At The Bridge

London Day 3 - Saturday 

Visits to London always include meeting up with Simon and Lloyd. It’s nearly two years since they managed to purchase their one bedroom flat in Archway, and since our last visit, Simon has fitted a new kitchen. An architect who has always loved design and joinery, for him this has been an opportunity to practice skills on his own property while keeping the costs of home improvements down. The result is impressive. 

We head back to central London, pausing at South Bank for the winter market and some mulled wine.The weather today is absolutely freezing - though obviously we’ve missed the snow here in the south - so the steaming food stalls, the warming wine  and Christmas lights all make for a very seasonal scene. 

Then it’s on to the fabulous Guys and Dolls at The Bridge Theatre. Simon and Lloyd have tickets for the ‘immersive experience’, standing in the performance area, while we sit in the stalls. It’s a fascinating production, various platforms raising for different scenes, American ‘cops’ quietly marshalling the audience to and fro depending on the action. It’s excellent - and definitely the best performance of ‘Sit Down you’re rocking the boat’ I’ve ever seen. 

Bows taken, the show ends with cast and audience joining together dancing in the middle of the staging area - a thoroughly joyful occasion. 

We leave and go our separate ways, but not before I’ve taken a few shots of Tower Bridge through the icy evening air, the red lights from the theatre reflected in the nearby trees - today’s main

There’s extras of the show’s ‘curtain call’, and the ‘guys’ in the theatre foyer.