An interesting and very full weekend (so far).

Friday night we had tickets booked to see another amateur dramatic (am dram) production (having seen daughters group Hook Players last Friday do ‘We’ll always have Paris’), at the Players Elstead Theatrical Society or PETS or Elstead near Farnham am dram group’s production of Where’s There’s A Will by Ian Hornby. To compare and contrast the two am dram groups would be insensitive, or maybe not, so here goes: sorry but ‘Paris’ wins hands down. Let me compare; PETS, timing and pacing was a bit slow, and the prompt was well used. In Hook, there was only two prompts I heard, but the pace and cross talk was much sharper and quicker. PETS had a good set, with one glaring error, while Hooks set was nigh on perfect. However to be fair, anyone who spends as much time as am dram groups do in preparing, rehearsing and performing a production has my admiration. For I have been there and know what commitment is needed, and its a lot. So all the effort might not produce vast profits for the company, but that’s not the point, its amateur for a reason. I implore you to get out and support your local am dram group, it’s much better than what’s on the idiots lantern, and it doesn’t cost a fortune to see it. Make no mistake any actor loves to play to an audience and the bigger, the better. Go see a play!

The 2nd event was today, the final day of the season for my local rugby club Farnham Rugby Union Football Club, which plays at the newly built ground and stadium in Wilkinson Way, Farnham. They were already London 3 South West Champions for this season and the opposition today, Old Mid-Whitgiftians are eight places below Farnham. The result didn’t matter as promotion was already assured, but in the event Farnham ran out winners 66-0. The whole event was celebrated though with a lunch on Friday in a specially hired marquee, attended by over 300 people. Speeches were given, prizes handed out and a good time was had by all, including some late night activity in local hostelries, some of it with no morning-after knowledge of the events or journey the previous evening by the participants. Perhaps this would explain the reason Farnham got off to it’s more than usually slow start against Old Mid-Whitgiftians. They made up for it in the end in front of the carnivally enhanced crowd at Wilkinson Way for the 1st XV match and ran out deserved winners. Prior to that there were exhibition matches for minis, under 12s and so on. I suspect there was after match proceedings to exceed the previous nights festivities, judging by the way the bubbly was being swigged at the end of the match. Well done Farnham and good luck next season in London 2 South West, I’ll be there to support!

The third event had been arranged some time ago as a birthday treat for me, by my wife, and was a murder mystery night. If any of you have ever been to one of these, you know what to expect. Basically a ‘murder’ is committed, sometime during the evening. In our case there were five actors mingling with the diners (a three course meal was part of the deal), and answering questions from them in response to the outline of the evening in the flyer handed out at the start. At intervals two of the actors, two men and three women would stand in full view ( and full voice) of the audience and have a discussion (or argument) relevant to the plot. The whole room goes silent for these playlets and then the conversation caries on. The audience discuss their theories, eight to a circular table, in our case no one knew the others, and try to work who’s doing what to whom, before the ‘murder’ takes place and then each table discuss and decide who the killer is and the motive and method. There were 9 tables and in turn each actor sits at each table and talks to the diners, who ask questions and interrogate the actors in their characters. Its all great fun, and the meantime you get to know your fellow table guests, and chat generally to them as well as talking about the case. Its all very cerebral, and finally the ‘killer’ is revealed and the winning table gets a prize in this case some bottles of wine, and we all get an explanation sheet, laying out the whole story. The actors were excellent, the fellow table guests were engaging and friendly; all in all an excellent evening.

Just to finish, watching the repeat of Britain’s Got Talent, it struck me that out of the first 10 acts, 8 weren’t British. Have we no talent left in Britain, or is it that those that have any wouldn’t touch this crappy programme within a mile. Discuss?