ing for a fun and unique way to spend an evening, either by yourself, or with a special someone, but you’re struggling to come up with the perfect idea of what to do. You don’t really feel like visiting the cinema again — you do that often enough anyway, and besides, there’s nothing showing that really interests you — and going out for drinks seems too cliche.

After a while, your mind might wander to the theatre. After all, you reckon, Broadway is meant to be a big deal, and there are a bunch of major plays that having been doing the circuit consistently for years. But what play should you go and see?

Well, here are a few reasons why you might want to take the time to go and see the hit show Wicked instead of just picking from any number of possible plays at random.

It puts a cheeky spin on a beloved classic and keeps you guessing

Everyone’s well familiar with the classic Wizard of Oz story by now. Dorothy, the innocent girl from Kansas, ends up in a magical world, meets magical friends, has trouble with witches, and goes in search of a powerful wizard in order to help her find her way home.

Now, Wicked is set in the exact same magical world of Oz as the original story, and even includes a good few of the same characters, but it turns a number of things upside down in a major way.

Without giving any considerable spoilers, the “Wicked Witch” of the title isn’t really all that wicked (but she is a witch), and has a lot of intriguing reasons for the decisions she makes. Some of the other characters are no longer quite as “benign” as they were in the original story, either.

These cheeky spins put on a beloved classic help you to revisit the land of Oz with new eyes, get a few good laughs, and think about the implications of an alternative reality setting and the motivations of various characters.

The movie is a bit of irreverent fun, but it’s also pretty poignant, and keeps you guessing.

It’s got a smash-hit soundtrack

Easily one of the best and most memorable things about Wicked is that it’s got a truly phenomenal soundtrack, which will not only help to keep you emotionally engaged throughout the story, but which will also have you humming along, weeks after the play’s finished.

Songs like “Defying Gravity” have already made a big name for themselves in the music circuit, and taking the fact into account that music is a major way in which people engage with and appreciate the subtler sides of the human experience, you’re in for a treat.

It’s a long, engaging story

Here’s one cool thing about the theatre, as opposed to the cinema — most plays have a significantly longer “running time” than most films, while also benefiting from the addition of a half-time intermission which you can take advantage of for a strategic toilet visit, or snack purchase, as the need and mood take you.

Wicked is an exemplar of this rule, with the total running time of the play being around 3 hours with a 15-minute half-time intermission.

What’s the practical upside of this for you, the audience member?

Well, for one thing, the story doesn’t have to be rushed, to anywhere near the same extent that a film might. Instead of the average film running time of 90 minutes, you are treated to double that, with all the consequent extra twists and the additional attention to character development that go along with this.

And Wicked does an excellent job at capitalising on this extra time, with a plot which is interesting and engaging, with surprise twists, startling revelations, deep character motivations, and a stunning array of on-stage props and settings that really help to set the mood, while still keeping your imagination heavily engaged.

The theatre is a great way to spend a day out

So, this point is a bit more general and less specific to Wicked, but it goes back to why you should visit the theatre in the first place.

The simple fact is that the theatre is a compelling and timeless medium for storytelling, and it has many things in its favour. Firstly, it’s less accessible than the cinema, which means that going to see a play is automatically more of a unique and special “day out” for many people.

Additionally, a play has a limited capacity for “special effects” even with modern technology. This means your imagination will get engaged much more, and the writing will have to be extra sharp to compensate.