Yesterday was one of those
non-stop things where it starts in a well planned mannered way and gradually unwinds
into a bit of a farce. We were going out in the evening and because of that I
needed to get all work tucked away as soon as possible. I worked to a list or I
would never have got through everything. On a day when I am at home combining work
and preparations for an outing there is no room for wandering. An addition to
the list was the ‘what if it all goes wrong’ plan. I did all the important jobs
on the computer first then I went to make sure that since this was my first
proper evening out in two weeks I wanted to try to make myself look less like
death warmed up, as I had been whilst being under the weather. I carefully
selected the clothes I would wear so that I would look neat enough to go ‘Out-Out’
and not just ‘Out’ as we say, but also to still be warm enough after being
coddled with a cosy fire in the grate every day. Then I had a bath and left the
Miraculous Recovery conditioner in my hair leaving it on as I did some pfaffing
around to tidy up. An hour with the conditioner on, before rinsing off, left my
hair feeling softer than the cattle feed straw effect of late. Then I put big
rollers in my hair and a Rosie the Riveter head scarf to keep them in place.
I hoped that nobody would
knock at the door until later but even thinking that telekinetically drew
delivery drivers to my door. I had not been expecting anybody but it seems that
my pretty neighbour Hannah had ordered her Christmas shopping on line. I had
three big parcels for her before I could say ‘Knife’. I had hoped to give them
to her the next day but notes had been put in her door to say where the parcels
were, so then I had to frighten her to death opening the door in rollers and
without a dot of makeup…. Horrendous! Hannah is only in her twenties and she
gave me a funny look when I picked up the biggest box (a metre by half x half)
and said to my young neighbour “Do you think you will be able to manage this,
it’s a bit heavy?” I just forget myself sometimes.
Anyway it all turned out
well enough and I was ready to go when our friend Anthony, who was press ganged
again to pick us up arrived outside our home. We went to a different restaurant
for our pre theatre meal. Steve had chosen Pallant House this time, since we
had be told that it was very good. It was indeed very nice and not over priced
for the quality and presentation. We all ordered different dishes and each one
was excellent. We were on the dessert course and I was eating the Forest Fruit,
Frangipane Crumble and still trying to join in the chatter when I inhaled a
crumb!
It was without doubt the
worst coughing fit I have ever had in my entire life. I grabbed Steve’s glass
of water and rushed for the toilet area. It was so awful and as I was coughing,
it came to my mind that we knew several young people who died during an Asthma
attack, or breathing incidence. I coughed endlessly but the crumb of crumble
would not move. Another woman I the toilet was looking at me in horror as I
moved from the glass of water at the sink into the toilet and back out and in
again.
Finally Steve knocked the
door and called my name and not getting an answer burst in planning to perform
a Heimlich manoeuvre on me but since I was actually speaking to him as he thumped
my back and eventually I calmed down he cancelled the Heimlich option. I had
been telling myself, in an effort to stop panicking, that this was not an
asthma attack and I had just swallowed a crumb but scary things do happen. It
was embarrassing enough to make such a scene and I am sure that the cough that
I have had for so long didn’t help. What made me feel better when I finally
returned to our table was that Anthony asked if he could finish my barely
started dessert. It was a relief that I had not spoilt his appetite.
Jeff Rawle as Mr Emerson advises young Lucy Honeychurch
Then it was into the theatre
for A Room with a View by E.M Forster. It was such a delightful film when it
first came out and Steve and I have seen it umpteen times on DVD at home. This
time it was very well done and pretty much the same as a play and everybody was
excellent, although I did really think that Jeff Rawle was wonderful as George
Emerson’s father. Felicity Kendal was the big name draw but you could not say
that one person was better that the rest. Steve and I had spoken about the Edwardian
bathing scene that was so funny in the film and had not expected the nudity in
the theatre but blow me down if they did not go for that scene with the same
sense of fun and embarrassment. The scene would have raised eyebrows to heaven
in Edwardian days for sure with the three men all running around totally starkers
when caught bathing nude in the pond at the bottom of the garden. The vicar
with his dog collar still on took the biscuit and George’s use of the Reverend
Beeps hat was equally priceless, and not even a dimming of the lights and just
a reminder here, that the stage at the Chichester Festival Theatre is as near
as it gets to ‘In the Round’, three quarters round anyway and no escape.
A packed theatre as always.
Love it. Excellent production.
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