To keep the festive Christmas activities in full flow, clients from our Malvern Day Care joined residents at Friends of the Elderly Malvern’s Davenham Care Home and set sail on The Barbarossa to enjoy a high seas, swashbuckling Christmas pantomime performance of Treasure Island.
Shirley Bradley, Friends of the Elderly’s Head of Day Care Services, arranged for actors from Drama Studio London to visit Davenham, our residential care home at Friends of the Elderly Malvern, to put on the seafaring pantomime. “The day care clients and care home residents all thoroughly enjoy the Christmas season and what better way to spread the Christmas Spirit than to watch a traditional pantomime,” said Shirley.
“Everyone set sail with the talented cast of performers as they took us on a thigh-slapping, action-packed journey to find legendary buried treasure. The performance was full of heroes and dastardly villains who got lots of boos from the audience. From the mysterious treasure map and wicked Long John Silver to the uplifting finale, all the clients and residents had a toe-tapping, exciting time and were enthralled by the whole adventure.”
Our Malvern Day Care, supports people who are living with dementia and a range of age-related conditions, and our Malvern-based Davenham, Perrins House and Bradbury Court, are the residential, nursing and dementia care homes which are collectively known as Friends of the Elderly Malvern.
“Everyone at Malvern Day Care and Friends of the Elderly Malvern love to make sure our clients and residents have a lovely Christmas and thoroughly enjoy engaging with them in a wide range of Yuletide activities,” continued Shirley.
The talented actors from Drama Studio London are produced locally by professional Director and Producer, Kirsty Cubberley of The Phoenix Collective. “Last year, we took our clients and residents to see Snow White at The Coach House Theatre, but when I spoke to Kirsty about this year’s Yuletide production, we thought it would be a great idea to host the pantomime in Davenham’s Chapel as it is a fantastic space with great acoustics,” added Shirley.
Treasure Island was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and tells the story of Jim Hawkins, a young man who receives a treasure map and sets out on a quest to find the lost treasure. As the adventure unfolds, Jim soon learns that he is not the only person seeking the hidden treasure as infamous pirate, Long John Silver, is determined to find it at all costs.
“Our clients and residents really enjoy stories and Treasure Island, which was first published in 1881 but as a book in 1883, is a classic tale which many of them remember reading when they were younger. It’s actually considered one of the first adventure stories written specifically for youngsters with an underlying moral that good and honest people will win the prize, while the wicked will be punished for their evil deeds,” continued Shirley.
“It was a magical afternoon and a wonderful, buccaneering show which really got us all in the Christmas Spirit. Everyone who watched the pantomime had a wonderful time and loved meeting the cast, chatting about the show, reminiscing about other pantomimes they had seen and, of course, when they read Treasure Island. It was joyous to see and hear them all having a lovely afternoon. It was a fun, festive Christmas treat for everyone,” Shirley concluded.
To find out more about our Malvern Day Care service or Friends of the Elderly Malvern, call 03305 550 378 or email enquiries@fote.org.uk.