By amateur theatre editor Martin Brisland.
Some may think that the history of Southampton is boring but not when presented like this!
Time and Tide is an excellent evening of stories, songs and sea shanties presented by the Maskers Theatre Company with the help of the Southampton Salty Sea Dogs.
The show was inspired by the current Lord Mayor of Southampton, Councillor Valerie Laurent. She wondered if the Maskers could put on a show linking Southampton with the sea in support of the Lord Mayor’s charities. The show was recently performed in the Mayor’s Parlour.
Directed by Sheana Carrington who is a founder member of the Maskers, Time and Tide presents a chronological run through of some of the key moments in the history of our city by the sea. Narrative, poems, short scenes, humour and song are all used to tell the maritime story of Southampton, often known as “The Gateway to the World”.
Particular highlights were the stories of King Canute played by Duncan Randall, the departure of Henry V’s troops in 1415, Jane Austen’s time in Southampton, the tragic tale of Richard Parker from Itchen Ferry village, the development of the Spitfire and the story of the Queen Mary, which took its maiden voyage from here in May 1936. When the production of Spitfires at Woolston was halted by bombing raids in 1940, production was dispersed to many local sites including the very building now occupied by the Maskers Theatre company. A Commemorative Plaque outside tells the story, put there by the Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust.
Neil Maddock gave a rousing performance of the First World War tune about a departing soldier, Good Bye-Ee. The Noel Coward classic ‘Has Anybody Seen our Ship’ was superbly performed by Maria Head and Brian Stansbridge.
Special mention must go to the Salty Sea Dogs. They sing shanties acapella and obviously really enjoy what they do. Credit for this to Pauline McWilliams who started the Salty Sea Dogs in 2015 and was present to proudly watch ten of this glorious choir perform. They finished the evening by teaching the audience the hand actions to a shanty and it was great fun as everyone joined in. Another triumphant evening for the Maskers.
Their Studio Theatre off Emsworth Road, Shirley is small with only 48 seats. There is limited availability left for this show which runs until Saturday 16th September. Please check out maskers.org.uk for more details.
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