Cinderella at Billericay Theatre

Last  Fridaywe visited the Billericay Theatre in Radford Way with our two grandsons, the show was set to start at 7pm, doors open 6:30pm.  We arrived shortly after 6:30, the bar area was almost full.  We ordered drinks for us and the children and found a little space. 
Unlike some older theatres I have been to everything here is clean and appears well maintained.  The seats are basic, but comfortable.
Eventually we were allowed to go into the theatre.  The show was very good, plenty of panto traditionals, lots of shouting and involvement.  Lots of asides to the audience, I'm not sure how scripted they were, but they all made for some laughs - which is why we came.   Some brilliant physical comedy, and ghood story telling.
All in all a good night out.

Proper Saturday

Last weekend, on Saturday morning, we got up at a reasonable time and headed to Norsey woods with Brody. The aim was to get him exercised so that he would walk around peacefully. We walked around the made up paths, throwing the ball. He ran and ran, we met other dogs, but he was only interested in the ball. By the time we were ready for the guided walk through the woods to see what it is like in winter, Brody was ready for his next walk. He did not understand why he had to stay on the lead. A small boy was playing with a stick, Brody thought it was an invitation to play. He took the stick and the little boy cried, but it eventually leads to him being teased for the rest of the walk. After 3 hours in the woods, Jo and I were ready for lunch and a rest. Brody was just ready for lunch, dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.
With little to do until the evening, we took it easy for a few hours. By 6.30 we were ready to get on the coach. We had been given tickets to see the Mousetrap at the Cliffs Pavilion. No wonder it has been running since the 1950s, it is a very good play. I did not guess the murderer, but I did enjoy the show. The only downside was the seats at the cliffs that were very uncomfortable.
It was a proper Saturday, the sort of Saturday I can't do that often. It also added 1 to our count of 25 things -the Mousetrap is iconic enough to count as more than just a play.

Stratford-upon-Avon

After our time exploring Coventry Cathedral the weather had brightened up so we decided to go to Stratford. It is a very nice place and certainly tourist friendly, but last time I was there I was just driving through and it took ages. I need not have worried, we found a car park on the edge of town that had spaces on the ground floor. Our guest is somewhat disabled, so stairs are not a good thing, but at least the parking permit was not required.

The town is beautiful and very well looked after. We went on a cruise boat for 45 minutes on the river. There are some lovely new houses near the river, built on stilts to avoid the flooding problems of a few years ago. Some of Stratford can only be seen from the river. The picture shows Jo enjoying the sunshine and the cruise.

After the cruise was over it was a choice between William Shakespeare's birth place, and his grave. Quite randomly I chose his grave. I knew it wasn't too far because we had passed the church on the river boat. Across the town a little, and past a theatre being refurbished, we stopped and bought ice cream, then onwards to a park next to the river. The path lead to the church. In the park there was a stage, and people gathering around it. One of the theatre companies was about to start a production of The Tempest. We decided to stay and watch - better still it was free.


The actors and actresses had their faces painted and wore modern cloths. The scenes took place in various parts of the park. Here they are making noises of a violent storm and being blown about. When a scene changed we were shepherded from the current location to the new one. "Hurry up you'll miss the play - this is my big scene, you mustn't miss it". They also explained to visitors what had just been happening in the scene they had left. Parts of scenes were played amongst the crowd, and one or two of the audience were used as props occasionally.

Miranda	Sycorax

I'm a great fan of this type of theatre - it is so much more engaging than being in a stuffy building with the actors appearing as dots in the distance. I also enjoy the interaction. Its worth noting that not all the crowd were similarly impressed:
It was such a shame that we could not stay to the end, having to be back at our hosts for dinner at 7pm. It was a brilliant afternoon.

Bill Bailey - Tinsel Worm Review

On Tuesday evening Liz and I travelled to London to see Bill Bailey - read the review here.