Prismatic Reflection

Many Happy Returns

........ 21 Years In The Village

   Continues its look back at re-enactments I've organised and performed in at Prisoner Conventions held at Portmeirion. 1996 saw the nightcap scene from ‘Checkmate’ performed on the Friday evening of the convention inside the Hercules Hall, with myself in pyjamas and dressing gown, and my wife Morag as No.8 in dressing gown, and very well received it was too. Again we performed and organised the human chess match, if its not broken why fix it was the attitude of the members. But then later in the day there was another brand new re-enactment for the convention, one never before performed, that of the gun-runners scene from Many Happy Returns. Of course the only boat we had to perform upon was the Amis Reunis - the stone boat, so a great deal of adaptation of the re-enactment was necessary, and worked out well in advance. I recall how a David Stimpson re-enactment was announced over the public address system, better known as village radio, and the number of people who came running down the hill to the quay in order to see the re-enactment. We had replica guns, and smoke issuing forth from the main cabin, but as I climbed aboard the boat I was not wet from being in the sea. Now looking back I wish I had doused myself in the water, as I prided myself on getting details correct. And of course there had to be the careful choreography of the fight scene aboard the boat. The two gun-runners played by Simon my step son, and a friend by the name of Nick, who I caught full on the chin with my fist in the actual re-enactment.

Next time 1997.

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