Pygmalion

As a sponsor of the Old Vic, I get a few nice perks. Priority booking (without fee), access to an allocation of house seats for sold-out shows, back stage tours and so on. Arguably, the most desireable of these are invites to press night, which for the uninitiated is like the premiere of a play.

I received such an invite today for the forthcoming production of Pygmalion. These invites are nice to receive, but I must confess to being a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I would love to attend press night because you get to go to the after-show party and mingle with the cast and any dignataries who found themselves on the invite list. It's a little bit of welcome glamour. On the other hand, I'm really picky about where I sit in the theatre. I like to sit as close to the front as possible and the tickets that sponsors at my level get are back at Row T, where I would never dream of buying a seat unless in a real theatrical emergency.

Last time round (Speed-The-Plow), there was an easy solution in that I gave the tickets to a friend and she went along with her husband. On this occasion, I can't do that because the aforementioned friend, Patricia Potter, is herself starring in a play that clashes with Pygmalion's press night, An Eligible Man at the New End Theatre, Hampstead (opens tonight). So, I've called the Old Vic and told them I won't be attending. At least it frees up the tickets for two other people, so that's no bad thing. Share the love and all that. If I lived in London I would have just gone to the after-show party, but as is, that's a bit impractical.

I won't be missing the play though because I've already booked to see the matinee on 21st May, followed by An Eligible Man that same evening (an unfortunate clash with the Champions League final!). I might even try and fit in some lunchtime theatre as well.