The morning started off academically with a visit to the Tate Britain, which I actually had not visited before. It was a really nice little museum and I was really excited about the collection of Turner works they had. I really love Turner's landscapes.

Lunch was provided by James, who had ordered us traditional Cornish pasties (pronounced: p-ass-tee-s). Those things are so good. They are definitely a heavy meal though...you can feel it sitting in your stomach for a bit after consumption. It is basically like a calzone filled with stew...expect with a flakier crust...almost like a thick croissant, actually.

Nate and I went to see about getting tickets to Matilda the Musical for later in the evening, only to find out that we could get better seats, at a better price, for the matinee show. We bought them on the spot and then had to go confuse to James that we were ditching out on the optional museum visit he was leading that afternoon. I didn't feel that bad since I had been to that particular collection before. And you know what? I feel like I made a good decision, because Matilda was AMAZING.

Now, I need to back-up and admit that I have actually never been a big fan of the story of Matilda. The movie absolutely petrified me as a kid and the book made me cry (and not in a good way). I was a bit hesitant going to this show but it has won several major awards and the reviews all made it sound incredible. On top of that, Nate and I had stumbled upon a brochure with images from the performances and you could tell it was a visual masterpiece. 

While I am still not a fan of the actual story, the performance was everything we imagined and more. The cast is split right down the middle in terms of being made up of adults and children. The adults would double as extra children but by and large the performance was carried on the shoulders of a dozen under 12-year olds who were astounding. The amount of talent in those kids was literally mind-blowing. The choreography is this really interesting and unique style of jumping, choppy looking movements that give the numbers a really distinctive feel. The music was awesome. The sets were stunning. One of the scenes even made me tear up a bit (the children were singing about what it will be like to be an adult and it just took me back to when I was a kid myself and made me really nostalgic). Anyway, I was thoroughly entertained and would see it again in a heartbeat; it was THAT good.

Later that evening we caught The Woman in Black. I have never been to a "scary" play before, but, man alive, it did its job! I nearly jumped out of my skin a couple times. I personally think that the tweaks that were made for the movie adaption with Daniel Radcliffe made the story a lot more creepy but was impressed with just how frightening a stage production can truly be. 

West End is kind of my favorite. If I had more money, I would be seeing a different show every night. Nothing, in my mind, beats a live stage performance!