Third time lucky

We’d only booked our tickets for London after seeing that preview performance in Stratford, quite late into the priority booking period, which is why I could only get tickets for the last week of the run. Given the choice, I’d probably have gone for something in December. Little did I know then how lucky I was.

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I might have to title my review ‘Hamlet without the Prince’, after David went off with a back injury and had to have an operation. Over Christmas and New Year, I checked the website for the latest news. He was definitely out until 3 January, but if his doctors gave him the all clear, they were still hopeful that he may be able to return for some performances before the end of the run, but they could not guarantee anything. There were an awful lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ in the statements issued, so all that we could do was wait and see. Despite comments from others that he might just gracefully bow out of the London run, I felt he would be back as soon as he was allowed to, as he would hate not having the chance to complete the London run, and also hate to let people down. Whatever the RSC may say about this being an ensemble, you have to acknowledge that an awful lot of the seats sold, and the crazy demand (and crazy prices) paid for tickets, were because of him, not because of the company.

Then, on Saturday, I checked his website, and blinked a little at what I read, as it said he was returning that evening! The news then was that they were assessing things day by day, and would update the RSC website each day with news, so the next key date was Monday, to make sure he hadn’t come back too soon and was still able to perform. When he did both Monday and Tuesday, I allowed myself to become cautiously optimistic that he’d also do the Wednesday.

About 5 minutes after I got on the train, I received a text from Corinne to confirm that he would be appearing.

Maybe there is a God after all!