“Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night;
Give me my Romeo; and, when I shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night…”
It really feels like the weather has turned, and Autumn is on its way but it’s only the end of August. I’m hoping for a late surge of sunshine into September, although I’ll (hopefully) be getting my Vitamin D top-up next month with two holidays planned.
Before the weather turned though, I’ve managed to fit in some fun things this Summer. A trip to the theatre to see Chicago, starring Martin Kemp, was probably the surprise hit. I think you can always tell a good theatre experience when you don’t notice the time to the interval or the end, or the tiny seats; and I never expected it to be so good.
We were lucky enough to be in the second row, and my 14-year old self was loving it! All the performers were brilliant, the musical raced along and all too soon it was over. I always think that I don’t really like musical theatre that much, and then love it when I’m there.
I also got to go to Secret Cinema for the first time. It’s pretty safe to give the venue away now, as the run of Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet finished on Saturday.
Staged in Gunnersbury Park, this was the largest event that the company had put on, so it probably wasn’t very representative of many of the others before it. We were told to meet at Acton Town tube station, wearing our ‘Montague’ colours of blue and white, and themed as per the film. We also had to take with us various items, such as a mask and a peace offering.
Luckily, we had a perfect Summer evening – not too hot and sweaty and amazingly, no rain. We got there about 6.45 and having learned our Montague dance moves we wandered round, getting cocktails and food from the many bars and stalls and enjoying a gospel choir, a dance-off and a rave in a petrol station. All great fun and really well done. Then at 9 it was time to take to the picnic blankets and chill out and watch the film. I won’t give too much away, but there always seemed to be something going on and it was great fun.
I’d like to try one of the indoor events – while we were lucky with the weather, it wouldn’t have been half as fun if it had rained – there was literally no cover anywhere – and the venue did feel just a little on the too-large size for the amount of people. That said, the festival vibe was fun and you ddin’t have to queue too long for anything. It was nice to get dressed up in the theme and I’d urge anyone going to do this to get into the spirit of it, but it’s also great that it wasn’t full-on fancy dress – you can get as dressed up as you feel comfortable with.
In between the theatre and the cinema, I also went camping for the work weekend away. I really don’t like camping, and this didn’t do much to change my opinion about the tents and the nature bit, but it was fun and we did have a lovely afternoon tea and got to shoot some clay pigeons.
Roll on September, my favourite month…
