Mikron at the Folly - show report

It must be tough getting through the Mikron auditions.  You not only have to be musically and dramatically talented but be ultra fir and practical as well. You have to learn how to drive Tyseley their  big old narrowboat, play one or more musical instruments, be fit enough to lug around and erect (and disassemble) a mini stage every night, sing, act, make people laugh, sell programmes and tea towels and wotnot, and extract money from audiences after the show.  Like every other Mikron crew I have seen in the past, this current four did it all brilliantly.

As we walked under the bridge outside the pub, Tyseley was nestled below Napton bottom lock,

and the crew had set up the stage and the props and were busy selling programmes to the assembling audience.  

(Do you think that man in the CRT T-shirt looks like Rick Wakeman or is it just me?)

I counted about a hundred people by the time the show started bang on 7pm.  The show "Twitchers" was a play about the history of the RSPB and the challenges they have faced over the years, serious enough stuff but funny with it and the crowd loved it.  Lots of jokes, several songs and some interesting facts chucked in. Readers who have seen Mikron will know that each member of the cast plays several characters, with just the change of a hat or coat, and they even managed a range of regional accents.  Between the four of them, who all sang in perfect harmony, they played trumpet, accordion, guitar, saxophone, clarinet and flute.

Probably the favourite bits were the interludes when two crows talked to each other about the goings on at the bird reserve -brilliantly conceived and very funny.

I've been watching Mikron shows for over 20 years now, always excellent, and this one was well up to scratch.  Five stars from me.

After the show and the money being taken from the audience "You pay to get out rather than to get in" the team who must have been knackered set about dismantling the little stage set and carrying it back to Tyseley.  Some of the bits were surprisingly heavy, I know because Kath and I carried a couple of pieces for them on our way out.

Today they've moved to Calcutt marina to do their other show (they always alternate between two plays) and  now we're moored above the Calcutt  locks so we can go to that one too.