Local Paper cryptic

[ShamrockBlue]

Feature of freinds ? There's a change of direction near the end of some shows. ( 8 )
I can't decide if the answer is matiness or matinees .....any thoughts ?

[JMR27]

I think it's matiness - the change of direction i.e. 'e' becomes 's' at the end of shows (matinees)

[Quizmonkey]

I disagree: 'feature of friends' looks lilke the definition. The clue is instructing you to take matinees and change the directions at the end.

[ShamrockBlue]

Thank you both very much, MATINESS it is then,
It was my first thought , but the more I looked at it, the more unsure I was.
Cheers