Janet C. Smith's Blog, page 5
May 7, 2024
'Manifesto for Murder'. Murder Mystery stage play. St Andrews Players, Luton.
Good Luck to St Andrew’s Players, who are performing ‘Manifesto for Murder’ at St Andrew’s Church, Luton, on Thursday 9th until Saturday 11th May.
'It’s election time in Smallbury, where the incumbent Independent MP has reigned for ten years. The arrival of a challenger stirs up sediment in the community, and one character will be permanently voted out!'
'It’s election time in Smallbury, where the incumbent Independent MP has reigned for ten years. The arrival of a challenger stirs up sediment in the community, and one character will be permanently voted out!'
April 25, 2024
'Murder Anybody'. Newcastle University Students Union. Murder Mystery Evening.
Break a leg! To Newcastle Uni Students Union, who are performing ‘Murder Anybody?’ on Sunday 28th April. Tickets £7 - a snip!
April 15, 2024
'Manifesto for Murder'. Honley Players. Murder Mystery.
Break a leg! The Honley Players are performing ‘Manifesto for Murder’ at Southgate Theatre, Holmfirth, Friday 19th to Saturday 20th April. Playing detective is a hungry business, and ticket price includes a pie and pea supper.
April 7, 2024
William Wordsworth. 'Daffodils' poem. Romans.
William Wordsworth's 250th anniversary is being widely celebrated today, and his poem 'Daffodils' probably the first to spring to people's minds.
First described in 300BC by Greek botanist and philosopher Theophrastus, it was the Romans, inventors of plumbing, aqueducts, underfloor heating, and other useful things, who brought the daffodil to our shores. Here, they were planted in remembrance of loved ones, or comrades fallen in battle.
How is this known? Carbon dating. First invented in the 1940's, carbon dating can accurately predict the age of plants, shells, bones and seeds deposited in the ground, up to 25,000-50,000 years ago, and throw open a mesmerising window into the past.
I wonder if the daffodil seeds below the old turnpike road of Glencoyne Bay, Ullswater, have ever been carbon dated? They could just be those from the 'fluttering and dancing' flowers that so entranced William and his sister Dorothy on their 1804 lakeside ramble. Verse two....'Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.'
First described in 300BC by Greek botanist and philosopher Theophrastus, it was the Romans, inventors of plumbing, aqueducts, underfloor heating, and other useful things, who brought the daffodil to our shores. Here, they were planted in remembrance of loved ones, or comrades fallen in battle.
How is this known? Carbon dating. First invented in the 1940's, carbon dating can accurately predict the age of plants, shells, bones and seeds deposited in the ground, up to 25,000-50,000 years ago, and throw open a mesmerising window into the past.
I wonder if the daffodil seeds below the old turnpike road of Glencoyne Bay, Ullswater, have ever been carbon dated? They could just be those from the 'fluttering and dancing' flowers that so entranced William and his sister Dorothy on their 1804 lakeside ramble. Verse two....'Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.'
'Robin Hoodie and His Merry People - the Murder Mystery Panto'. Chew Amateur Theatrical Society.
Break a leg! To Chew Amateur Theatrical Society (CATS) who are performing 'Robin Hoodie and His Merry People - the Murder Mystery Panto!' Friday-Saturday April 12th to 13th. The venue which Crafty Clara the panto horse will doubtless be galloping around is the charming Chew Magna Village Hall.
March 12, 2024
'Murder at Cliff House.' Ufford Players.
Good Luck to the Ufford Players who are performing 'Murder at Cliff House' in the charming St Mary's Village Hall, Ufford, on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23 March. A fish and chip supper is available - fish and chips and a murder mystery, what more can one want!
An excellent article in the Ufford Punch magazine, describes how the drama group, now in its 35th year, prepare for a production.
See link for the Ufford Punch article below
https://uffordpunch.org.uk/#dearflip-...
An excellent article in the Ufford Punch magazine, describes how the drama group, now in its 35th year, prepare for a production.
See link for the Ufford Punch article below
https://uffordpunch.org.uk/#dearflip-...
February 21, 2024
'Murder at Cliff House'. Wellingborough Musical Theatre Society. Murder Mystery.
Good Luck to Wellingborough Musical Theatre Society, who are performing 'Murder at Cliff House' on Saturday 24th February at All Hallows Hall, Wellingborough. A fish and chip supper is included in the £15 ticket price - with the price of fish, a snip!
The synopsis for the murder mystery runs: A group of top bloggers receive invitations for a luxury weekend from a new publishing house to meet their new writer, with the idea of them reviewing and publicizing their books via the social networks. But who is the mystery writer? Where is the mystery publisher? And why are the guests cut off with no mobile or internet reception at a decaying old house, beside crumbling cliffs, with the sea mists curling in? One character guaranteed for deletion!
The synopsis for the murder mystery runs: A group of top bloggers receive invitations for a luxury weekend from a new publishing house to meet their new writer, with the idea of them reviewing and publicizing their books via the social networks. But who is the mystery writer? Where is the mystery publisher? And why are the guests cut off with no mobile or internet reception at a decaying old house, beside crumbling cliffs, with the sea mists curling in? One character guaranteed for deletion!
February 15, 2024
Devon Young Farmers Clubs. County Finals of Drama. 18th February, Palace Theatre, Paignton.
Good Luck to Devon Young Farmers Clubs who are battling it out on Sunday afternoon 18th February to win the County Finals of Drama. The venue is the un-muddy Palace Theatre, Paignton.
February 9, 2024
The Mystic Moon Shop. 'Gritta and the Witches of Olavland'.
A lovely little pagan/wicca/magic shop called 'The Mystic Moon' in Sherwood, Nottingham, now has copies of 'Gritta and the Witches of Olavland' for sale. The outside of the shop is beautifully and imaginatively painted, and a surprise and delight to suddenly stumble across in it's slightly off the beaten track location. See link below
www.themysticmoonshop.com
www.themysticmoonshop.com
January 19, 2024
'Manifesto for Murder'. Murder Mystery stage play.
Tickets now sold out for both dates, which is brill. Wish I lived nearer. It's fascinating how companies vary in their production and direction of a piece. Break a leg!
Just finished reading 'More Than a Woman' by Caitlin Moran. Excellently written and scorchingly honest, some chapters are quite explicit about her personal life, and her bedroom door, bathroom door and wardrobe door, are swung wide open. Being a Sunday Times columnist, she writes in a highly opinionated way, and whilst I read to the end, because I found it interesting, not being in her reader target group, I was left feeling rather less, rather than 'More than a Woman'. What's wrong with me?!
To recover my equilibrium, I read Michael Bond's charming book for children 'Olga de Polga'; the adventures of an imaginative guinea pig. Michael Bond (of Paddington fame) kept guinea pigs as pets, and his writing shows an understanding of the cute squeaky creatures, particularly of their homing instinct. Guinea pigs have a strong survival instinct, and are actually quite unadventurous. After all, in the Peruvian wilds, a huge Harpy Eagle may swoop down and carry them off for a snack.
Onto Edith Wharton's 'Ghost Stories'.
Just finished reading 'More Than a Woman' by Caitlin Moran. Excellently written and scorchingly honest, some chapters are quite explicit about her personal life, and her bedroom door, bathroom door and wardrobe door, are swung wide open. Being a Sunday Times columnist, she writes in a highly opinionated way, and whilst I read to the end, because I found it interesting, not being in her reader target group, I was left feeling rather less, rather than 'More than a Woman'. What's wrong with me?!
To recover my equilibrium, I read Michael Bond's charming book for children 'Olga de Polga'; the adventures of an imaginative guinea pig. Michael Bond (of Paddington fame) kept guinea pigs as pets, and his writing shows an understanding of the cute squeaky creatures, particularly of their homing instinct. Guinea pigs have a strong survival instinct, and are actually quite unadventurous. After all, in the Peruvian wilds, a huge Harpy Eagle may swoop down and carry them off for a snack.
Onto Edith Wharton's 'Ghost Stories'.
