Venturing out

14 November 2021

I have to admit that I am still CovidNervous and have been taking my re-entry into society slowly. 

Yesterday, however, I had to go somewhere where there were a lot of people and I was most concerned. 

Back in May one of the families gave me a ticket for a local performance  of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert which was postponed when we went into our last lockdown. The performance was rescheduled to yesterday so I went along with my daughter and granddaughter. I hadn't seen my granddaughter for a few months (blame Covid) so the outing was extra special. 

As we like to do the right thing we arrived the recommended 45 minutes prior to the show. It didn't take us long to be checked in so we looked around for a seat, luckily there was a fenced off area outside where we were able to sit in the open air and enjoy a pre-show drink. I was impressed when I visited the loo prior to entering the theatre that the other theatre goers were all observing the mask and distancing rules as we queued up. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Checking into the theatre was painless and there was no pushing and shoving. The girls let me have the aisle seat so that I wasn't sitting next to a stranger and had lots of space around me, they look after this old girl.

We had lots of giggles as I had trouble with my glasses fogging up. I eventually ditched my attractive koala mask for a disposable one that restored my sight. 

Safely in situ but all fogged up

As were were seated early (it ended up being a full house) I had plenty of time to enjoy the features of The Civic Theatre, a nice old venue in Newcastle. .

Soon it was on with the show and what a show it was. It wasn't a polished West End performance but a local production from The Metropolitan Players, there was a large lively cast with some excellent voices, some awkward dance moves, bright costumes and lots of laughs. It was a delightful evening's entertainment with lots of familiar songs for bopping and singing along, I will certainly be lining up for the next show from this group.

I was pleased that the exits from the theatre were orderly. As it was only my fourth time out the front gate in recent months I was pleased to witness the polite behaviour of those in attendance. It is reassuring to see fellow citizens taking the Covid threat seriously.

I may even hop on the internet and purchase some tickets for shows in Sydney.