The British Pageant: Audience View

 As you will not have escaped hearing, there is a pageant going on at Preston Temple in Chorley. Ben and I have been excited about it for weeks and have been finding as many ways as we can to get involved. This excitement really came to the front yesterday when we heard the recordings of the choir that we were part of a couple of weeks ago.

We were astonished at the sound that came through even on my little mobile phone adding all its distortions. We were touched to hear the music with the instrumental and choir combined – partly because we didn’t get chance to hear this as we recorded. It sounds strange, but we actually recorded in complete silence with only our conductor, Beth Trebilcock, able to hear the pre-recorded backing from the orchestra. As such, we had to follow with exact obedience. When we did exactly as Beth directed, we got it. When we tried to lean to our own understanding, we failed. It’s amazing the lessons you can learn from this pageant!

Last night we had the opportunity to be part of the pageant audience. This meant a certain amount of frivolity before the show including dressing up in period costume and having our photo taken. Rest-assured, when I have it so will you! ;)

I want to give you my views on the pageant as a spectator and as a participant. Firstly, though, let me put the whole thing into some perspective location-wise:

The “Pageant theatre”, as they are calling the enormous semi-permanent ‘marquee’, is on the temple grounds and from it, through the trees, you can see the spire of the building that for 15 years has made its mark on the Chorley landscape. It is the perfect setting for the pageant that leaves as one of its closing and predominant themes the LDS doctrine that families can be together forever. The temple is the place that we believe the authority can be exercised to ensure this.

On stepping into the Pageant Theatre you are transported to the Victorian period and the first character we meet is Arthur Ashton, a man full of humour and energy despite many hardships and uncertainties. Though part of the fictional family (unlike most of the other central characters of the show) he is the vehicle through which the story moves. He is a widower with four children and one of the elements that I found surprising and poignant in the show was something I had not seen in rehearsal – that when he talks aloud to his beloved wife who has passed on, she is there on the bridge of the stage where the choir stand, promoting the feeling that the choir are ancestors looking on.

Arthur’s relationship with his daughter Sarah Ashton (played by my sister: Rebecca Maclean) is a pivotal one to the story. It was moving and well-acted throughout the pageant. Sarah hears the preaching of Heber C Kimball and gains a testimony of the truth, leading to her asking her father for permission to be baptised and eventually telling him that she will go with the Saints to America. The interaction between Arthur, Sarah and the other children of the Ashton family are among the highlights of the show.

Which, leads me on to the children of the pageant. The cast had a variety of ages that I would say must be unrivalled in theatres anywhere. I can’t imagine where else you would get this volume of children performing on stage with adults of all ages, including the ‘more experienced’ as the over 70s were politely referred to during rehearsals. Not only did they have the cute factor – they were good. It’s one thing to see children behaving themselves and a completely different thing to see them display actual ability and in this case there was both. Of note was the performance of “Suo Guan” (sp?) by the two boys who were travelling to Liverpool from Wales to join the Saints there; and a beautiful rendition of “Fair in the Sunshine” by a group of children portraying the Saints of Downham.

The set was another thing that kept evolving and was incredibly well done. Particularly the ‘ship’ that comes on as the final set looked fantastic and was very convincing.

The audience particularly enjoyed the character of Twiselton Turley (sp?) and his wife. With their cheeky charm and cockney accents they had the audience laughing with them and rooting for them. Scotsman Ben Hunter’s character was also very well received.

After one of the big dance numbers there was a spontaneous eruption of clapping and cheering from the audience. As part of this body, I felt energised by the cast and wanted to jump to my feet with them – which is as well because I may well get to be part of that this week!

As a member of the LDS church, I tried to consider how the pageant would have come across to me if I was not of the same faith as the people on stage. Even if you don’t believe as we believe, it is an incredible and enthusiastic performance showcasing the real talent of lots of young people. It is a story well-told and the story of the faith that the Canons, the Benbows and the other noteable families showed is a true story. If you want to understand the historical importance of events that took place here in England, this pageant is a fantastic place to start.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed throughout was the music. Sometimes barely audible even under some dialogue, the music for me provided the atmosphere and the authenticity to the retelling of the events.

There’s so much going on in this pageant I could tell you about character after character, scene after scene that were note-worthy and excellent but I’m sure you’re getting bored of reading: in this case, it’s better to see it for yourself. Me? I’m excited to be part of it!

In conclusion: beg, steal or borrow a ticket. But don’t steal, because that’s wrong. Either way, get there, get your family there. It’s a great night out with a fun atmosphere and characters you can really invest in. And there’s a message of family and love. Above all, those are the things that the LDS church and the rest of the world can certainly agree upon as being the foundation for happiness.

Us, ready for pageant.