The 39 Steps

Maria Aitken- who I was up at Oxford with - attended a party at the Old Vicarage a couple of weeks ago for women who live in the Cambridge area and went to St Anne's College Oxford. This year it was Mary's turn to host the occasion. I discovered (and in fact should have known before) that Maria is directing The 39 Steps, currently playing at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly. I promised I would see it, and popped along last night thinking it would be half full - Monday is not a great night for the theatre world. To my surprise, the theatre was packed, and once the play had started I could see why. It was a fun evening which is clearly packing them in on word of mouth. The play is a spoof on John Buchan's ripping yarn, and Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant film, and if you know the story, you'll get a double kick out of the evening. I thoughly recommend it for all age groups.

I left the theatre and strolled past the Tiger Tiger club in Haymarket to rejoin my mini before going off to dinner. The West End was packed with locals and holiday-makers. I can only admire the British public and the security services for the way they've handled the terrorist alerts. Certainly last night there was no proof that we'd had such a major near disaster only a few days before. It's sad to read in this morning's papers that most of the suspects are doctors. One usually thinks of people who wish to kill, maim and terrorise as not only evil, but more than likely lacking in education or upbringing. The security services will have to radically reconsider the profiles of such people in the future, while the British remain in the John Buchan mould.