London Part I: Cocktails in the Sky, Shakespeare, and Meeting Harry Potter

At least twice a year my husband and I travel down to London for what we like to call our “West End Weekends.” We’re both big theater junkies and even though the Theatre Royal in Newcastle is close to us and has amazing performances, there are a lot of plays that are only shown in London.

Our first WEW of 2020 was last week and may have been the best one we’ve had yet. We attended two plays, one written by Samuel Beckett and another one written by this guy I doubt you’ll have heard of named William Shakespeare.

We also did a bunch of unique things around the city like wandering the East End markets, going on a private tour of the British Museum, and having pre-show cocktails 42 floors above London. It was exhausting cramming that all into 3 days but it was pretty amazing. I’ve been to London a few dozen times but that city never runs out of new and interesting things to do.

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Our first stop was having cocktails and tapas in the sky. Even though the day was grey, the views were stunning and we timed it perfectly so that the sun set while we were taking in the city below us.

I rarely drink these days but how could I say no to champagne in the sky?

Seven years of this man photobombing my selfies. SEVEN.YEARS.

The views became even more spectacular at night.

We were both dolled up for the evening but I still had to represent my Trekkie pride somehow!

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After having our nibbles and fizz we walked across the Millennium Bridge to attend a performance at the recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe. Okay, so technically it wasn’t the West End and the play wasn’t in the Globe but in the theater attached to it (the Sam Wannamaker Playhouse), but it still counts!

The Sam Wannamaker Playhouse is a replica of a 17th century theater and all their performances are done by candlelight.  We saw The Taming of the Shrew and even though the ending is a wee bit problematic these days, it was still a wonderful performance. It hit me partway through that 450 years later the jokes written in this play are still hilarious.

The Globe replica

“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or else my heart concealing it will break.”

The Wannamaker stage and theater are like a work of art.

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Our next play was a double feature I’ve been looking forward to for months. I know Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot, Happy Days) isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but personally I love the absurd stuff he wrote.

The two plays being performed were Rough for Theatre II and Endgame, with only the latter being one that I was familiar with. I was certainly familiar with the headlining actors, though! Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe were the stars of the shows and both were PHENOMENAL. I was completely blown away as was pretty much everyone else in attendance.

Afterward I was lucky enough to meet both of the actors. Now, I’m not a big Harry Potter fan (I know, I know, sorry), but I did like Daniel in some of the weirder more adult performances he’s done. Alan Cumming on the other hand- I’m a huuuuuuuge fan, I’ve loved him ever since Romy and Michelle. He was 99% of the reason why I watched The Good Wife and I really enjoyed his brief stint as a police consultant on the now cancelled Instinct.

I felt kind of bad because the other people meeting Daniel Radcliffe were barely able to contain themselves at the sight of him. He turned out to be really friendly and humble and I’m glad to have met him, but I was definitely the only non-HP fanatic there. I even said to him, “Hey, I know everyone tells you how much like they liked Harry Potter, but my favorites of yours are Swiss Army Man and Horns. I seriously loved Swiss Army Man!”

He laughed, took some photos with us, and as I left called out after me, “Thanks for liking my weird stuff!”

First up was a short 25 minute performance that had me near tears with laughter.

After the intermission it was Endgame, a much longer but equally compelling play.

 “You’re on earth, there’s no cure for that!”

What a delightful man!

“Thanks for liking my weird stuff!”

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I’m sure many of you are screaming at me right now for meeting Harry Potter and for that I’m sorry/not sorry haha. Seriously though, I’m glad to have met him because he was just so dang charming and I have enjoyed many of his other performances.

I can appreciate HP but I think I was just the wrong age when I finally got into the books and movies. I’ll always regret not starting the series when it first came out because we were roughly the same age and I could have grown up with the books and movies alongside Harry and his pals. I’m jealous of those of you who were able to do that!

While meeting Alan and Daniel were major highlights of our weekend, everything we did was absolutely fabulous. I’ll be posting more in the next few days, but in the meantime I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse of my most recent West End Weekend!

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Have you been to London? Are you big Harry Potter, Samuel Beckett, or William Shakespeare fans? Let me know in the comments!