the bar and overlooks the street - this would be pleasant on a sunny day. It wasn't so sunny or warm today though, and we sat inside, at the table that had been reserved for us in a side room. There were twice as many of us as the last time I joined this group, and we chatted convivially for an hour or so before the show. Cocktails were two for £10, and most had one - but I didn't fancy any and stuck to wine. I must recommend the crisps, though - they were delicious!

When showtime came, the announcement said we only had three minutes. Fibber - we had six! Anyway, we made our ways down, and parted - them to the front stalls, me to the rear. Where I had a comfortable seat at the edge of Row R, as much legroom as I wanted because of the staggered rows, and an unimpeded view of the stage - especially since no-one was sitting in front of me for the next couple of rows. Indeed, there was no-one beside me either, and it would've been easy to move to a better seat - but I decided I was fine where I was, and there I stayed.

This is a typical Noel Coward comedy, with a beautiful set that represents the drawing room of a large country house. It started rather slow, I'm afraid, with two characters who didn't sound at all natural speaking their lines. They did sound rather forced, I thought. Matters improved with Felicity Kendal, who sounded much more at home, as did many of the others - and as the stage filled with characters, the play came into its own, I think - and I found the second half quite hilarious. This run ends on Saturday, and it's definitely worth a look if you like Noel Coward.

The main interval came unusually fast, to allow the actors to change into evening wear, and I headed upstairs to the bar again - where I encountered exactly one of our group! Seems the others weren't so inclined. It was worse again after the performance, when everyone just vanished - not much inclination to discuss the performance, it seems. Never mind, it gave me time to head to Tesco to grab something for dinner. The busker in Piccadilly Circus on the way home offered a rendition of a version of Halleluja that I haven't heard before, and I'm not sure was in English. In the final event of the night, our train was delayed in Earl's Court, and the driver said it was to "even out the gaps in the service". And apologised for the inconvenience. Huh. Yeah, right.

I was headed to the cinema tomorrow - but only because I couldn't get a ticket for Measure For Measure, which the Let's Do London - for less! group is heading to, in The Globe. Everywhere was sold out, including the group. Well gee, guess what I discovered when I opened the Meetup page to get links for this very post - a couple of the group's tickets had come available! so I booked, quick as I could. Excellent - I enjoy the group and I love The Globe. And the tickets, as always with them, are discounted. And for Friday night, my luck continues - the London Dramatic Arts Meetup, whom I joined tonight, are headed to The Motherf**cker With the Hat in the National, and behold, they had sold out too - but a ticket came available just this evening! so I've booked that as well. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, eh?