Master attends A City Scrooge
Performance by Simon Callow in aid of The Lord Mayors Appeal
Master attends A City Scrooge
by
with
A City Scrooge
Last evening I joined a large number of my Livery colleagues at The Mansion House for an event in aid of the Lord mayor's Appeal.
This event billed, as the picture shows, A City Scrooge, was an evening with Simon Callow when he enthralled us, for over an hour.
Firstly Simon gave us a summary of Charles Dickens's life, up to the point when he wrote A Christmas Carole. We were told he wrote it in an angry mood, following publication of a report which highlighted how the enormous success of Britain's Industrial strength had been partly built on the exploitation of young children, working in the mines and in factories. Hence the anti capitalist theme, and details of the poor in the book.
The highlight, though, was when Simon said he would read us some extracts from the book. More recitation than reading, and certainly with the skills of a brilliant actor, Simon bought scenes of the book to life, commencing with the opening scenes, with Ebenezer Scrooge at work at his desk, dismissing the idea of Christmas with a 'Bah Humbug' to Bob Cratchit.
Then, after further grumpy passages, through the drama of the visitations of Christmases past present and future. The final scenes, when Scrooge saw his own tombstone were made particularly scary!
Following this tour de force from Simon Callow, we were treated to a drinks reception, where I renewed acquaintance with a lot of my fellow Masters.
Truly a memorable evening - even if I didn't win the raffle!
The Charities supported by the Lord Mayor's Appeal this year are:
Place2Be: (mental health care for children
ONSIDE: (providing Youth Zones for young people's activities
Samaritans: Wellbeing in the City - to role out support in the workplace
KJS: Dec 2019
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"Being a member of a City Livery Company makes you a part of a long tradition of philanthropy, charity and pageantry. While part of this is the enjoyment of formal dining in our own hall or in the fantastic and historic Livery Halls of other Liveries in the City of London, our Livery has a unique involvement in the promotion of science and engineering in the City and with Government. As a professional engineer, being a member of the Livery is an important part of my responsibility to my profession and the wellbeing of the country."
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