It's a dog's tale

I've always wanted to see a play produced by the Mikron Theatre Company. They are one of five theatre companies (to the best of my knowledge, and according to Google) to be based on the canals, the others being the Puppet Theatre Barge, Alarum Productions, Bonnet and Belt Theatre Company, and Widgeon Theatre.

Imagine our delight when we read that Mikron would soon be performing in Welford, at the very end of the Welford Arm, right next to the Wharf Inn. I bought tickets straight away.

And we went last night, a fifteen-minute drive from Kantara. It would have been a trip of nearly four hours by boat, which we would have loved to have done, had I been able.

The play was brilliant, a comic history of  Cruft's dog shows since the first one in 1891; the competitiveness and the corruption, the fanaticism and the fakery - and the loss of a rescue dog called Gary. The players - four of them, each playing several roles - were first-rate singers and instrumentalists as well as actors. The audience were delighted by it all.

It was an out-door event on the green at the end of the canal. Their narrowboat Tyseley (built in 1936!) lay in the water behind the stage. The performance was due to start at 7:00 pm, and the rain started at around 6:00. By half-past, it had stopped, and Grace and I left the shelter of the car to take our seats. Well, we actually took our own picnic chairs, so we went to take our allotted places in the covid-safe seating arrangement. Apart from a few spots of rain, there was no more until about twenty minutes from the end, and it was beginning to get serious as the play drew to a close. But nothing spoiled our enjoyment. It was hugely enjoyable.