So here I am at the last lap of my Am-DramFest. And we're back in walking distance; with a nice bar to meet in. Except this bar only sells filthy foreign muck; sorry, 'pasteurised bottom-fermented beer'. It's OK to have this foisted on me once in a while, if only to remind me of how nice English beer is. I guess the reality is that they're not open all the time, so proper beer would be too difficult, and too expensive.
I actually get to bump into some old colleagues before the show. This is nice, and must be the best part of Am-Dram; I almost never (I think that actually is 'never) bump into anybody I know at fringe. It's been years since I've seen them, so there was a seasonal touch to the encounter: Christmas is coming.
Ominously, I note herds of teenagers heading into the theatre. Teenagers in large numbers don't behave properly in theatre. I don't mean the grumpy-old-man stuff about it being different when I was that age, although it was. I don't mind modern youthful exuberance, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. It's a matter of education: they don't understand that the audience has a vital role to play, and they often don't play it. Of course, this is my Am-Dram hobby horse: none of the audience are going to play their part properly, so why be grumpy about teenagers. In my new accommodation of Am-Dram audiences in general, I can manage teenagers as well.
And they were mostly OK. There was one serious lapse: three or four managed to come back in for the second act after it had begun. But it was only momentary, and we all recovered (I discovered afterwards that the opening actor nearly got thrown by it). And they got a bit 'chatty' in places. But (as I also discovered afterwards) this play is on the school curriculum, so they may have been disputing an interpretation, and weren't quite able to wait till afterwards. I'm sure when I was their age I would have been at least as keen to show off. And it was good to see so many there. Perhaps in a few years some of them will be performing in a fringe show.
'An Inspector Calls' is one of J B Priestley's 'Time' plays, as we discover at the end. This set gave a strong sense of a courtroom, as the characters were taken through their faults by Priestley's alter ego inspector. It was done very well, and the dramatic messages were all delivered effectively. I wonder what the teenagers thought of it.
Afterwards, we repaired to the local 'real-ale' pub, and were surprised to be joined by the inspector, who has similar tastes. This is when I found out all the 'I discovered afterwards' bits. He was very enlightening on the depth of the play, pointing out a number of characterisation options that would never have occurred to me. So that made an especially delightful denouement to the evening. He even knew what the 'J B' stood for, which I will attempt to manoeuvre into some future conversation. It's not just teenagers who like to show off – grumpy old men like to do it as well.
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