WC APRIL 27
Tuesday night was rather special. I saw the brilliant Peter James thriller, Dead Simple, at the Mayflower, Southampton. It was a serious play but we had an amusing experience. I took Totland undertaker, Pam Everson, as my guest, to give her a night away from work. I had not read the synopsis of the play, which is normal, as I like to be surprised. Imagine my horror when I quickly realised the theme was a person being buried alive in a coffin. It caused a chuckle or two and we told the author Peter James during the interval reception. The last time I took Pam as my guest was a few years ago to Spamalot. After about 20 minutes a cart was brought on stage and a guy cried out: “Throw your dead bodies up here.” I wonder what might happen the next time?
.
Saw Kevin Wilson’s Warzone on Wednesday night at Shanklin Theatre. It was great to see six young actors on stage and three were making their debuts. They can all look back with satisfaction. It really picked up in the second half and a battle scene, with brilliant sound effects and lighting, was a real highlight. A brilliant song in the production was written by Sandown’s David Redston.
When I gave a supper talk a few weeks ago at the wonderful Island Sailing Club, at Cowes, our personal hosts were Peter and Rosemary Bingham. I managed to talk him into appearing on my radio show and on Thursday Bertie and myself enjoyed a few hours at their lovely country cottage. Again, they were perfect hosts. Peter has a fascinating story about life as a flyer and will soon be on JH Meets.
Sadly, the late notification of some local amateur shows has meant I have not been able to attend to view their performances for the IW Amateur Theatre Awards. I lead a very busy life and do need to be notified in good time. This has happened three times recently.
Early evening on Sunday I returned to my East Cowes roots to watch the three giant Cunard liners the QM2, the QE2 and the Victoria sail by in convoy off Castle Point. I loved the sight and meeting a few old friends. I was sad to see the council have not managed to clear away the small landslip that has blocked the road. The occasion took me back to 1952 when I was a very young schoolboy (I was young once) and watched the United States come by on her record breaking Atlantic crossing. I tell you what, they would have cleared the landslip in those days when there was less party politics in local government.