On Your Own

A friend of mine recently went to watch a matinee performance of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London; front row, Dress Circle. Nothing wrong with that, you may say - after all, Wicked is one of the few musicals of the first decade of the 21st century that seems to be standing the test of time, and good on it, with an interesting twisted script, some absolute belters to sing out loud, and a real family feel that one may not have felt could be made with a show since the glory days of Cats and (whisper it) Joseph.

But he went on his own. All on his todd. And he loved every minute of it.

This is not to say that this is wrong in any shape or form. Theatre is so important, such a vital, enjoyable form of entertainment, that if someone wants to go see a play/musical on their own then why stop them? But then why was I surprised to hear him say this? Why am I reluctant to go to a show I really want to see if nobody else is particularly interested?

It's the same with the cinema. I have rarely gone to see a film without being with a minimum of one other person. The only worthy instance was The Dark Knight, the day that it was released in cinemas - but then I was supposed to have gone to see it with a friend who suddenly became unavailable. My need to see the film was so great that I actually decided to go and see it anyway. Obviously I wasn't alone in the cinema - but I was surrounded by couples and groups of people.

Is there some kind of embarrassment factor when we go to a Box Office of a theatre/cinema and ask for a ticket for one? Do we hear the silent laughter in their minds, see the silent mockery in their eyes when they hand us that solitary piece of card? They're happy for the business you have provided for them, but that perhaps doesn't stop your appearing to them as a Billy No mates character.

This is possibly a lot of personal paranoia. At the end of the day there are plenty of people who go to the cinema/theatre on their own. But I honestly believe that these establishments are so much more than that; their very purpose, very design is to bring people together in one unifying act, either film or play, to entertain and to educate. it's a social experience - we love to talk to them before and after the film, or in the interval, to get their first-hand impressions, their opinions. We love to agree or disagree with them. We love to laugh together, we love to sing along together and we love to cry together.

Society needs these institutions. They have become the new pub, the new working man's club. Sadly prices do nothing to help their cause, but then a trip to one of them becomes more of an event, of a day/night out, something to truly remember. If you want to go on your own then absolutely fine - enjoy it, embrace it. Personally, unless anyone else is free, I'm more than happy to wait until the DVD comes out.