OBJ Morris - 2019 Scrapbook

2019 Scrapbook

OBJ's Annual Wassail - Wokingham Town Centre

20th January 2019

Our "Traditional Wassail" took place in Wokingham's re-generated town centre. It was a change of venue from previous years and it worked really well.

We were joined by guests Mayflower and Garston Gallopers, and had a bit of help from our friend Andy.

In another break from tradition, we created an instant Mummers Play - more on that later.

OBJ comprised: Ali, Andy, Ann, Christine, Christopher, Clare, Claire, Claudia, Colin, Eddie, Giles, Helen, IanP, Joe, Karen, Kelly, Lawre, Mark, Mike, Phil, Sarah, Tony, Trish and Vera

Click the pictures to enlarge them

First some dancing, by OBJ and our guests Mayflower (below left) and Garston Gallopers (below right)
Then it was time for the Wassail Cake to be handed around. Whoever gets the bit containing the bean becomes King or Queen of the bean, and selects a consort. They then rule over the wassail ceremony
	Here are our King and Queen
The King and Queen are toasted.... Joy, health, love and peace be all here in this place....
	Ali (our elf) hunted and provided the wren. I'm not quite sure whether it's traditional to carry it that way. In case you're worried, the wren is an RSPB-supplied cuddly toy, and wasn't harmed by the experience!
More songs are sung.
	With everyone participating
Then the King buries the sacrificed wren in the roots of the apple tree, wrapped in a shroud.
	Cider is poured into the roots, using the wassail bowl made from the White Maple tree
And toast is fed to the tree - a delicate operation to get it to stay put
	And then we all make loud noises to frighten away evil spirits. By then, the good people of Wokingham, are really getting into it. Some had brought drums and biscuit tins etc to bang.
Then off to the pub for sustenance and a bit of music
	Then the "Instant Mummers Play". OBJ had never done a mummers play before, and we wanted to avoid a mountain of kit and rehearsals etc, whilst maximising participation Colin produced a script and paired off members of the company to use improvised props to play the main characters: Old Bugger Jack, St George, The Turkish Knight, Beelzebub, and The Doctor. Here Ann & Claudia are playing St George. In comes I......
Jim and Sue played the Turkish Knight There was a hint of Tommy Cooper in the performance
	Here is/are Beelzebub. They were given the choice of playing their character tag-team-style or as a greek chorus.
Not sure what St George (Ann & Claudia) is up to - probably fighting the Turkish Knight
	Giles & Helen played the Doctor. He/they declared that he'd travelled to Italy,Spitaly, France and Spain and could cure the Itch, the Stitch, Palsy and the Gout. Their skill revived the slain St George and all ended well, with good triumphing over evil. The entire mummers play was stashed away in it's cardboard box, ready to be resurrected next year.