The Best Weekend Ever - Part 1: Fangirl Friends and Ah, wilderness!

Thursday 23rd of April marked the start of a most epic weekend of fangirling. It began on the 2.20 train to London from Warrington Bank Quay. This is were I met my bestest fangirl Vicki. We've all got one. You know the friend you don't have to explain obscure quotes to or start sentences with "Do you watch...?" Or "Have you read...?" And the one that is there when you are crushing hard or obsessing, doesn't judge and you know just gets it. That's Vicki.

After a 2 and a half hour train journey of squeeing, giggling, Prosecco and talking at the speed of light we arrived in London! The greatest city on earth. 

Straight to our hotel to freshen up and get glam to go to The Cut to meet Jackie and Darren. This was no ordinary meet up. This was the first time we would meet face to face! Vicki and I met Jackie on Twitter. We connected through a mutual love for the movie Pride and quickly found we were kindred spirits. With Jackie being from Canada popping round for a tea and biscuits wasn't really an option! But Sherlocked the Event saved the day and brought us all together for the first time. 

Meeting your internet friends really is as great as you hope it will be. I felt I was sitting down with an old friend not a brand new one! The gorgeous Jackie was just as lovely in person and the conversation picked up where we left it online. Nothing felt awkward, Jackie's husband Darren was so lovely and fully joined in the chatter! 

The excitement was fuelled by the fact we were going to watch Ah, wilderness! Featuring the wonderful George MacKay who plays Bromley/Joe in Pride. The movie that brought us together! Ok so a lot of my excitement was due to the fact I have the teensiest of crushes on Mr MacKay and I was over joyed to be seeing him perform live.

Ah, wilderness! did not disappoint. The set was a beautiful sweeping sand dune and the lighting made you think of lazy days and hot summer nights. The whole cast were fantastic, you really got the sense of a family and all the fun and problems that can cause. George MacKay was brilliant as the idealistic Richard he captured the anger and sting of adolescent heartbreak, the innocence of his romantic sole underneath and was a perfect drunk. For personal reasons my favourite scene was when Richard is hungover and flounces around the stage dressed entirely in black wearing sunglasses. The entire performance was witty and wonderful and I would watch it every night until the end of its run. 

Much to my delight we managed to meet George (Can I call him just George? Well I am!) as he came out from backstage. The Young Vic doesn't have a stage door so all the actors have to come through the The Cut Bar. Which is nice as you can enjoy a wine while star spotting. 10 minutes or so after the rest of the cast George appeared. He had to dry off.... He gets a little wet during the show...... *sighs*.

He was so sweet and I think a little taken back that we were waiting for him. Vicki asked him to sign her Pits and Perverts tee from Pride. He was surprised that she had one and pleased to sign it. He signed my program and we told him how much we all loved Pride and it's the reason we were there and how we had met. He was lovely enough to have pictures with us all before he headed over to a table with the rest of the cast to have some post show drinks. I was in heaven. I think I grinned for the rest of the night! And I kept the staring to a minimum.... I hope! 

As we discussed our post show thoughts and the loveliness of Mr MacKay our thoughts turned to the rest of the weekend and the exciting times that lay ahead! We arranged to meet for breakfast the next morning and headed our separate ways. 

To be continued....

Much Love 

Charlie x