Tonight I went to see West Side Story at the Theatre and it was fantastic, the actors were amazing, the orchestra talented and I loved the set. The only thing I didn't love was the man who sat next to me eating popcorn through the second half. Crunch, crunch, scrunch, crunch, crunch.
When you go to the cinema popcorn is expected, hell it's practically mandatory; but not at the theatre. When I was little you had an ice cream in the interval, if you were good; but you had to eat it during the interval. You never ate during the performance, it just wasn't done. You didn't even have a drink; but now people are opening fizzy drinks bottles left, right and centre. The constant hiss of carbonation is so frustrating. I don't know if the actors can hear it; but the rest of the audience can. If you must, have a bottle of still water; but leave your fizzy pop and your scrunchy bags of sweets and popcorn at home please. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who's ever imagined having a cinema screen all to themselves? Your own private screening. It's something I've wanted since I've been well enough to go to the cinema again. Every time I've been to a film and nobody has come in, I've got my hopes up. Then had them dashed as soon as a few people amble in just before the start of the trailers. In truth I've wanted to shoo them away. I'm a lady (and a scaredy cat) so I never have. Today though, my dream came true in the most unexpected way. Mum and I had tickets to the National Theatre Live screening of King Lear. We got to be the cinema and sat in the empty screen for a while, until a man came in and told us there was a problem. Unfortunately they couldn't show King Lear; but if we wanted they would put something else on for us - a film of our choice! Not only were we the only ones who had bought tickets, we now had the screen to ourselves. I was tempted by Maleficent; but he also suggested Driving Miss Daisy, the Angela Lansurry, James Earl Jones production which they just had in. It's not out in the cinemas yet! I'd been wanting to go and see the West End show; but this was perfect. It was magical, if slightly surreal. We could relax back in the peace and quiet, not distractions, not interruptions, it was amazing. I can confirm the show is really good, touching, sensitive and beautifully done. If you get a chance to see it then I'd really recommend it. I can't promise you'll have a private screen; but I can promise you'll have a good time. |
Claire WadeI'm an author, disability activist, winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and The EABA for Fiction 2020 and founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI). The Choice is available from:DETAILS:
Title: The Choice Publisher: Orion ISBN: 1409187748 You can keep up to date with all my latest blog posts by signing up to my email newsletter.
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