June round-up - events and news of the month
June was very busy month with a wide variety of enjoyable events. It began with the two-day Phoenix Festival at the start of the month. The weekend was full of excellent acts. Guests enjoyed a wide variety of performances from the steel band playing of Wilf Kirk and Woolwich Opera Works performing popular operatic hits. Reach Theatre group from the Tramshed also performed, the company is made up of young adults with learning difficulties and it was inspiring to see how enthusiastic and professional they were. One of our trustees David Rome performed songs with great feeling from Cole Porter, George Gershwin and their contemporaries, accompanied by a virtuoso keyboard player. We had a Big Band playing a great mixture of Benny Goodman-type music and the splendid Company 3 performed with their usual spark.
Sunday 17th June saw the first concert at the Church by the Blackheath Concert Halls Orchestra. They performed music for a summer afternoon and the performers enjoyed the event as much as the audience. The Church was full with about 140 in the audience. Most brought picnics, and the Bar did a good trade. Both the Trust and the Orchestra are keen to make this concert an annual fixture.
The Heartbreak Theatre returned on 27th June for what many considered the best performance that they have put on at the Church. It was an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility with a cast of four. The two female performers played Elinor and Marianne Dashwood but their male counterparts played three roles each. They performed with such verve and good humour that they got the entire audience performing a Regency gavotte. It was an enchanting evening. As the light fades on a summer evening there can be no more beautiful a spot than the Garrison Church. There was a good sized audience ( about 70 in all). The event was enjoyed by everybody, and a good profit was made for the Trust.
In addition, throughout the month of June we continued with the Connect sessions on Wednesday afternoons for mothers and young children which are enjoyed with refreshments and toys laid on.