The Theatah!

A trip to London could not be complete without an evening at the theatre! We had originally thought we'd try for matinee tickets as we weren't sure we could stay awake (how did we get to be such old fogies?) But a glitch in their website sent us to get matinee tickets on the wrong day for the play I'd got my heart set for, so we ended up with evening tickets. We were about 8 rows back very near the centre in "the stalls" - great seats - and because we went to the half-price same day ticket booth, we didn't pay too much for them!

We arrived at the theatre for 7:30 (7:45 starting time) and came up from the tube right in front of our theatre - the Criterion is right in the heart of the craziness that is Picadilly Circus! I won't say the neon lights were bright - but you could stitch there at night!! We were ushered in and down, down, down, to our seats - seems that the whole theatre is underground! (Must have kept everyone safe during the blitz!)

The play - "The Thirty-nine Steps" is based on the Hitchcock film from the 30's (starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll, for you movie buffs!). There are four cast members (one woman and three men) who act out all the parts! And really, there is one person doing the main role and the other three do all the rest. They've also acknowledged that what passed for a thriller in the 30's would be pretty tame today, so it's done with tongue firmly in cheek - and is hilarious! Hitchcock would have approved - in fact, most of the jokes are exaggerations of bits he put in the movie!

The cast was wonderful, and we had a terrific time! The theatre is another old beauty and is in terrific condition. It was a great night out on the town!