Theatre trip

Went to see the musical Blood Brothers this evening with some colleagues. This is now the fourth time I've seen it - twice in the West End and now twice at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. It is nice to have colleagues who like the musicals, and we're going to see West Side Story later in the year and maybe Cabaret. Can't wait!

Blood Brothers was really excellent - the singing was great and it was just the right mix of comedy and tragedy. Very well received by the audience, and plenty of crying at the end as I have come to expect.

I think the last time I saw it was 2002 and I guess your perspective on life changes as you grow up. It was always sad, of course, but the older you get the more you feel the futility and understand how people slip into a destructive cycle, and you understand that some of the elements of the story really happen to people. I'm just grateful that's not me.

Trainspotting is very much the same for me. I never thought that kind of life was glamourous and I never wanted it for myself, but when I saw the film first I was sixteen and it seemed so alien and unreal and in a strange way exciting. Now I'm a grown-up I know it represents real life for some people and watching it is much more painful.

And this is why it is good to watch Blood Brothers and Trainspotting again, and count your blessings.