A King's City Christmas

By Richard Conlon

Cast & Crew   I   Gallery   I  Performances

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the town, 
A Pilgrim walks silent with our own ancient Crown…

“Almost anything has got aesthetic qualities. There are many more beautiful things than we give credence to in our day to day lives. When we think about what ‘happiness’ really entails it often is about the appreciation of the moment and the things that are in front of our eyes, and things that are – in a way – quite ordinary.” 

In this quote Alain De Botton is talking about still life painting but it expresses what we are exploring in ‘A King’s City Christmas’. Of course, the point of our show’s story is that our lives are anything but still – change is a constant and the things that happen to us every day are always much more than ‘everyday’ events.

In our play we see different people going through changes: changes that are both monumental and thoroughly normal; changes that are miraculous and mundane at the same moment. I think the fact that we can keep these opposing forces in our heads and hearts at the same time makes us all rather wonderful. 

Christmas seems to be an ideal time to reflect on what we have instead of what we don’t have, to cherish those around us and to take pleasure in simple things. It seems a perfect moment to consider together, for an evening, just how extraordinary the ordinary can be. 

A number of people shared their views about ‘Winchester at Christmas’ with me as we prepared this piece – I heard about the problems of parking and crowds, of the whole thing starting too early… but there were also many more reflections on how Christmas can be, actually, easy to get right. 

This city is a very particular place, nowhere is quite like it; yet at this time of year perhaps all places are both different and alike in the same moment, full of people trying to do what Mr De Botton suggests – appreciating the ordinary things in front of their eyes. Perhaps Christmas can be about nothing more than giving and sharing time, food, laughter and ourselves. We hope that you enjoy what we are giving and sharing tonight. 

All of us at Blue Apple wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Richard Conlon
Director

PROLOGUE PILGRIMS: Jane Chadwick & George Collingwood
LEAD GUIDES: Jack Porter & Chris Pearce

GUIDES: Daniel Austin, Amy Britt, Dan Chopra, Katie Cole, Ros Davies,
James Ducarreaux, James Elsworthy, Jocelyn Kirby, Andrew Malster, Elena Moody, Ryan Nicholas, Lucy Parrott, Alice Peck, Michelle Pluck, Lucy Relf, James Smith, Charlie Teschner, Lucy Thomas, Imogen Tingle, Laura Walton, Neil White

THE PILGRIM: Tom Hatchett
THE KING: James Benfield

LIFE: Ashley Sale & Anna Brisbane
LOVE: Katie Appleford & Lawrie Morris

LIFE & LOVE DANCERS: Anna Brisbane, Amy Britt, Katie Cole, Ros Davis, James Elsworthy, David Hunt, Tommy Jessop, Jocelyn Kirby, Andrew Malster, Elena Moody, Ryan Nicholas, Alice Peck, Michelle Pluck, Aaron Pressman, Ashley Sale, Charlie Teschner, Lucy Thomas, Imogen Tingle

THE KITE FLIER: Aaron Pressman
THE HORSE: Ryan Nicholas
THE RIDER: Neil Bennet
THE HOG: James Ducarreaux
SOUND II: Tommy Jessop

PUPPETEERS: James Elsworthy & Michelle Pluck

DIRECTOR: Richard Conlon
CHOREOGRAPHY: Amanda Watkinson
CHOREOGRAPHY ASSISTANT: Katy Francis
ADDITIONAL CHOREOGRAPHY: Rosa Kentwood: ‘Watching Over Us’
ADDITIONAL CHOREOGRAPHY: Jayella King: ‘Winchester Cathedral’
PRODUCTION, STAGE, LIGHTING & SOUND MANAGEMENT: Paul Milford
SET DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: Mark Pyke
COSTUMES: Polly Perry
PUPPETS: Nigel Luck
PROJECTION DESIGN: Amber Tunstall
LEAD REHEARSAL ROOM ASSISTANT: Michelle Pluck
LEAD PERFORMER SUPPORT: Chris Pearce
ADDITIONAL DEVISING AND REHEARSING: Jason Kidd, Emma Rabjohn
BLUE APPLE VOLUNTEERS: Chris Pearce, Lucy Relf, Sue Dashper,
Laura Walton, Imogen Tingle, Charlie Teschner, Michelle Pluck
WINCHESTER COLLEGE VOLUNTEERS: Coline Cadoret, Olayele Aluko, Felipe Jin Li, Joseph Huh, Adrian Yam

Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, Friday 8 and Saturday 9th December 2017
at The Tower Theatre, Winchester