Svengali

 

I bought the single ticket months ago, and it had been propped up on the kitchen window sill behind the orchid.

And yesterday was the big day.

I’m not at all used to going out in the evening and it’s years since I’ve been to the theatre. Usually, if ever I’m going into town at night it’s as ‘Mum’s Taxi’.

First, I couldn’t find the entrance to the theatre. It used to be opposite the museum, but the old entrance had disappeared. When did that happen?

Eventually, I followed some people through the door into the other theatre, and a woman who was even carrying her bicycle inside. Is there now a bicycle rack for theatre goers somewhere inside? She had disappeared before I’d negotiated a few swing doors so I never found out. Was that the first illusion?

With these confusions over, I was amazed to discover how many people were already in the bright theatre foyer.

There was a long queue for the bar which I joined. I bought a hot chocolate . £2 I was told.

‘That’s expensive,’ I commented.

‘Yeah, but it’s really nice,’ the smiling girl replied.

I doubted that. It was in a white plastic cup only three-quarters full and looked industrial.

All the seats in the foyer and bar area had already been taken and so I looked for a place to comfortably stand and passed a table with programmes for the event. But I thought £8 was far too expensive. Perhaps I’m just out of touch with today’s theatre prices. Then I thought it would be nice just to sit down in the auditorium, but the auditorium was not yet open and so I was left wondering what slick effects were still being put onto the stage.

A young usher then joined another nearby.

‘Don’t I know you?’ the younger woman asked.

It seems that she did.

So we chatted for a while and then the other usher told me about her grandchildren and suddenly I was once again caught up in the warp and weft of life and despite my dark clothes I was once again one of its colours.

Then doors were unlocked.

I had a wonderful seat just five rows back from the stage, right in the middle of the stalls, and a perfect view of the stage. I was surprised that the curtain was open so that we could already see the set and drifts of ‘haze’.

As people were finding their seats, paper and pencils were being handed out. Somehow I was missed, much to my relief. However, later in the show those of my ilk must have felt similar anxiety when there were further chances to be randomly chosen. No one was safe.

This was the first Derren Brown show I’d even been to and I was so impressed by his warm stage presence and his incredible skill at involving the audience, even those way up in the gods. He should be in the Olympics for his Frisbee throwing skills alone.

I was also amazed by the confidence shown by those who were selected to go on stage, who all played their parts really well.

Though there was one man who bounded down from the upper reaches of the theatre having just caught a Frisbee who then took a very unorthodox route onto the stage. He jumped up onto it at the corner  instead of using the steps. This man, whoever he was, was obviously an extravert, but whether he was an actor or a clown we were never to find out as Derren politely asked him to leave the stage, citing  his dramatic entrance as being partly the reason why he wouldn’t be able to ‘read’ more of this man’s character.

There was a lot of audience participation. It was amusing to watch the people in the circle with such good humour throwing their balled papers into the basket that Derren held. There was so much laughter it was almost like a children’s party.

On two occasions I found myself standing with everyone one else, and towards the end of the show I almost caught a balloon, but then just as it descended toward my lap the man next to me reached over and whacked it away.

At the end of the show there was a standing ovation and Derren Brown looked delighted with his well deserved applause.

All in all it was brilliant entertainment.

And I would love to say more, and perhaps even qualify the above statement a little, but to do so might give away the plot. I do hope I’ve not given nothing away here as I do wish to respect Derren Brown’s request that no spoilers should be revealed.

This request seems to be well observed on the internet, for I searched to see if a possible ‘glitch’ had previously happened in any previous shows, or if it was all just part of the act, but I couldn’t find any reference to that particular detail at all. So I’m looking forward to seeing the show again if it is televised to enjoy it all again and to clarify that one thing..

Thank you so much Derren Brown for a wonderful evening.