The Court Theatre Play Mates Titus Andronicus

A little nervous to begin with, our University of Canterbury intern Sean Lydiard hosted our most recent 18 – 35 group of Play Mates as they took in a showing of Titus Andronicus together. And yes, he enjoyed himself. He took a moment to tell us about the experience:

I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. Meeting a new group of people and experiencing a play like Titus Andronicus with them seemed like the makings of a pretty daunting evening. But I didn’t have any reason to be nervous - everyone was there for the same reason, which meant we could cut the small talk and jump straight to: “I’m told that a lot of people die in this.” We enjoyed some drinks and pizza in the foyer, got to know each other and headed in for the first act.

Once the show’s started, it doesn’t matter who you’re next to you – if the play’s doing a good job (like Titus does) then your attention is on the performance, so in theory seeing a play alone doesn’t seem that bad. But the intermission is always a struggle when you’re alone: do I stay in my seat, should I pop to the bathroom to fill in time, how about another glass of wine? And that’s where Play Mates comes in.

We regrouped in the foyer and chatted through the first act; what we liked, what we didn’t like, that woman three rows behind us who kept laughing in weird places, and our expectations for the second act. We filled up our glasses and then we were back in for Act Two: more shocked gasps, more blood and more awkward laughing from three rows behind.

After the show, we hung out in the foyer a little longer for a final chat about the play – something you don’t get when you drag a friend along who has no interest in theatre – and made plans to see each other at the next Play Mates performance before heading home.

While there’s nothing wrong with going to the theatre by yourself, Play Mates takes the stress out of finding people to go with by putting you with a group of enthusiastic, eager theatre goers looking for the same thing you are.

Play Mates will be running for our next show, Easy Money. We offer three age groups: 18-35, 30-60 and 60+. Click here to find out more about Play Mates and to sign up.