I'm Blathering Now...

It's been a little while since I'd met up with the Burketeers, so I was really looking forward to seeing the old faces back together (and of course seeing Tom on stage was an additional bonus!) I knew that as usual I would end up in a bit of a flap, because my train arrived at Euston at 12:05 and Angie had arranged for us to go on a backstage tour of The National Theatre (on the Southbank) at 1:00. It would be cutting it fine to say the least! Stop The Clock... I sat cursing the chap next to me who refused to leap out of his seat as though he'd been stung by something and stalwartly just sat there letting everyone else of the train whilst he gathered his belongings together (slowly!) Once off the train I hurtled to the underground and headed to Waterloo. Surprisingly I was at Waterloo for about 12:30, so the next conundrum was if I should head to the hotel to drop off my bag or head straight to the theatre. I decided that the hotel wasn't far from the station so I&#

I've read the play and formed my interpretation of the text. The physical play has divided opinions of those who have seen it before me. If you've read my summation of the book you will know that I formed am empathetic view of Freddie. Some people said that my opinion would change once I saw the live performance. I got the impression that people thought Freddie was a cad and a bounder for the way he treated Hester, whilst others couldn't see what he offered Hester or why she would want to leave her marriage for him. Rattigan has produced a piece of theatre which when you strip away the veneer, you see more than a distraught woman who craves our sympathy or a boorish man who should be tarred and feathered for treating Hester so mercilessly. The cast and creative team should be proud of themselves for this heart rending, roller coaster of emotions, production. The stage is a large space, filled with a blue hued two story building. We can clearly see inside Freddie &

Life. Isn't it a curious thing? What makes one person happy will make someone else sad. When it was announced that the office I was working in was closing down and we were all being made redundant, I felt nothing. Those around me were distraught, their lives ended, they were in tears. I was confused. I felt neither joy nor despair, what was wrong with me...surely I should have felt something. Instead with a gallic shrug I continued with the day to day monotony of getting up, going to work, covering for those off sick, and then going home to a night of cooking, cleaning and watching dross on TV. I was supposed to finish work in April 2015, so the first thing I did was book a holiday for myself for the beginning of May. I decided I would head to Prague, on my own, for a week. I thought it would be a good place to walk, drink tea and get my head together about my future. I had spent twenty years working in a job I had drifted into, I needed time out to decide what to do next, not b

I saw the production of Flarepath earlier in the year, it was fantastic, and I wanted to see more of Terence Rattigan's work. Tom Burke is performing in The Deep Blue Sea as Freddie, a tortured soul and former WWII Spitfire pilot. I don't know how I will react to watching the play, but reading it had me spell bound. Rattingan has created a dark play, full of tortured souls who deserve our empathy and understanding. The play focus's on Hester, a middle class woman who has left her upper class husband for a former Spitfire pilot. Hester is discovered unconscious in her rented flat by her landlady, having tried to commit suicide. The plays follows on from when she has been found, and whilst it sounds rather a depressing read, it is actually a well written, thought provoking play.  When I saw the headlines about Tom Burke playing the part of Freddie, they made me think that Freddie was a character to be hated. Hester's life with him was so bad she felt compelled to