Rock Tour 2 - Witney

Witney formed the second part of our Rock double header double header. After two performances in Aldershot, we had a further two on the Sunday in Witney.

We met in the morning at Aldershot Methodist Church, before the congregation arrived for their Sunday service. The local hosts made us feel very welcome, and we had a lovely time of sharing with them. We then split into different carloads and made our way to Witney. It's difficult finding a cheap Sunday lunch in such a pleasant Oxfordshire village, but most of us seemed to manage it! I'm still not sure how Roger and Alan managed to move after their enormous roast dinner and pudding...

After a team meeting out in the glorious sunshine the cast gathered on stage to meet the choir. And once on stage, discovered that they were suddenly much depleted in number. Catherine and Alyson were both ill, and Ann was assisting with Alyson. And Devon had gone missing. So that meant the rehearsal was an interesting one, with noone to play the part of Miriam, and Clair and Martin stepping in for Alyson and Devon. Alan had an interesting time as team leader trying to get everyone into the right places at the right time for rehearsal! He did a great job, because Roger didn't notice at all! It was one of those occasions where the choir were smiling on the outside, but probably terrified at the ineptitude of the cast on the inside...

Thankfully both Catherine and Alyson were recovered enough for the afternoon performance, and Devon had been found. Both performances that day went brilliantly well. The choir were superb - excellently trained by Paul Herrington, and the audience seats were full. Shirley, the event organiser, had been concerned at losing the use of the drama studios as changing space a few days before the performance, but the cast managed fine in the school PE changing rooms. Brenda was a trooper, ironing costumes for the cast in the corridoor behind the stage.

We also had a fantastic time of fellowship with the choir during an enormous bring and share tea in the school canteen between performances. This was brilliantly looked after by Maggie and contained a disturbing amount of home cooking. Absolutely delicious - thanks everyone for your hard work!

One of the highlights of the Witney performance for me was the times of prayer with the choir before the performances. These are normally special times with every choir, but this time it took place in an incredibly echoey sports hall. This meant that the obligatory renditions of 'Spirit of the Living God' and 'Abba Father' were utterly beautiful - vibrating round the hall in 30 part harmony. Gorgeous.

So thanks once again to Paul and Maggie Herrington, and Shirley Enoch for their hard work in organising a performance in Witney. Our prayers are with the choir as you continue to work together and perform in the area.