Whilst I might not have enjoyed going to the cinema the theatre was another matter.
My first recollection was going to the Theatre Royal to watch a pantomime. The entire family often went together including uncles, aunts, cousins and my grandmother etc. Exact memories are hazy as this was late the 40’s/early 50’s.
Toad of Toad Hall rings a bell for some reason and principal boys being played by girls. In the early sixties after I had met Carole we saw Beyond the Fringe in London which, as far as I was concerned, did not live up to the hype. I recall seeing Leonard Rossiter in a play at a theatre in The Haymarket, title forgotten.
Indeed I have forgotten the names of virtually every play except Alan Ayckbourne's Norman Conquests which I hated because I found David Jason over the top to such an extent that I have never watched him on television since.
I also remember going to see The Mousetrap mainly because of its longevity. Having read the vast majority of Agatha Christie's books I reasoned that the murderer was the least likely character from the first act and at the interval I told my friends with whom we were watching who I thought it was and at the denouement I was correct. I will not spoil it for any reader who has never seen the play by revealing the murderer.
On the other hand we saw a good many musicals over the years ranging from Les Miserables to Miss Saigon to Phantom and even since my stroke I have seen Blood Brothers and Oliver.