Birthdays and the theatre

Think I am running late with this post. I have been away for a week in gorgeous, golden Suffolk chiefly, staying with my sister and seeing younger daughter and middle grand-daughter on the 17^th birthday of the latter. SO, birthday lunch and witness to the Party Preparations, Getting Ready and most of the arrivals before escaping to a quieter haven. Again I was struck by the utter confidence of young women to wear what they want and to be comfortable with their bodies. It took my generation half a century before achieving the same level of confidence!

Before the Party of the Year, my sister and I with two friends, went to see Hamilton, much
anticipated by me. I stayed in London for two nights and had the rare experience of walking a short

distance to Oxford Street, specifically to M & S and Zara. This may have been the first time ever for me to actually shop on Oxford Street and, in the interests of energy conservation, I cut down the experience to two shops, close together. I bought in both and was able to compare the customer care, as it were. M&S, impeccable as ever in service and civility though with some frightful clothes. BUT there were also some super linens and white shirts and the woman in the changing room [empty save for me at the early hour] was a delight; knowledgeable about stock, great with suggestions and finding replacements, and an accomplished conversationalist to boot! I stayed chatting at least ten minutes in the still-empty changing area, after the operation was complete.

Zara, again with some frightful clothes, but also with some which were fab and perfect for me, not their target age group, I would guess. The girl [much younger] in the changing room was sweet, rushed, and with little idea of stock available. I had forgotten that I would probably need a bigger size [always the case in ‘young’ shops] and asked her if she would get me a bigger size. She couldn’t go as she was alone on duty so she called a young man. After a ten minute wait, I re-dressed and left, found the required trousers nearby, returned, tried on and bought. En route out I passed the same young man, the messenger, laden with clothes and decided he had not been able to locate the trousers for me, and had just blithely carried on with other duties. Is this difference in two large
shops generational? Company practice? Training? Perhaps the chiefly young clientele for Zara don’t need more courtesy and informed help; they do need trendy young assistants though. M&S, always reported these days as ‘struggling’, has a wonderfully trained staff and customer-focussed ethos. It is always a pleasure to go in [rare for me these days as the Brussels branch has closed] though nothing to buy as super as the palazzo trousers I bought in Zara.

Alexander Hamilton

One of the Founding Fathers of America

Hamilton, with its innumerable awards for Best Musical, its slickest of slick production values, its stunning choreography and dancing; its superb singing and acting, nevertheless failed for me. I was astonished that I couldn’t understand the hip hop and hence the narrative. I felt angry with myself and disappointed, not to say, stunned! But by the interval I had only a very partial idea of what was happening and longed to leave. There is a certain level of shame in the last sentence but there it was! A much younger woman in our group understood it all and loved it and clearly found my incomprehension, incomprehensible!! This only added to feelings of embarrassment and shame on my part!! However, I am now in the market for a decent biography of Alexander.

Wonderful to return to Brugge and my lovely terrace though ‘my’ blackbird has disappeared and the paeonies are finished. The last couple of months have been chiefly a personal paean to peonies which I have bought every week from the Wednesday market, marvelling at the sheer blowsy beauty unfolding and the luscious change of colour from deep pink to almost cream, happening almost as one looked.

The paeony Sarah Bernhardt