EVERY so often a moment comes along which brings it into very sharp focus that I’m getting old.

While I still can’t shake the feeling that in certain circumstances I should look around for an adult to help out, the reality is that I am very much the adult.

It came as a bit of a shock when my little sister celebrated her Big 50 earlier this year with a very sedate family dinner in an upmarket French restaurant - a far cry from her more lively 40th birthday party.

As I raised a glass to mark the occasion, the twinge in my shoulder reminded me that I’m nine years ahead of her and next year I’ll be celebrating a birthday with a zero on the end of it which seems impossible as I’m sure I only left university three or four years ago.

I was once again given a hint of my rapidly increasing year count when I went to the Borough Theatre last week for production of Annie - a show I have seen with stunning regularity over my long career.

Making my way up the stairs and doing my best to dodge the raffle ticket sellers I bumped into local businessman John Bannon, who’s been known to dip his own toe into the theatrical shark tank in the past.

“I hope you’re going to be kind tonight,” he said in a tone which almost suggested that he knew what the answer would be.

“My granddaughter is in the show,” he added proudly.

“She’s playing her first proper role in the same role her mother played in the AAODS production 35 years ago,” he added.

“I remember that show well,” I replied. “That makes me feel old. It was my first Annie. I think I got letters after the review came out” I added as he rolled his eyes.

It’s hard to believe that almost 40 years, hundreds of letters, dozens of Facebook insults and an awful lot of grey hairs have gone under the bridge since I first took my seat to watch Barrie Jackson, Rita Rouse, Annie Walker and the cast take to the stage of the newly refurbished Borough Theatre in that 1990 production with two pieces of sage advice ringing in my ears.

One came from amateur stalwart Val Stephens who was one of the first press officers for AAODS and ALOC I worked with and who told me, “it’ll be lovely not to have our reviews done by a sports reporter so please always be honest and good or bad say what you really think of the shows,” - advice she probably came to rue over the years.

The other bit of advice which I’ve adhered to over the years came from a theatre professional who warned me never to walk out of a show. “No matter how much you hate it you can’t criticise a show you didn’t see ‘till the end,” he said - advice which I definitely came to rue over the years.