A trip to the Theatre - by Nick Palmer

15/02/2013

This is the story of our first evening out in 8 months, the parents who read this will sympathise, anyone else will just think I am a bit… sad really.

In May 2011 we were lucky to have a healthy baby boy. Since then we have enjoyed untold amounts of happiness, laughter, a bit of worry and an amazing feeling of fulfilment.

HOWEVER… there are a few areas of our lives that have changed. Sleeping until 8am is now a lie in instead of a daily struggle. There are no more exotic holidays to far flung lands in the search of adventure, that has been swapped for pool side bathing and swimming pool fun, which, don’t get me wrong is enjoyable, it is just very different. The final area is simply having the freedom to be able to go out where and when you want, whether it be a romantic meal or just to the cinema. Like Mel Gibson in full Scottish regalia are cries of freedom go unheard, that is until now!!

It has been 8 months since our last evening out, or 8 months and 6 days, but who is counting. We have of course been out for meals with family, but in the back of your mind is the worry of ‘I hope he is going to eat the food’ or even more worryingly ‘please don’t cry all evening’. So it was with great excitement that we booked tickets to a comedy show at The Spa theatre in Scarborough and a table at Marmalades Restaurant.

Being a parent, and a typical Yorkshire man we took advantage of a half price dining offer on Yorkshire Coast Radio. Pay £20.00, for a £40.00 spend in the restaurant. Marmalades is a beautiful restaurant on The Crescent in Scarborough town centre, we were greeted by our waiter and taken through the main restaurant to our table at the back. The 3 course menu would normally cost £22.00, however with our voucher we had 2 for £24.00, fantastic!! The food was nice, although a bit under -seasoned, and great value, even without the voucher we would have been happy. I enjoyed a salmon starter, followed by roast pork and a chocolate brownie for dessert. Of course this was swilled down with a bottle of wine… it seemed to taste better with a nice meal than in front of the TV at home.

Following the meal we enjoyed a short stroll down to the theatre where we were going to enjoy the comedy of Chris Addison, he is the curly haired guy off Mock the Week. Scarborough Spa is becoming a hot spot for well known comedians , and we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Before that though… to the bar. If you could not tell by now, we were making the most of our night out and getting a taxi home!! The Spa Theatre itself is quite small, but it made for a great atmosphere where you could connect with the act and not feel lost in a crowd. Of course sods law has it that I (6’2) was sat next to the biggest guy in the place, we had the awkward who’s arm goes where dance, but overall the seats were spacious and compared to some places I have been, felt like an armchair. The show was fairly high brow, and a bit went over our heads where certain politicians were involved but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The night ended with a few unfortunate trips to the bars of Scarborough, where only 2 years ago we felt at home, but now felt completely out of place and sadly really OLD!! So with a click of our heels it was time to go home.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening out and certainly recommend taking in a show at The Spa theatre, and definitely look out for half price dining offers on Yorskhire Coast Radio.

As for us we have booked tickets for the Jimmy Carr show in November. Only 7 ½ months to go… but who is counting.