We had a splendid night out seeing Hamlet at the Newcastle Civic Theatre last night. The production was excellent and the venue itself is fantastic, a Spanish Baroque style theatre complete with marble staircases opened in 1929. 
The evening out almost didn't happen for a number of reasons. It took us a while to realise that most performances only come to regional theatres like ours for one performance between their stopovers in the bigger cities so you have to be quick off the mark to book if something good is coming. I missed being able to get tickets for a play about Ned Kelly and Miriam Margolyes' one woman show before I twigged what the problem was. However, once we overcame this obstacle and were eagerly looking forward to Hamlet. Then, last Sunday, I was laid low by a nasty bout of flu and as the days passed I was worried I might not get better in time but finally seemed to be on the mend by the end of the week when disaster struck, Ian came down with it! Luckily he was not quite as bad as me and, when Saturday evening arrived, we armed ourselves with bottles of water and cough sweets to guard against coughing fits, and had an enjoyable evening.
Before the illness struck, Ian was venturing into thespian territory himself this week. A new footpath has just been completed at the Tilligerry Habitat and the team there wanted to mark the opening in a memorable way so decided to re enact the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 
When the bridge was completed in 1932, the dignitaries, led by New South Wales Premier Jack Lang, gathered for the grand opening. Just as Lang was about to cut the ribbon, Francis De Groot, a member of the right wing New Guard of Australia, galloped up on his horse and sliced through the ribbon with his sword, declaring the bridge open 'in the name of the decent and respectable people of New South Wales.'
As you can see, Ian took on his role as De Groot with enthusiasm!