There Is A Sucker Born Every Minute

I am a sucker for any kind of performance that I see going on. It just draws me to it. Cycling through the city centre I had to stop when I saw two characters in costumes, a flower and a bee (forget the people in the background, they always dress like that).

It is all part of the ‘Springwatch’ theme of the BBC. Raising awareness of the importance of nature and the natural wonders all around us that we often fail to notice. Obviously, two characters in foam suits, free plastic carrier bags filled with ‘giveaways’ and an artificial lawn set up specially for the occasion are at the far end of the ‘natural’ spectrum, but it helped to draw a crowd (of suckers like me) and draw attention to some more worthy causes.

For example the FairyLAND Trust, who were there promoting their organisation by creating ‘fairy crowns’ made of leaves and plants. One of their aims is to “create fairylands: places to take your children so they can experience the enchantment and excitement of real nature…”. I’m all for that, too many people take the countryside for granted. In fact too many people never actually visit it. Never having heard of the FairyLAND trust before, I am now so enamoured of its aims I may well become a Fairyland Founder (I rejected the alternative of becoming a Fairy Queen, although the idea of a certificate with my name on saying that I was ‘Queen of the Fairies’ was tempting).

Those with an awareness of the musical Barnum will know the source of the title for this post. It was at the forefront of my mind yesterday as the members of Hessle Theatre Company have had a flurry of emails with details of arrangements for the auditions for Barnum. (What did we do before electronic communication? I can even fill in an audition form on line now.) I will need to give thought to what I want to audition for. Anticipate further posts on this topic as I agonise over the question.