Yesterday afternoon we went to Milton Keynes Theatre to see a production of "To Kill A Mockingbird." A touring production which started life at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London. The show didn't start until 2.30 so we went in by car and parked in the multi-storey carpark directly behind the theatre. I have never parked in there before and it meant we didn't have to walk far to the theatre. We had more than enough time before the show started so we went into the Weatherspoons pub near the theatre and had a snack and then wandered into the shopping centre for a stroll before making our way into the theatre. We had booked our tickets on-line so we had to go and pick them up at the box office.
I studied "To Kill A Mockingbird" for G.C.E. 'O' Level, so I had a good idea what the story was about, which did help, but it was a very good production. A cast of around 12 actors played all the characters, many doubling and even trebling up on parts. The children in particular were good in the central children's roles as Scout, Dill and Jem. A very simple set, and few props. It's just goes to show that you don't need elaborate sets, costumes and so on to put on a play. An over-use of stage machinery and setting seems pointless. Just think of films in the same way; C.G.I. effects and elaborate effects don't a movie make. Decent story-telling and acting is all it takes.
When we left the theatre we walked back to the car-park. One entering we had to take a ticket out of the machine at the barrier. When you are about to leave the car-park you have to go to a ticket machine, put it in and it works out how long you have been in the car-park and you pay what it says on the screen and then, when you drive out you put the ticket in the machine at the barrier to get out. There were two machines. One was out of order and the other one wouldn't take card payment. We got there just in time as there was a queue forming to use the machine. By the time we'd walked up to the 7th floor to collect our car and we'd driven down we went back past the ticket machine and the queue had lengthened considerably. We had avoided this queue by getting back to the carpark as quickly as we had, thankfully.
When we left the theatre we walked back to the car-park. One entering we had to take a ticket out of the machine at the barrier. When you are about to leave the car-park you have to go to a ticket machine, put it in and it works out how long you have been in the car-park and you pay what it says on the screen and then, when you drive out you put the ticket in the machine at the barrier to get out. There were two machines. One was out of order and the other one wouldn't take card payment. We got there just in time as there was a queue forming to use the machine. By the time we'd walked up to the 7th floor to collect our car and we'd driven down we went back past the ticket machine and the queue had lengthened considerably. We had avoided this queue by getting back to the carpark as quickly as we had, thankfully.
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