Anu Garg, who writes the online A.Word.A.Day, explains that the word “travel” is ultimately the same word as “travail”. “Imagine the era,” says Garg, “when travel time was measured in months; there were no in-boat movies during the trip, and no Holiday Inns waiting at the destination. That’s if you reach the destination at all.” Travel could be torture, appropriate since the word travel/travail derives from the Latin “trepaliare” which means: “to torture”! (To subscribe to Word.A.Day go to http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html.)
An unusually lone umbrella on the wet streets of New York. Photo: Brenda Daniels
Fortunately I travelled to New York recently by aeroplane – not by boat – and did enjoy in-flight movies (Our Brand is Crisis on the way there and The Martian on the way back). I did reach my destination and hotel and while there got to enjoy two excellent Broadway plays: Noises Off and School of Rock the Musical. Perhaps the only “travails” I endured were the cold, rainy and windy conditions, or rather the umbrellas used to ward off those conditions. There were so many brollies bouncing along the wet and windy streets that week, many of which stubbornly refused to stay the right way up in the gusty setting. I worked out that I had to use my borrowed brolly for self-protection. Not against the weather; against the other jostling umbrellas! And the only way it effectively kept the rain off my face was to jam it right down onto my head. Not much sightseeing on this trip; the most I saw was a pair of heels sloshing along on the pavement ahead of me.
Which is why theatre shows were such a good escape. Tip number one: go to the theatre in New York when the weather is bad.
We happened to see Noises Off on a Tuesday evening, the night on which pre-show talks are held at many theatres. We learnt about the playwright Michael Frayn and how his difficult upbringing lent itself to his writing this British farce. We heard about the serious aspects to farce, and how challenging the actors found this particular play. Tip number two: go to the theatre in New York on a Tuesday so you can attend the pre-show talk.
The serious elements notwithstanding Noises Off was very funny. And very clever. Briefly, 
the story revolves around a group of actors practising for a play. In the first act the director interrupts proceedings during rehearsal. In the second we see the actors behind stage enduring increasingly hostile relationships with one another. The third act features the actors front of stage again but in sadly deteriorated conditions that have resulted in complete chaos. It was brilliant. Tip number three: see Noises Off on Broadway!
The next day we set off early for Broadway and joined a small queue outside the Winter Garden theatre. Along with other shivering people we cleverly bought tickets directly from the box office on the day; we did not pre-book tickets online. This saved a huge amount of money. For instance, orchestra seating tickets for this show can cost as much as $197 each, whereas tickets for the same seats purchased directly from the box office cost $145 each. Tip number four: purchase Broadway theatre tickets directly from the box office.
School of Rock the Musical was a gloriously fun, energetic production featuring enormously talented, vibrant young children and music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Pre-teen youngsters played bass guitars and drums and sang with the maturity of adults. We had a ball. Tip number five: see School of Rock the Musical on Broadway!
As already mentioned my outgoing in-flight movie of choice was the serious, anxiety riddled, political story Our Brand is Crisis starring Sandra Bullock. But my return-flight choice, The Martian, was a pretty lighthearted take on the travails of an astronaut who travelled to Mars and got left behind on that dusty planet. Watching Matt Damon growing potatoes in an inhospitable climate was an enjoyable end to my New York “travails”.
a feast of tales 