Darker Shores 12th January

[tutt-sweet]

Looking forward to meeting up with everyone again, & hope that all/most of you can manage to fight your way through the snow & ice [& public transport ] to the warmth of the Hampstead theatre.

The after show discussion that was in doubt is still going ahead so I've heard.

See you there!

[chatterbox]

Well it was lovely to see everyone who could make it again. The final performance of the play was excellent, with great pace and rapport. I was only sorry that I couldn't risk staying for the talk afterwards and the socialising in the bar because of the s**w.

Reports on the rest of the evening please ladies....?

[jrt patch]

hello everyone! So lovely to see you all last night again, all on good form as ever. And the play wasn't half bad too!! great evening's entertainment.

The discussion was very jolly with lots of good questions and answers and the Director's phone going off, and JRT signing programmes and having the micky taken out of him. We soon repaired to the bar but then I left as I wasn't sure about getting home. Was in my breakfast room about 45 minutes later!!! Not bad, eh? Hope everyone got home OK.

Someone else will have to give an account of what happened in the bar!

[Tineke]

I hope you all have a fab night yesterday! I'm very jealous, I thought about booking a flight to go again, but the bloody snow and my master thesis didn't let me.

Were you in the same bar as Jules and Tom G. Hill etc? I read that Tom was rather pissed so I'm really curious how it went. I just came across some pics he put on twitter of him removing his beard. I thought maybe you might want to see them, too. They're quite funny
http://twitpic.com/xwpfj http://twitpic.com/xwplm http://twitpic.com/xwphx
It also makes me wonder if that is the first thing that Julian did this morning...shaving

[chatterbox]

Tineke.. yes, I'm still waiting to hear about the adventures in the bar

Julian had a quick chat with us before the performance and he did say that the face furniture would be going today!! Sadly no twitterpics of that event though

I'm sure the ladies who stayed will be able to update us when they finally get home through this dreadful weather (again!)

[Rosie]

Well here are my recollections of the post-show discussion, by no means complete so those who were in attendance, please add anything vital I've left out. We started off with Michael Punter (writer) telling us about the background to the play, with Anthony Clark (director) and Paul Farnsworth (designer) also seated on stage. One by one the actors wandered on after changing out of their costumes (Vinette was first out, followed by Julian), including Oliver Izod who played the ghost. There were plenty of hands going up in the audience by this time, so well done our very own FQ for managing to get not one but two questions in.

Spitting Bunny got Julian talking by asking him whether he was drawn to ghost stories, seeing as he’s recently featured in The Crooked House, M R James on radio and now DS. He replied that it was just a coincidence that had come about mainly because his friends had got him those jobs and he is actually quite scared of ghost stories and horror movies! There followed some discussion (and complimenting) of the set and special effects used in the play, although Oliver was giving away none of the secrets of his trick with the bed and the water, saying only that he was the world’s first human sponge.

Of course the evening couldn’t end without mention of how Tom G-H stepped into Prof Gabriel Stokes’s shoes at the last minute and did such a great job. As ever, Julian was generous with his praise, causing poor Tom to squirm in his seat and go a bit pink. This was followed by applause for everyone involved and then it was off to the bar (and off home for me so couldn’t tell you if anything interesting occurred after that).

Great to see everyone, really enjoyed the play and the rest of the proceedings, hope you all made it home safe and sound.

[tutt-sweet]

Well done Rose for a very accurate account of the evening. I think we all had a brilliant time & it was lovely to catch up with everyone again too.

Not too much more to add really. A super evening made even more special by chatting to Julian afterwards in the bar..what a lovely man he is! I'm sure we all basked in the attention & time he gave us. [ I get the impression he's not quite so scared of us now either! ]

Tom was funny, lovely, witty & interesting, & has persuaded me I need to see Enron. I was also very enamoured with Sam West , who joined our group briefly- such a charming chap & Bikey & I in particular, really enjoyed seeing the photos of his cat!

I think they'd all have stayed chatting all night if it hadn't been for the b****y security guards wanting to throw us all out!

Only downside to the trip was the 3 trains & 4 hour trip home! Gosh it was worth it though!

[faeriequeen]

ENRON really is a spectacularly brilliant play Di - it's definitely one of the best things I saw last year (and I saw a helluva lot!). And yes Sam is a lovely bloke.

Not much to add from me either - we didn't realise you guys were sitting over by the window till towards the end so missed out on the long Julian chat, but we all got out progs signed and Hannah got a photo, and he complimented me on my Mangan site, which was nice of him! I may have then told him that he was still my favourite and not to tell Steve that I said that. Lol. *whistles innocently*