All Our Christmases

Reminiscence Theatre production and playscript, Age Exchange 1983

Director:    Pam Schweitzer
Designer:   Rob Luxton
Research:  Chrys Salt and Pam Schweitzer
Musical direction:  Carola Stewart
Original Cast 1983:

Second Cast 1985:

  Steve Gribbin, Mandy Carlton, Carola Stewart and Simon Davies

Charles Wegner, Tegolin Knowland, Christopher Downing, Nicola Slade

Christmas was always a great time to tour a show to care homes and community centres.  There was usually a bit of extra money available for entertainment and funding was easier to come by. The performances often formed part of Christmas celebrations in the various venues and were invariably a highlight of the year.

The first professional Christmas show (1983) “All Our Christmases”, was based on recorded and written memories of older people in an Adult Education group run by Pam Schweitzer for the local authority. Their stories were supplemented by interviews conducted with residents in sheltered housing units in Greenwich.

This source material can be read in the accompanying book, reproduced here, and was used verbatim in the accompanying script.

New Christmas shows were created in later years:

“A Merry Little Christmas” (1987) (also known as “Deck The Halls”) explored the experiences of a family through the 1930s, their separation in the war years and their post-war Christmas get-togethers.

“Christmas At War” (1989) marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. New memories were recruited by long-serving members of the company and the show, set in a London Rest Centre for people displaced by the Blitz, looked particularly at the wartime experience in south-east London.

Unfortunately, no footage remains of these Christmas shows, but all the scripts are available here and excellent photos and slides give a clear sense of the different Christmas shows. It is our hope that some footage will re-surface one day, and can be added to this archive.

As with all our shows, these Christmas plays were performed free of charge for the audiences of older people, thanks to the support we got for each show.  Funding sources varied for every production. Shows were supported by the Greater London Council, The Inner London Education Authority, Help The Aged, the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham, the Midland Bank and many other charitable trusts. The actors performed seven times a week in seven different venues over a period of 6-20 weeks, and every show was separately funded. The funding covered Equity rate wages for all professional actors, designers, musicians, stage-managers, etc. Between 1983 and 2005, finding the necessary funding formed an important part of the organisation.

 

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