They seem to be surrounding me at the moment- Takers. What an ugly thing to have in your life, especially at Christmastime.
The first Taker has been building for a few months. I was emailed by a company about advertising, I booked them in, invoiced them & went to print. Therein lies my first mistake. How naive have I been to trust in strangers, just because they are in business?
Of course, as you might have guessed by the title of the blog- they didn't pay & I've had no joy in contacting them. The address they gave is a serviced office, the emails are not responded to, the phone goes straight to answer machine. As I dug deeper, it turns out he had used other business names & has left a trail of local companies unpaid in his wake. He owes thousands of pounds to hundreds of gullibles like me.
Well, this Taker has a fight on his hands. I'm not taking it lying down. I've got a bit of clout in my own little World. I have a network, a web of contacts, I'm building a list of people he has used, I'm spreading the word with the power of social networking, I've contacted Ripped Off Britain, Rogue Traders, Trading Standards, the local paper, plus a debt recovery agency. I'm fired up!! How dare you take from me & not give me the money I earned!
The second situation is a Taker I have known of for a while, on a smaller but more personal scale, someone who has taken business ideas, advice, support from friends of mine & set up their own rival business - 3 times! Mostly half heartedly & without the love, care, dedication & hard work that my friends put in to their businesses. This person's latest mindless misuse of decent people has let down a local pre-school. It is upsetting to see how much damage a person with so little care in their lives can do. In this instance the Taker may not have taken money, but they have taken what was given to them freely & used (and abused) it poorly. What a waste.
Both experiences have taught me some tough lessons. I will get tough, but they won't toughen me. Yes I will tighten up my credit control & take up front payments from new companies, yes I will speak out sooner when I see someone who could cause damage to someone else's trusting nature, but I will never be less trusting, less caring or less passionate. I get great joy from giving- time, advice, support, encouragement. Something the takers will never have. That's what sets apart the Givers from the Takers- we will always GET MORE.
So here goes.. my first blog! I've procrastinated for almost a week of how to start, what to write about, what tone to set- then it landed in my lap. An invitation to Press Night of
'The BFG' at Derby Theatre. It's about time I put my Drama BA Hons to good use. It's only been 14 years.
I love Press Night- I was invited for the first time last year & yet I still feel like I snuck in through the back door. It feels important to be invited, as if my little old opinion counts. My entourage of two children under six years of age kind of dulls the shine that "Press Night" exudes, however, I don't write for Glamour Magazine, I write for Lots for Tots so how can I review the show without said entourage?
The evening started with some trepidation on my part as Littl'un screamed as soon as I told her we were going. Now she LOVES the cartoon of The BFG. She even saw the head last weekend in the Market Place & was non-plused, so what her problem was I don't know- but it was nothing that couldn't be quashed with a bit of bribery (best dress, sweets, ice cream, popcorn.. just PLEASE don't show me up at the Theatre).
Now as to age appropriateness, the theatre website states that:
Derby LIVE’s brand new production of this classic Roald Dahl tale promises to delight and enthral audiences this Christmas – from little chillders to Big Friendly Grandpas!
Well Littl'un is four and a half & although she spent the first 10 minutes buried into my shoulder, I have to say that she really enjoyed it for the majority of the time. Unless you have a particularly fearless three year old, I think that four is probably the youngest age to watch the show from. It is a very enchanting & endearing production & while I found the bad giants to be particularly hilarious, with their warty backsides & disgusting habits, you can maybe see why very little ones would be nervous with names like Fleshlumpeater, Bonecruncher & Childchewer! However, don't forget that I'm reviewing this for the under fives & my Big'un (nearly seven you know), was thrilled throughout. In fact there were plenty of adult parties with no children in sight who were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
On asking what their favourite things about the play were, as typical girls, they loved all the scenes with the Queen of course. Then again, being typical children they also loved all references to "Fizz Popping" ie. trumping so much that you fly!! I had forgotten this part of the story & lets face it, what grown up doesn't get the giggles at a good fart joke?
The one time (student) theatre critic in me paid particular attention to the seamless interweaving of puppetry & acting, the clever use of scenery & staging to convey a sense of distances travelled & proportion of giants to people, the simple yet magically effective use of lighting in atypical ways to provoke the dream-like quality of the story and the compelling, comedic music & sound effects created entirely by the cast which enticed a sense of intimacy with the audience...
.... but if you're asking me what my favourite bit was? It was pretty much all of it ... and the fart jokes.... and the fact that it was less than 2 hours including the interval... and the fart jokes.
I'll finish there. How was my first blog?!
If you enjoyed the review, why not enter our competition to win a free family ticket to The BFG or Dick Whittington in Derby?
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