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| By George! |
On Friday 25th April the hall was filled with the appetising aroma of bangers and mash as over 80 people sat down to enjoy their traditional English Fare and to celebrate St. George’s Day (yes, we know it should really have been 23rd April, but the hall was in use that night!)
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| More bangers and mash, sir? |
The meal had a musical accompaniment very ably provided by
Sam, and red and white dominated the room.
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| Play it again, Sam! |
Once the plates had been cleared away, the entertainment
began. Seventeen members of St. John’s ranging in age from 7 years to 89 years,
provided a varied medley of songs and recitations and encouraged audience
participation.
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| Full chorus ... |
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"The English, the English,
the English are best" |
The words of some of the most popular songs were provided on a song
sheet - all superbly accompanied by Julie Ann on the keyboard and piano. Laughter filled the hall.
Many of those present saw our treasurer, Chris Bevan in an entirely new light as he appeared on stage in a variety of different guises: King Alfred, St. Neot (pronounced ‘newt’), King Canute, Cosmo the incompetent archer, the Grim Reaper ... and Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
(see below - captions refer to the characters, not the member of the cast!)
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| Enjoy your meal |
At half time, the cast had a brief respite and joined the
audience for the pudding - trifle, of course.
There was a fiendish quiz based on well-known English sayings - were
they from the King James Bible or Shakespeare? - and a raffle.
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| Evenin' all ... |
Then it was back up on the stage for another
rousing chorus of ‘The Yeomen of England’. All the English history you ever
knew, and some bits you were not sure had ever happened, was presented in a
light-hearted gallop through the centuries.
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| John tickles the ivories |
Thank you to everyone who took part in what was a wonderful
evening of fun and friendship, and thank you to all those who attended and made
it all worthwhile.
Chris plays ...
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| King Alfred, the incompetent royal caterer |
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St Newt Neot, a serious saint |
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| King Canute, who didn't rule the waves |
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| Cosmo, the incompetent archer |
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| Anne of Cleves, the ravishing wife of Henry VIII |
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| Guy Fawkes, the incompetent bomber |
