The Wyvern theatre is proud to present, from comedy masterminds Mischief, Thespians Greece the Musical. As their website says:
‘If you thought something funny happened on the way to the forum, wait until you hear what happened en route to the amphitheatre!
Greece is the word. Ancient Greece to be specific. It’s the year 534 BC and a dreadful drought has ravaged the entire country.
Thespis and his sister Poly live on the tiny island of Ikaria where nothing ever really happens. At least not until the entire population (all five of them) are forced to go to Athens to compete in a deadly prayer competition. All hope is lost until Thespis stumbles upon something that will change the world forever.’
Written by Jonathan Sayer (co-writer of The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank. Don’t miss Mischief’s first musical about the power of walking a greek mile in someone else’s sandals.
Thespians Greece the Musical
Useful to know before you start – so it won’t be all Greek to you! Boom!
Thespian: The term thespian as in of or pertaining to tragedy or dramatic acting comes from the Greek Thespis. One of the lead characters in this production, Thespis was a 6th century poet often viewed as the father of Greek tragedy.
The Greek chorus – by tradition the Greek chorus numbers many – 12-50 players – maybe more. In Greek drama they’re a collective group of performers. It’s their role to comment on the action on the stage or offer insight into off-stage action. In this performance the chorus are two in number! They work jolly hard and are v funny.
Dionysius – played by Thespis (who is played by James Spence) is, according to Britannica, a nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation. In particular he’s known as a god of wine and ecstasy. He also goes by the name of Bacchus.
About the production
There are many layers to this production. It nods, (I thought) to different theatre styles. From farce to a pantomime villain and, of course, Greek tragedy. All with live music – and I loved how the musicians were part of the rather clever set.
Above all though, Thespians is a well-written, witty, fast-paced, funny, punny play-within-a play. One that elicits smiles, chuckles and belly laughs from start to finish.
I loved it. And I’m sure you will too. It’s a tremendous bit of escapism. And don’t we all need that?
The performers were all tremendous – I can’t single one out. Except to say that Adonis is not who/what you might imagine.
I’ve got to say something about the ankle socks. Some but not all the performers wore ankle socks. And, in the case of Adonis, knee socks. Though his def suit his character. But his hosiery aside, is the whole sock thing a riff on men wearing socks with sandals?
But then, Thespis wore one nude-toned sock. Has he lost the other one? We all know the odd sock situation. Or is he covering a tattoo on his foot?
Young Entrepreneurs Taste Success at the Brunel Centre with the Little Bosses Academy.
A dozen youngsters have tried their hand at entrepreneurship. All during a week-long programme hosted by The Brunel Swindon.
Run by the Swindon-based Little Bosses Academy, the event, open to 5-11 year olds, aimed to help children build confidence, independent thinking and financial awareness.
During the week, headlined Sweet Science, the youngsters learnt how to set up and run a business. They covered everything from product creation to branding and marketing. They had to calculate ingredients and work out their profit margins.
At the end of the week, the children ran a pop-up shop in The Brunel Swindon. They sold the sweet treats they had created, with the help of the Little Bosses Academy mascot Barry Bear.
Barry, the academy’s social-emotional learning mascot, helped support the children, as they invited shoppers to their stall. Then served them, and delivered great customer service, all in a real-life shopping centre setting.
The children learnt about business and experienced what becomes possible when they’re trusted with real responsibility. They had to:
do independent thinking
make decisions
communicate with the public
solve problems …
and adapt in a genuine real-world environment,’ said Little Bosses Academy Founder Giselle Idedia. ‘
The team at The Brunel Swindon have been so supportive and on board right from the start.’
Young Entrepreneurs Taste Success – participants at the recent Little Bosses Academy half-term programmeYoung Entrepreneurs in action with the Little Bosses Academy
About the Little Bosses Academy
Little Bosses Academy is a Community Interest Company. Any profits made at the stall get ploughed back into supporting future programmes, including funding places for some children.
A spokesperson for The Brunel Swindon said: ‘We loved hosting the Little Bosses Academy and welcoming these young people to the centre. Seeing children as young as five run their own stall with such confidence and teamwork was fantastic.
We’re proud to have supported them at an event which nurtures the next generation of Swindon’s entrepreneurs.’
Holiday Club Successful Spring Programme. Swindon- based Just For Fun (JFF) Holiday Club welcomed more than 450 children across its Easter holiday programme this year. But co-founder Sean Harper said one of the biggest highlights had nothing to do with attendance numbers.
Instead, it was seeing older children begin stepping into leadership roles after years of attending the clubs themselves.
‘It’s been lovely to see some of our older attendees start making the transition into assistants,’ Sean said. ‘What may once have felt like childcare because parents were working has become something they want to be part of. They’re helping younger children, becoming role models and setting standards for the rest of the group.’
Sean said some older attendees are already hoping to become assistants when they are old enough. And others are using the experience to support schemes such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
The Club
ust For Fun Holiday Club, launched in 2018, provides holiday childcare and activity programmes for children aged four to sixteen across Swindon. This Easter, sessions ran at:
Holy Cross Primary School
Grange Junior School
Dorcan Leisure Centre
Moredon Sporting Hub and Goddard Park.
Holy Cross proved especially popular during the Easter break, welcoming around 70 children per day. Sean said the longer opening hours available for working parents continue to make a difference. Moredon Sporting Hub also saw its highest attendance figures to date.
Children attending across the Easter holidays took part in a range of acivites including:
Easter egg hunts
arts and crafts
cycling, swimming, sports and team games.
The return of Scales of Wonder, an interactive reptile experience, was also popular with children across several venues.
Holiday Club Successful Spring Programme – egg hunt at Easter Just for Fun Holiday club
The HAF programme
The club also continued its involvement with Swindon Borough Council’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF). It provides funded places and meals for eligible children during school holidays.
Being part of the HAF programme is something we’re so proud of,’ Sean said. ‘You can see the direct impact it has on children and families during the school breaks.’
During the Easter programme, the club also retained its five-star food hygiene rating following an Environmental Health inspection.
Sean said the team is already looking ahead to the summer holidays. ‘Easter was a real success for us,’ he said. ‘The children left smiling, parents were supportive and the team worked hard. We’re already planning for another busy summer.’
PPS Chartered Accountants have announced its next Business Charity Breakfast. Taking place on Wednesday, June 11th it’ll be raising funds for Willows Counselling. All alongside a talk from Emotional Empowerment Coach and keynote speaker Sally Stockreisser.
Willows Counselling is a Swindon-based charity that has been supporting people’s mental health for over 30 years. The organisation provides counselling and training. Hence helping individuals facing challenges such as anxiety, trauma and difficult life situations. And demand for its services continues to grow in the local area.
Sally Holland, Partner at PPS Chartered Accountants, said choosing a local charity like Willows felt important. ‘They’ve been part of the Swindon community for a long time. And they do some valuable work supporting people through difficult periods in their lives. It felt like a good fit for the breakfast and the kind of causes we want to support.’
The June event
The June event will also feature a talk from Sally Stockreisser. Sally works with professionals to improve how they feel, think and perform under pressure. Her approach focuses on helping people better understand and manage their emotions in a practical, straightforward way.
Her talk, entitled: Emotional Empowerment – The Secret to Professional Success, will explore how emotional awareness can have a direct effect on:
Wellbeing
Decision-making …
… and performance at work.
Sally Stockreisser said, ‘I’m so looking forward to speaking at the PPS breakfast. So many professionals get used to pushing through pressure without ever understanding how it’s affecting them. This talk is about helping people take a step back and look at how they feel. Because that has a direct impact on how they show up and perform at work.’
Sally Holland said she was looking forward to welcoming her as a speaker. “We’re always keen to bring in people who can offer something genuinely useful. Sally’s approach is very down-to-earth and practical, which works well for our audience.’
She added that the charity breakfasts continue to follow a simple format that people enjoy. ‘It’s about getting good people in a room, having proper conversations. And hearing something interesting without it feeling too formal. That’s what keeps people coming back.’
The PPS charity breakfasts
The PPS Business Charity Breakfasts have been running in different formats since 2017. They’ve supported more than 20 charities and community projects, raising over £8,000 to date.
Sally said the impact often goes beyond the fundraising itself. ‘The money raised is always important. But what we often see is charities making new connections on the day and finding supporters. And sometimes even gaining further opportunities afterwards. That’s as valuable.’
PPS Chartered Accountants is a Swindon-based firm offering accounting, tax and business advisory services to companies and individuals across Wiltshire and beyond. The team focus on practical advice and clear communication. Thus helping clients understand their numbers and make confident decisions.
by Hilton, Lydiard Fields, Great Western Way, Swindon, SN5 8UZ.
Before I say anything much about Commercial Road and the area around it, it’s pertinent to say something about the Rolleston estate.*
This estate comprised areas of land lying, in particular, according to Mark Child’s Swindon book, to the south, south-west and south east of the railway village. And they were key to the development of Swindon. In that they comprised a physical link between the new town and the old.
These lands then came into the ownership of the Vilett family – lords of the manor of Eastcott. And then, at length they became the property of Col. William Vilett Rolleston. He inherited them from his uncle, William Vilett. The 1874 bankruptcy of Col. Rolleston rendered their wholesale release to speculative builders impossible but in 1880 there came an annulment of the bankruptcy. Thereafter, the estate’s trustees could only release small plots of land – and at a slower pace than was ideal.
1885 saw the release of land that allowed for the 1890 building of Commercial Road, together with a bridge carrying it over the canal and several streets leading off it on either side. Come1897 and the trustees were able to sell off approx. fifty acres to the east and northeast of the emerging new Swindon. That enabled speculative builders to develop an area that ran roughly between the railway line and where Broad Street is now.
So, if you’ve ever looked at Swindon and thought it looks like it wasn’t planned – that’s because, in essence, it wasn’t planned. The railway village aside, the first planned housing in Swindon was Pinehurst – see Swindon in 50 Buildings.
This view is from the market end in the direction of Regent Circus. It forms part of a link between Old Town & the railway village
Swindon’s main shopping street – well almost
Returning to that fount of all knowledge, Mark Child, we learn that the original intention for Commercial Road was for it to serve as Swindon’s main shopping street – a potential it never reached. From 1888 onwards, the street was built up as a spine through the former Rolleston estate. In 1885, this former farmland came on the market enabling builders to put in Commercial Road, soon followed by a number of streets at right-angles towards the north. They linked with Regent Street and others up the sides of the hill, to the south towards Old Town.
In 1885 only Cromwell Street and Havelock Street ran off Regent Street, both built twenty years previously – and both ending abruptly where they met Rolleston land. 1899 saw Havelock Street extended to meet Commercial Road. Market Street, Davis Street, Granville Street and Morley Street linked Regent Street with Commercial Road.
Meanwhile, on the northern side of the new spine road, the 1890s saw the laying out of Deacon Street, Morse Street, Newhall Street, Stanier Street, Dowling Street and Whitney Street.
Parallel to Commercial Road is Crombey Street (1891) – named for its speculative builder.
On the grid
Built to a grid pattern, the area had street-long, single terraces in red brick with some brick or terracotta ornamentation and limestone dressings. The street retained this mix of late 19th c terraced houses, offices and small retail businesses until the 1970s. Then banks and estate agents moved in. Most of the remaining residential properties were bought up during the last two decades of the 20th c . They then underwent remodelling or rebuilding primarily in the service of commerce. Almost all the retail shops disappeared at that time. The street did though, from 1983 to 2013, house the Level 3/Furnace nightclub. Many a Swindon memory made there surely?
Leaflet for the Level 3 nightclub on Commercial Rd1942 map showing Commercial Road, Milton Road and the grid layout referred to.
The 1990s
When I came to Swindon in the early 1990s this busy thoroughfare was all banks and employment agencies. But the world has changed and so has the street and it’s reinvented itself as a world foods destination – with a smattering of restaurants and coffee shops and barbers.
Points of interest
A little way up Commercial Road, on the left-hand side as you walk up towards Regent Circus you’ll see this mosaic on the corner of our eponymous street and Granville Street. It’s on the side of what once was the National & Provincial Building Society before an expanding banking sector swallowed it up. It names a number of Wiltshire towns and features one of the white horses. The rails running across it are remnants of when it had adverts hung upon it.
The mosaic on Commercial Road in Swindon
Look out also for this concrete frieze and the 2012 Diamond Jubilee union flag mural on the corner of Temple Street.
Union flag 2012 Diamond Jubilee mural on Swindon’s commercial RoadConcrete frieze on Commercial Road in Swindon
The Market – and the Rolleston Arms
There’s been a market at the end of this street, in one form or another, since 1891 with the building of a brick market – it got a roof in 1903. But, come 1977, Swindon had the shiny new Brunel Centre. And the powers-that-be decided it had to go and you can guess what happened next …
The current incarnation opened in 1994. The incumbent (at that time) administration closed it in 2017, throwing out decent businesses and it’s stood rotting ever since. So that’s all good …
The rotting tented market at the end of Commercial Road in Swindon.
As much as I try to be positive about Swindon things, I’ve struggled with this. Take a proper look at the ‘roof’ and you’ll see that at least one of the panels is install back to front. So of course it’s got mouldy and manky.
*The Rolleston Arms pub on the end of Commercial Road, across from the market site, does of course take its name from the Rolleston estate.
