Birmingham Stage Company

THE NOT-SO-GREAT ESCAPE


27 September 2023

This evening I went to see a critically acclaimed musical and immediately felt that dull agony of disappointment as the opening scenes rolled along. I tried to make the best of it but after an hour decided to leave. I carefully chose a moment when the audience broke into applause to slip quietly away. Except my foot had gone to sleep and as I stood up, I fell over. So now my new dilemma was whether to sit back down - or try to get to the door while the audience were still clapping. My despair with one of the performers spurred me on to escape. Which I did by collapsing my way to exit, while my foot persisted in improvising the famous scene from Misery. As I fell repeatedly onto the stairs, I must have looked either drunk or very ill. Eventually I made it, while twisting my ankle in several directions. The excitement will continue when I will no doubt discover if I can still walk in the morning! In future I will ensure all my limbs are in working order before making a quick exit. And the irony of the image below is not lost on me!


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