"Ding Dong Merily for Xmas" is not a spelling mistake, but a title borrowed from Nigel Molesworth's description of a childhood Christmas endured at the hands of dull adults.
This original and witty Christmas entertainment, at St Andrew's Church, was far from dull.
Group One mingled the ingredients of poetry, prose, and music delightfully to remind listeners that Christmas is not always what it seems. The hard work req
uired for Mrs Beeton's Christmas Pudding, and the toils of The Inkeeper's Wife offered a different perspective on the festivities.
The near catastrophe of Mr Pickwick's ice-skating adventures sat well with the tribulations of Richmal Crompton's William. He noticed that adults always assumed that children were enjoying themselves, but the opposite, for him, felt truer.
Michael Gray, Elizabeth Norman, Alison Woollard and Hugh Homan presented the extracts sympathetically and imaginatively.
Shakespeare's Christmas as a season when "the bird of dawning singeth all night long… and the nights are wholesome" was echoed by the accomplished flute playing of Paul Bristol and Katharine Ibbotson.
Under the inspired direction of producer Hugh Homan, this feast for the inner eye and ear was convivial, thought-provoking and much appreciated by the audience.
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