A Night At The Theatre

When I was single I lived in downtown Ottawa. I was a student and within walking distance of the National Arts Centre. As such I could get discounted seasons tickets and every year for a few years I did -- one year for the ballet, one year for the orchestra, one year for the theatre and one magical year for the opera. I went with my sister Marie who was also a student and just so happened to be my roommate at the time. When she left to go to Japan to teach English with her family, I stopped going to the NAC. And then I met Gunther and moved up here.

I did attend a few events after the move up north -- most notably Mamma Mia and a Holly Cole concert, but nothing compared to what I would enjoy in my youth and after the kids came, nothing at all. But now the kids are older and I have this great new wardrobe I want to show off so I decided that this year G and I would have a date night once a month.

I enlisted the help of my inlaws who wonderfully stepped up to watch the kids for us and then I went online and started looking for different activities G and I could enjoy. The first month we just went to The Keg which was nice but was also something we've done before. February needed to be different. When I found out there was a new Ronnie Burkett show in town, or in the big city more precisely, I was OVER the MOON (if you've ever seen a Ronnie Burkett show you'll understand the shouting -- RB is LOUD).

So nervously I asked G about whether he'd be interested in taking me to a puppet show and he told me he would and then I explained that it was "downtown" and he said that that was fine and so I bought tickets and we arranged for a babysitter and the night was set.

To help you understand what a big deal this is to me, I hardly ever go downtown. I live within an hour of downtown but it still makes me nervous to go there. Traffic is insane, parking is insane and there are people everywhere. There are subways and streetcars and one way streets. It's a morass of humanity coming and going as full tilt and I never did get the handle of it even when I was working there so many years ago. So to go "downtown" to see a play is a big deal; a very big deal.

But this was for Ronnie Burkett and I was going to see this play even if I had to take a train home to Ottawa to watch it at the safer, quieter NAC (for the record I still might -- it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a RB show twice) so I bucked up and put on my brave face and google mapped it, mapped out some parking, looked up public transit situations and in the end, sent the map to G's car.

We were both a little nervous about it though I was much more so than G. We decided to leave an hour early and got the theatre much too early. But that was o.k. There was a lounge and I was dressed up and frankly it was going to be the only time during the night when I'd actually get to show off my outfit anyhow so I had a coffee and watched the different patrons came in.

Then it was time for a quick pee before the show because you can't leave during the 1h40min performance. G went after me and I confess I squeed a little when Don Ferguson of the Royal Canadian Air Farce went in after G. He later ended up sitting in our row and that was very exciting for me -- G never watched RCAF so wasn't nearly as giddy about going to the theatre with a real celebrity as I was so he read the program and I eavesdropped on the other patrons whispering about how that guy from the Royal Canadian Air Farce was in the audience and smiled smugly.

And then the lights when down and the show started and once again I sat entranced and amazed, I laughed and I gasped, I teared up, I smiled and I let myself be battered by the constant flood of emotions and the very loud performance. Sitting next to a stranger was weird and a little uncomfortable, my knees hurt from the cramped seating, some parts of the show were so loud they hurt my ears -- and it was WONDER-full.

Like the best performances it didn't hit me until much later. G and I trading quips about different parts of the show on the drive home and laughing all over again. Discussing the ending and which parts impacted us most strongly. Telling my inlaws about the show as we waited at the door for a very sleepy and Chloe to gather the bird houses they made with Opa so we could take them home. Letting my mind wander back again to the magic and wonder of it all.

Yesterday G looked at me and said "I really enjoyed that last night." Truth be told, so did I. I have missed it -- that feeling of witnessing something special, something creative, something that goes beyond merely entertaining.

And as we drove through the big city I realized something else: I was letting my fear of the big rob me of the pleasures and wonders offered in my own backyard. So this week, Thursday I think, I shall take the train back into the big city, just me and go exploring. Maybe I'll find some quaint shops or maybe I'll go to the AGO. Maybe I'll just find a cafe and read a book and watch the people rush by. I don't know yet but that my dear friends, is all part of the adventure.