Monday, December 3/2018

Lovely evening begins with a misreading. Yesterday I was checking on shows at the National Theatre and discover what appears to be an incredibly low price for tonight’s performance of David Hare’s I’m Not Running. Super playwright, political theme, and an astonishing £7 price. Could only assume that on a Monday night it was undersold, and booked two tickets. Looking at the receipt later I realise that what we are booked for is not the play but a talk by the playwright. So, having paid, we go to the six o’clock talk. And it’s super. Satisfying mixture of lefty politics and a bit of exploration of the complexity of both political motivation and the craft of writing. And quite an appealing presence. We’re both delighted. And, as I collect the tickets and inquire about queuing for day release tickets at £15 ($25.50 CAD) the girl at the ticket counter offers me £15 seats for tonight. So we get both the talk and the drama - a play looking at the question of the passionately committed vs the party man. The natural attraction is to the passionately committed, but a single sacred cause with no need to administer a policy is in some ways a luxury. An interesting play - but we both found Hare’s talk the more compelling.