Interviewing Mrs Claus about the National Elf Service.

The first day of storytelling at Ham with Drama in the Community students. We've kind of thrown the work together and I was intrigued as to whether we'd done enough to play with confidence to our young audiences. The day started slowly but picked up around lunchtime and by packing up time at 4pm over 200 people had come through.

There's a neat mixture of stories and poems, some very short, told as intimate whispers in corners or corridors. Some longer tales where the audience sit on rugs and cushions and a couple of fun filled sketches - where lazy elves try and motivate themselves for Christmas and Mrs Claus texts her husband to let him know that she's picked up a sleigh Sat Nav on eBay.

Jennie's doing a top job as Mrs Claus, ably assisted by Hannah's Red Bull guzzling elf - Poppy. After the sketch they hold a Q & A session for the children, who ask some seriously taxing questions about how reindeers fly?... whether Santa eats all the mince pies or saves some for boxing day? ... and whether the shift in popularity from wooden toys and board games to Wiis and X-boxes in the digital age has made elves with carpentry and painting skills unemployable?... Only in Richmond!

Fortunately Jennie was able to reassure everybody that even in a time of recession time was set aside during the spring to up skill the elf work force in line with projected consumer trends. Relief all round!

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