P I L T O N   P L A Y E R S

C H R I S T M A S   R E V I E W

Once again Pilton Players pulled out all the stops in their production, ‘The Magic of Christmas.’ This year it was set in the Parish Church, not the easiest venue for a production but as always the Players overcame all obstacles and it was wonderful to see the church used in this way and to see it so full.

The first section consisted of Christmas poems and readings- some which brought a smile and some more serious, such as a passage from ‘Cider with Rosie,’ re-told with such feeling by John Boucher, which took us back to Christmas past.  Alison Ward and Sheila Steward, made us laugh and remember the school plays with their readings by Joyce Grenfell and Willy Russell; and one of the new members of Pilton Players, Kate Gundry gave a very different version of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas.’ It will never be perceived in the same way again!

Potty Pantomime, a short play by John Crocker kept everyone on their toes with its wit and the clever way in which it linked some of the main characters from a variety of pantomimes. Sometimes it seemed a little too slick but the quality of the acting carried it through.

‘The Coming of the Kings’ by Ted Hughes was perhaps the most powerful and thought provoking play of the evening. It re-told the story of Christmas in a new way. The innkeeper and his wife, played by Mark Berry and Pauline Hobbs, made the audience laugh with their domestic quarrels but this in no way detracted from the message of Christmas; of the coming of Christ and the meaning of Christmas, which many of us miss as we get swept along with the nitty-gritty day to day business of living.

The Players not only provided an excellent evening of entertainment but they left everyone who went with a message to take away.  It is up to us now to remember that message in the busy days ahead. Thank you Pilton Players for reminding us of what is important.

By Hilary Austin

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