Kim’s Encounter

 
 
I enjoy watching as much BBC on Netflix as I can find. I first discovered Nicola’s work on MI5 (aka Spooks, in the UK). More recently, I’ve also enjoyed Last Tango in Hailfax and River. It seems to me that Nicola is an actress with a broad talent range. I especially enjoyed the role of Ruth Evershed because it portrayed a smart, strong, primary female role in a genre which is dominated by men.

I had just finished watching River and looked up the Bonkers but Brilliant website and realized that Nicola was here in the States. When would I ever get the opportunity to see Nicola here? A little while ago, I regretted not going to NYC to see the tribute show, “A Night with Janis Joplin”, so I didn’t want to miss out this time. I took some vacation time from work and flew from Denver, Colorado to New York City in mid-February 2016 in order to catch the play before it ended its run on 21 February 2016.

Play-Ticket

This wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve travelled somewhere in order to catch a show. When I was in high school, I dragged my family 400 miles from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles to see Helen Reddy in concert.

I grew up near the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, so we were fortunate enough to be taken to see ACT plays as school outings. These field trips lead to a love of the theatre, so I do like to see local plays when I have a chance.

I’m kind of silly – I could have read the play before I left for NYC, but I wanted to be surprised by the outcome, so I didn’t read the play ahead of time. As it turned out, it was a very intense experience. The play was almost 2 hours long without an intermission, but the dialogue was so interesting that the time flew.

Playbill-cover

After the play ended, I decided to take my chances by the Stage Door. I don’t recall how long we waited because I was enjoying talking with the other fans. I would guess that there were about 15 of us waiting for various members of the cast. Even though it was very cold outside, we didn’t notice the cold because of the great conversation. While waiting, I chatted with a young man from NY and a young lady who is a student of Philosophy from Vancouver. Nicola was one of the last to come out and she came out smiling!

As you have all pointed out in other Close Encounters reports, Nicola is very down to earth and took time to chat and sign our playbills. She even posed for a photo!

20160218-Kim-Blair-w-NW

Editor’s Note

Many thanks to Kim for sharing this encounter with Nicola. Cheers!

 


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