26th May Abba-dabba-do

So our second day in Cottonopolis and after a good and much needed nights sleep, we set off back into the city under a much cloudier sky, headed towards the Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunatly at least half of it, possibly the most interesting bit, was closed due to a multi million pound renovations and so our viewing was limited both by what was on offer, and there is only so long you can read about the history of textiles, (although TOM did manage to stretch that out to extraordinary lengths) and also the presence of various school groups whose nature varied from hyperactive to hyperbored.

With no real plans for the rest of the day, we hopped on one of the free buses that wizz round the city and got off up near 'the village' thinking that we would have a spot of lunch in what is probably one of Manchesters most iconic locations after the cobbles of Corrie. We arrived to discoved bugger all open. Canal Street was firmly shut. 

In the series Little Britain, Daffyd, often describes himself as the only gay in the village, today TOM and I appeared to be the only two people in the gay village. I know we weren't perhaps there at the right time but it was such a let down. We couldn't even find the statue of Alan Turing!!

Feeling the strain and with an evening out planned, we retreated back to the apartment and crashed for the rest of the afternoon, before putting on our glad rags, which compared to Ryan (our hosts), extensive multicoloured wardrobe, looked very dowdy indeed and caught the tram to Salford Quays and the Lowry. 

Over a pre theatre pizza we chatted to the father and son at the next table, with TOM enquiring how much tickets for the game normally cost. When we were told that the Dad had recently paid £1000 for two cup final tickets, it very much put our 'extravagant' £20 theatre tickets into perspective. And remember...there's a cost of living crisis going.

The play called 'The Way Old Friends Do, is a new comedy about devotion, desire and off course being based around an ABBA tribute band, Dancing Queens. And the opening scene drew lots of oohs and aahs from the sudience voiced as it was by the late Paul O'Grady, himself famous for his alter ego Lilly Savage.

In 1988, two school friends tentatively come out to one another: one announding he is gay, the other perhaps more shockingly as an ABBA fan. Nearly thirty years later, a chance meeting via a gay dating app sets them on a brand new path and they decide to form the world’s first ABBA tribute band, with a gender reversal of the men taking the womens roles and visa versa. 

Simultaneously tender and laugh-out loud funny, with some very cutting one liners, it was a lovely heartfelt story that soon had the audience in the palm of its hand.  Whether you love camp or Abba (and Abba were really camp when you think about it) or just good theatre it was a fabulous show that again we both really enjoyed...the way old friends do.