Jonathan Williams enthralls the all-star Fradley cast

On the evening of July 2nd I acted as MC for a “Show for Jan”, a memorial show for Jan Green, a leading light on the local Poetry and Amateur Dramatic scene who died at the end of last year. I should point out that there was more than one man with a “sun roof” in the audience! The Hall was full and £500 was raised for Charity. Ensuring that such events are not maudlin is tricky, but a well chosen and mainly upbeat programme allowed me to keep things skipping along at a brisk pace to ensure that the evening was a celebration of the things that Jan liked.

Several of Jan’s poems were read, and the Lichfield Poets of which Jan was an important member did two sets of poetry. It was a delight to see Heather Fowler, who is normally content to sit in the shadows read so assuredly, and her Yoga poem went down particularly well. Equally the hugely talented Stephanie Knipe was at her quirky best with her trademark off-beat verse.

A sadness for me had been being a member of the “Habeas Corpus” cast of which she was a member in a production which would never see the light of day because of first her illness, then her death. Producer Clare Charlesworth would have done the show proud, and I performed my own tribute to Jan using that production as my reference .

Fond Farewell

She greeted me with a smile when first we met
Warm and enquiring
Hoover, hoover , hoover

At the Pantomime she was an ogrette
With a heart of gold
Hoover, hoover,hoover

She preferred to read her own poems you know
She knew them all best
Hoover, hoover, hoover

It was hot and busy at the Canwell Show
Stopping for a chat
Hoover,hoover,hoover

The day before, she wasn’t there at Streetly
But her poem was
Hoover, hoover, hoover

The show just cannot always go on you see
She was Mrs Swabb
Hoover, hoover, hoover