Coronavirus Panic, Camphill and Television Viewing

Just been watching the penultimate episode of the latest season of 'Doctor Who,' and I have to say it's really rather good. It would appear they've thrown everything into this story, with better special effects and generally a better story and all the assistants had plenty to do. I still don't understand the second story, presumably set in Ireland. Then (spoiler alert!) a central enemy of the Doctor appears in the closing moments and there's the finale episode of the season still to be seen . . .

(Tuesday) I've now seen the final episode of he season and it's good! But there's rumours that some of the actors who play the assistants are leaving, notably Bradley Walsh, due to other work commitments.

(Saturday) Today would be my lovely Carol's 56th birthday. I'm upset and I miss her, but I know she wouldn't want me to dwell on things and I'm getting on with my life. It's ironic to think that, had I not been driving to Willen Hospice to see Carol when she was there and going past the entrance to Camphill, I might not have thought to become a volunteer there and make so many friends with the group of residents in the drama workshop. I'm sure she'd be so pleased to think I'm doing something I enjoy and using what skills I have to benefit that group of people.

(Sunday) It's bright and sunny. There was a fairly strong wind blowing when I took Alfie out and we walked partially around Oldbrook Boulevard, but it was still chilly.

(Tuesday) Only at Camphill until 12 o'clock because they were having training and then community assembly. We did a line-run of 'Stranger Danger.' It's getting better and stronger each time the guys perform it. Every line very clear and you could hear each word spoken. I again was a 'Little Piggy,' because one of the residents, who never seems to appear before midday, wasn't with us. Then we watched part of 'The Sound of Music.' Another film I remember going to see when it was originally released, probably around 1965, and going with my father instead of my grandmother, and all he did was complain about the cost of the cinema seats, no doubt shown at the Granada cinema in St Peters Street, now demolished and the site now a branch of Lidl. Great pity. At one point it had the second largest cinema screen after the Odeon Marble Arch in London. Just one question I have to ask about the 'Sound of Music.' How come Captain Von Trapp (played by Christopher Plummer) is a sea captain, because if the film is set in Austria, which has no coastline, how come they had a navy? Or did they? Which navy was he a sea captain of? Then we did an improvisation, based loosely on the scene where the children march out when the Captain blows his whistle. I'm not sure it worked but we will need to rehearse it some more before it's perfect.

The residents at Camphill have done some sort of training since the coronavirus outbreak. They mustn't shake hands but touch elbows. Although i'm not sure that isn't as bad as hand-shaking as it's still touching. Wearing of face masks, which we see a lot of on television news since this epidemic began, somewhere in China, because these things are mean't to be worn once and then only for a shot time and then, if you touch them on the outside when you take them off, that would spread the virus, so in that case they are pointless.

(Wednesday) I've been shopping in Sainsbury's this morning and I saw the aisle where the toilet rolls are and a lot of shelf space is empty, due,  no doubt, to total panic buying. I can't see why particularly toilet rolls. Pasta as well, apparently. No doubt some crazy item in one of the more reactionary newspapers, such as the Daily Mail or Express. It's a sort of siege mentality.

It's nowhere near as blustery and cold today. Do I get a sense of it being almost spring-like, or is that being a bit too optimistic?

I've discovered that there's going to be an 'Alice In Wonderland' exhibition to be staged at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, starting in June. I am something of an 'Alice' fanatic and read it avidly when I was a child and it has really fascinated me even as an adult, so it's a must for me to visit an exhibition which is going to have some of the original artwork which was done by the illustrator Sir John Tenniel as well as preliminary artwork for the 1950's Walt Disney animated cartoon as well as a good deal more, so I will have to get my ticket on-line, which is the only way it would seem you can get to see the exhibition, timed-ticket only. I only found out about this exhibition whilst listening to Classic FM which I had on when I was driving to Camphill the other day, so thanks to them and whoever was the presenter, I think probably John Suchet. I think I may wait until the coronavirus situation is under control before deciding whether I go to this exhibition. I don't fancy going into London and putting myself at risk of catching the thing. I don't want to, but it makes sense.

Unexpected at Camphill

I've mentioned in an earlier post that Teo, who oversees the Drama Workshop at Camphill was going on holiday for three weeks and that he had set up and alternative project for us to work on, run by Paul, who is his assistant. Three films, which were selected by the residents, 'Oliver!', 'The Sound of Music', and 'Monty Python: and Now For Something Completely Different,' and how the residents had to devise improvisations based on these films. Unfortunately there had been complete breakdown in communication, because no sooner had we done the regular check-in (whereby each resident, co-worker or volunteer is allowed to say how they were feeling before the day began.) than we got a message to say that we were to have visitors from a school with their pupils coming to try out the drama workshop. It put the whole group into a bit of a panic because it meant finding something to occupy both the regulars and the students from this school, the Walnut School. We were supposed to rehearse 'Stranger Danger,' but with some of the cast missing, it wouldn't be worthwhile, although did set up things and when the group from Walnut School eventually arrived we did a truncated version of he play, with one central scene missing and later showed them the video of the play. I was surprised how different the show is since they made the video over a year ago (well before I went to work as a volunteer at Camphill.) The whole play is far better since it's been converted into a 'live' show and the actors put far more effort into thins and it somehow has more depth. It was interesting to see how the pupils who visited reacted to both the play and the video and feedback was worth listening to.

After tea we were involved in the parachute games. I had no idea what this was, until a large multi-coloured material shape was bought into the hall. It had handles sown onto it and we all had to hold this large 'parachute' shape up off he ground and by pulling it taut keep it off the floor. The first game was called 'Sharks.' The idea being that someone started off by running under the parachute and keeping their hand up to represent the shark's dorsal fin and when they reached the other side they touched another person and they had to take over and move to another person holding up the parachute. All the while everyone else holding onto the parachute had to keep it moving as it if was the sea. Then, a game where a load of coloured balls was thrown onto the taut parachute and when it was shaken, the balls are bounced off and we had to count how many were picked up. Another game was with two large balls, about the size of footballs, were placed on the taut parachute and it was timed to see how long it took to get the balls off the parachute, this was also done with all the coloured balls. Quite exhausting, but a lot of fun and a good way to get everyone involved and also good exercise!

After lunch we watched the beginning of Oliver!, which was projected on to the large cinema-sized screen in the Chrysalis Theatre. I haven't seen the film in a long time. I was taken to see the original London production of Oliver! when I was at school, in the early 1960's and I saw the film of Oliver! when I went to London for an interview at RADA to go on a stage management course in around 1968 (I didn't get selected.) I can't believe the film had an overture, which lasts a good 10 minutes! I don't recall the film ever having an overture, unless when I originally saw it I walked into the cinema after the overture. Also, the long list of credits shown before the film, which lasts around 5 minutes. Modern films never have credits BEFORE the film starts. I don't think modern audiences would tolerate such a thing. I do recall  film of 'My Fair Lady' having an intermission. From watching this, it will be interesting to see what sort of improvisation we come up with. Next week we will watch some more of Oliver! But we have two more films to watch, so if we watch around 30 minutes of each film each week it will take some time to view all of each film.

At around 3.20 we stopped watching the film because it was Pancake Day! We went outside onto the area infant of the offices at Camphill because pancake races were arranged. A course was cleared along the road which lead out of the campus. One of the guys from the drama workshop, Matthew, held the tape at the end of the course. The starting line was outside the offices. There were several heats (I didn't join in. I don't think I was 100% fit at that time of day.) Then the winner of each heat went on to the next heat until a winner was awarded a certificate as well as 2nd and 3rd. It was a good event. I rather like the community spirit of Camphill. Everyone is appreciated. No-one is left out, regardless of their disability. The staff are brilliant. The residents support one another. It's a totally great place to work. People come from all over the world to work in the various Camphill communities, not just in Milton Keynes. It really is great to be part of it all!

Another Camphill Tuesday

Another day at Camphill. It was a relatively straightforward drive there, which made a change, Because I can generally expect aggression from other drivers, but I imagine that the run was more or less stress-free because it's half term this week. No parents dropping off their beloved offspring at Oakgrove School, which is on the roundabout at the intersection of Chaffron Way and Brickhlll Street, and any other Tuesday I could expect to be held up by hoards of inconsiderate parents, pulled over in a dangerous fashion, as they drop of their children, and usually there's a long line of cars waiting to get onto the roundabout and then similar line of cars at the various roundabouts along Brickhill Street.

We didn't immediately do anything concerning the drama workshop in the morning, because there was staff training, which was done in the Chrysalis Theatre. It was on fire safety, something which I have already done, as part of my training when I worked for a care agency in Bedford, called Care On  call, and, of memory serves, when I originally worked for the N.H.S., and done as part of my induction when I eventually worked at Vincent House, although, originally, I worked through what was called the Care Bank, and then worked in several of the N.H.S. learning disabilities throughout Bedfordshire.

It was decided that the drama workshop group, including myself, could attend the training session and we could sit in the balcony of the theatre. Only problem with this, regardless of the fact that the seats were a good deal more comfortable than those used by the Camphill staff in the main body of the theatre, sitting below us, was that it was difficult to hear clearly what the gentleman who gave the talk was saying. If he'd used a microphone of some sort it would have been considerably better, but never mind. I don't think the people who give these sorts of talks ever beed to use microphones. It was good to know something about fire extinguishers. It's as well to know which one to use on what sort of fire, for example, if it was paper, wood, gas or electrical. If you were to use water on an electrical fire you could be killed, due to shock, and that there are different extinguishers, water, foam etc. Also, that the horn on a foam extinguisher can cause frost bite because the horn and the pipe leading to it gets extremely cold. Not something you would realise otherwise. When I did my initial induction back in the late 1990s before working as a support worker for the N.H.S. Learning Disability service around Bedfordshire, I learnt this at the fire safety course, and we saw several fire extinguishers being used and you soon realise that they don't last long when discharged, you only get around 2 minutes, so you can't afford to waste time otherwise you will waste the contents on not actually extinguishing a fire. Also, virtually the first thing we were told was to not use wedges (or anything else) to keep doors open. So, what happens? The first shift I did, I can't remember where exactly, but they HAD WEDGES TO KEEP THE DOORS OPEN, because so many of the residents in this particular home used wheelchairs and it would have been extremely difficult to not have doors wedged open.

Well, at least I will get a certificate to prove that I had done the course. It would be awful if there was a fire (and I certainly hope there will never be.) and I didn't know how to deal with it.

Once the course was over, (and it ran from 10.00-11.30, which meant we didn't get a tea-break!) we set up to do a run-through of 'Stranger Danger,' and we had the entire complement of actors, so I didn't stand in for anyone missing, although I did do some prompting. We were realeased for lunch 8 MINUTES early, to make up for not having a tea break earlier and when we returned we did more rehearsal and then Teo decided that, by around 3, we wouldn't do any more rehearsals.

As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Tao is going to be going away for a couple of weeks (I think it's three weeks, going skiing, but I'm not sure where. Last time he went, apparently he had an accident and had to be air-lifted home. He broke a leg, and the residents made it clear to him that he mustn't do it again!!) we had to choose three films which could be used as the basis for improvisations, when each of our actors (including Co-Workers and volunteers) had to nominate a favourite film, which they had copies of on DVD. After a sort of television talent show voting system, where we had to vote on what each had nominated, and the results scores gradually whittled down the list to just three films, which turned out to be 1- 'The Sound of Music; 2- 'Oliver!' and 3: Monty Python: And now For Something Completely Different.' So, next week we will be watching selections of each of these films (obviously there won't be enough to watch them in their entirety.) Then we will be put into groups and each group will create an improvisation based loosely on the film each group chooses. I can't wait to see what comes out of this. It was the same way we began developing the 'Treasure Island' project. The group watched a video of the original Robert Louis Stevenson novel, but it was just the jumping-off point to develop the play, which won't be a direct adaptation, but themes, characters and plots are the basis for a totally original piece of theatre.