The New Wimbledon Theatre

Magic in Merton

On a scale of London's priority places to visit, for the time-conscious traveller, Merton might not make it to the top. Sure, Wimbledon resonates with many as a place of tennis legend, but unless you have the luxury of bagging a ticket to these two weeks of racquet revelry then you may not feel it is worth leaving Zone 1 for.

6:45pm: Charging down the M4 on a sunny Wednesday evening in July, with all the pace of a three legged tortoise, neither did my mother. The time-old mantra of 'slow and steady' doubtless wasn't going to win us the race to reach the New Wimbledon Theatre in time for the 7:30 showing of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Edging hesitantly into the borough, she watched mournfully as hares gloatingly whizzed past on their motorbikes, wishing for Dick Van Dyke himself to appear and engineer a miracle. The rice cake I'd stashed away in the murky depths of my bag become coveted rations as hunger turned to h'anger.

6:55pm: Mother tortoise suddenly springs into action. My sister and I are thrown from the car and stumble down The Broadway. Our quest: the ambitious mission of finding a sit-down eatery that would feed two vegans, a terrifyingly ravenous mother, a malnourished engineer, and a health-crazed father, in 15 minutes flat. The latter two of our family members were stationed somewhere nearby, awaiting our orders. It seemed that we needed a miracle more magnificent than a flying, floating car.

Panting, we stumbled through the doorway of 'Oki Sushi and Noodle' - a rather unremarkable looking but conveniently placed Japanese restaurant 100 meters from the theatre. The friendly looking waitress that approached us quickly turned her expression to one of bewilderment as we explained our predicament. To our surprise, she ushered us to a bench, thrust five menus into our hands and ordered us to "choose!" Joined swiftly by our flustered family members, we made our choices from the vast selection with a decided carelessness.

The food was plopped down on the table in front of us in three minutes flat, and we were resigned to the fact that speed over quality was the priority here. However, it seemed today that someone was on our side, and it was delicious, ticking the requirements of quality, quantity, gluten-friendly, and vegan. We ate our noodle soups, rice bowls, and veggie sushi fast yet meditatively. Nothing like a half hour of extreme panic to bring the family together.

7.25pm: Sighing with relief as our hanger dissipated, we profusely thanked the staff for a 'truly scrumptious' meal (who seemed glad to see us leave) and took a leisurely waltz towards the New Wimbledon Theatre, catching a couple of Pokemon along the way.

Bellies full and comfy seats in sight, we were content and relaxed. The theatre staff tut-tutted at our lateness as they ripped our tickets off the stub but new bright and breezy attitudes didn't allow us to be fazed. James Brining's touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was magical, transporting the audience into a dreamlike pre-war Britain borne out of Ian Fleming's eclectic mind.

The Grade II listed Edwardian theatre looked majestic in the interval sunset, with the Roman Godess 'Laetitia' atop the dome seemingly beckoning theatre lovers from across the globe. With three underground stations serving the Wimbledon area, and an overground line to Wimbledon Station, is it more than accessible from Central London, providing the perfect excuse to see some theatre or explore a new borough.

Flying car optional (but suggested if taking the M4, seriously).