What the Butler Saw

On Friday night I had a rare opportunity for a night out. My wonderful friend Cathy invited me down to stay with her in Ilford and go to see the Woodhouse Players production of What the Butler Saw, directed by Cathy. I decided I had better go Friday as Matthew's birthday is Sunday and in the past I have come home rather late from staying at Cathy's due to the amount of alcohol consumed after the show! The necessary complicated childcare arrangements were made and I arrived in Ilford at around 6:15pm.

The production itself was brilliant. Utterly hilarious and even the slip-ups just made it funnier. I was lost in places where my brain struggled to keep up with fast dialogue but that's just because I get the treat of going to the theatre so rarely that I'm not used to not being able to pause and rewind ;-)

I am extremely pleased that I made the effort to go, I've always enjoyed going in the past but haven't been able to with Joe being ill and I now realise how much I've missed it. Will definitely be making the effort to go in future.

When I arrived I remembered (rather too late!) that Fridays are curry night. After the show the cast and crew all head to the nearby Star of India for dinner. I do not eat curry. Cathy finds this rather amusing and somewhat bewildering. I think it gets put down to my being from the country and away from proper civilisation! So I had plain boiled rice, which suits me fine, and they tried hard not to tease me too much. This was followed by 2 complimentary shots of Tia Maria and cream, something I have not tried before but downed quickly anyway!

Alcohol consumed we decided a trip to the pub was called for to increase the intake. Once vodka had been added to the mix I was well and truly sozzled. By now it was somewhere after 1am and most wandered off to get some sleep before the double performances next day. But not everyone. I was relishing the enjoyment of drinking and laughing for the first time in ages, Cathy was willing to indulge me, James and someone who I think was called Jamie but I honestly cannot be sure! In the absence of anywhere to continue drinking that didn't have very loud music it was decided that a trip to the off-licence before returning to Cathy's was by far the best idea. So we did!

Back home we drank some more and talked lots more. The boy I think was called Jamie annoyed me immensely with wandering hands but finally fell asleep first. Cathy gave in and decided sleep was required somewhere around 5am and nearer 6 James and I finally stopped chatting and slept!

After 2 hours sleep we chatted some more, drank juice or tea and after 10am I had to head home for an afternoon of watching Westbury lose. Meanwhile, poor Cathy and James had to return to the Welsh Church Hall for 1pm and attempt to Direct/Perform in both the matinee and evening shows! I hit my brick wall at 4pm and suddenly felt very guilty for allowing them to entertain quite so late the night before!

All in all I had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend. I got to spend time with old friends, meet new people, experience a show I've never seen before and consume more alcohol than I've had in several years! I've been invited back next week for the end of show party and I'm really hoping to go but this time I might just stay sober! 


for some reason I cannot work out how to reply to comments yet.... but this was my response to lovecat....
ah yes, I could remember the J part but had other things on my mind next day and the rest was a blur! am also only just coming out of the haze, slept very well last night! have permission for saturday, thought maybe dave might like a hand getting the house ready?