History was made I suppose, on Sep 15, because Mae Naak at the Bloomsbury Theatre was the first performance of a Thai opera anywhere in Europe. The house was about 80% full but word of mouth must have been good because by Sep 17, the last performance, the house was completely sold out. We were juggling wildly trying to get last minute people in. The orchestra played their socks off and Nancy Yuen has never done the role more superbly. I haven't seen the official reviews yet (they might be a while) but the reception from the public was unbelievable ... the cheering, the curtain calls, the entire thing was quite a spectacle and for me particularly meaningful because so many figures from my youth were present, such as my tutor from Eton, Michael Meredith. Also friends from Cambridge like Geoffrey Thomspon and friends from Eton and Cambridge like Iain Little and Tony Little (no relation).
Tomorrow, actually going to Eton which will be very very weird indeed. The Dickensian horrors of my childhood are some of the darkest parts of my memories, but Eton was also in many ways profoundly inspirational and liberating. More news soon....
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