Another sign of the recession

Whenever my colleague the Queen of Am-dram is under the lights of showbiz a group of us get together to support and cheer her on. This time it's a production of 'Return to the Forbidden Planet' at the usual venue - the Church Hill Theatre in Morningside, Edinburgh.

It's a small group of us tonight, perhaps the first sign of the recession (and redundancies) impacting the significant financial services business in Edinburgh. I'm excited about eating at Peckham's Underground, buy a bottle of wine at retail price from the shop and drink it with your meal, no corkage. But not any more I'm afraid, you can still buy a bottle from the shop, but it's £5 corkage - real shame and perhaps another sign of the recession. A good home made lasagna accompanied with a mediocre Sauvignon Blanc and a nice piece of Salmon accompanied by a mediocre Chenin Blanc, the remaining members of the group opting for Isle of Arran blonde and soft drinks for the drivers.

Then on to the theatre. I'm not sure why most theatres are unable to think about the wine they buy, maybe they think they don't have to if they think people, not being allowed to take a glass in with them, never have more than ten minutes to drink a glass.

Despite this or as a result of this (I'm not sure) the appropriate audience participation was performed (identities disguised to protect the innocent)





The Queen of Am Dram performed brilliantly.












But the wine disappointed.........................