[mplpost] GIG ON: WASSAIL! ... 20th and Final performances ... Dec. 7/8 at the McManus Theatre, London

[Ian Davies]

For the 20th and final year ... WASSAIL! is returning to celebrate the
coming of Christmas. This is wonderful family entertainment which recreates
a 19th Century English village Christmas with traditional carols, country
dances, Morris and sword dances, seasonal narratives, and a Mummers' play.
Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 7th and on Sunday,
December 8th at 2:00 p.m. at the McManus Theatre (downstairs at The Grand
Theatre). Tickets for the production are on sale now at the Grand Theatre
Box Office (672-8800) and are $12.00 for adults, and $6.00 for Seniors and
children.

For the past twenty years, a group of London singers and dancers who love
recreating some of the fine old English Christmas customs have been
presenting Wassail!. This year's show will be one of nostalgic reminiscences
of the preceding 19 Wassail! performances, with elements lovingly selected
from scripts marking significant milestones in the production's history
including songs, dances and recitations. The very first Wassail! performance
was at the Unitarian Fellowship. Subsequent performances included the first
performance at the Grand Theatre, one performance at Althouse College
Theatre, the 6 years that Wassail! was directed by Doug Beattie, and the
last 3 years back at the Grand's McManus Theatre.

At the beginning of this 20th and final Wassail!, two of the villagers
lament the fact that the squire, who has been the patron of the annual
Christmas party at the pub, is moving away, and the pub is being renovated
to accommodate a new restaurant and the space will no longer allow the
village to gather there. They reminisce about some of the things that
happened over the years, and a series of "flashbacks" highlight some of the
cast's favourites from past years. When the "villagers" finally gather, they
continue to reflect back on past good times.

Even though the script looks back to past favourites, there will be some new
songs and dances. There will be story-telling, dancing, singing and general
merriment that will bring seasonal joy to young and old alike. As in past
years, traditional Morris and sword dances, English country dances and
carols and a Mummers' play will form the basis of Wassail!, with poetry and
prose from the 19th Century describing the seasonal customs and practices of
the period. Many of the carols sung in Wassail! have been collected from
village choirs that still gather at Christmas time in the local pubs in
Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The traditional Mummers play will be an adaptation
of the play used in the very first performance and in the first performance
directed by Doug Beattie. The English Country dances are ones that were
popular in the mid-19th Century, some of which were seen in recent films
based on the novels of Jane Austen.

Wassail! is written and produced by Tom Siess, directed by Bronwyn
Powell-Wasse, and features Leslie Jost, David Wasse, Julia Webb, Bronwyn
Powell Wasse, and Tom Siess. Music is provided by the Wassail Choir of
London, with Blair Heddle (fiddle), Leslie Jost (keyboard), and Tom Siess
(melodeon, keyboard). Dancing is by the London Playford Dancers, and Forest
City Morris and Sword. Over 180 different people have taken part in Wassail!
in the course of the twenty productions. Wassail! is a not-for-profit
production.

For Further Information Contact: Tom Siess at 519-433-1834 or by e-mail:
tfsiess@sympatico.ca

or Ian Davies 519-473-2099  E-mail:  IDEA@iandavies.com
- 30 -



-
To unsubscribe: mail majordomo@icomm.ca with
"unsubscribe maplepost" in the body (not the subject line)
Need help? mail owner-maplepost@icomm.ca