Tippling Theatres and Grand Tawny at Home

So I planned to write about drinks at the Sumner Theatre-- mid-show drinks, to be precise. We bought a subscription to the MTC last year and as well as seeing some great plays we've also been rather keen on the experience of hanging out at the Sumner, which is a really groovy little space with lots of black leather and gleaming glass. Unfortunately, it turned out that our show wasn't at the Sumner, but was at the Arts Centre, about a block away. The Arts Centre is nice in a way, but it has an unfortunate resonance with my experience supervising teenage girls at their Performing Arts Festival. I.e, work. And then my other strong association is with visiting MELBOURNE (anything in from Narre Warren) as a kid, specifically to see the Nutcracker Suite and The Phantom of the Opera with my primary school and my parents, respectively. All very nice, but not quite the atmosphere of sophistication that I can pretend I belong to over the road.

So I remain without knowledge on the subject of whether or not one should imbibe in the sense that I imagined. The pressing questions for me were-- how overpriced is the champagne (that is, how crap will the stuff by the glass be?) and-- can you drink a glass of champagne and go back into the theatre for 90 minutes without seriously overstretching your bladder? These remain mysteries.

What I can report on: the bar downstairs (near the Fairfax theatre) at the Arts Centre is not for those who aspire to glamour. Or variety. Or decent beer. Why they have on tap Crownies, Cascade Light and Stella (more appropriate choices for tourists on one of those cruises down the Yarra) I don't know. I had a hot chocolate, anyway, and she didn't glare at me too much when I asked for it extra hot, so that is certainly in their favour.

The experience of quaffing said beverages was sullied by the fact that by the time we worked out where we were supposed to be we didn't actually have much time left to consume our choices. Drinking my extra hot hot chocolate was made more difficult, even, by the fact that I'd gotten chilli on my hands after our Vietnamese dinner and kept rubbing it in my eye. So I was kind of keening with pain and sculling a hot drink, which didn't help the atmosphere. Anyway, there's not really anywhere to sit either and it all feels like you're just hanging in the foyer. Which we were, of course. But in the Sumner, it's better.

Finally-- tonight I'm having some lovely 'Grand Tawny' (port, I think) from Penfolds. We bought it from the cellar door in Adelaide and it's great, although it doesn't make me feel any younger to be drinking and talking about port! Still, this, I can wholeheartedly recommend. It's syrupy goodness that burns a little on the way down and has a raisin-y aftertaste. I love it.

Next time? I am bothered by the range in quality of Vietnamese in Melbourne. I'm going to make a best of.