Alan Avery and Martina McClement Photo: Alan Avery
Eye - 28 October 2011
From a performance in Leeds to a visit from Paul Parker
Testing principles in Leeds
Leeds, home of the Royal Armouries and once site of a large tank factory, recently played host to the Quaker Theatre Company’s performance of ‘George Fox and Margaret Fell Get Stuck in a Lift’ by Alan Avery.
Martin Schweiger, of Roundhay Meeting in Leeds, tells Eye that the company, in putting on the play, had presented Friends with ‘a valuable gift.’
The play, performed by Alan Avery and Martina McClement (see photo), begins with the arrival at 10 Downing Street of a new prime minister. She is a Quaker, representing a minority party, and had not anticipated a surprise victory at the polls.
Martin writes: ‘Nor had she anticipated the speed with which her principles would be tested. What we recommend to others as policy can be difficult to implement when time is short and there has been no time to listen to a wider circle of advice.’ This was a strong theme in the play, he says, and the relationships between the personal, the party political and the public can all become blurred and Quaker principles sorely tested. After the performance, Martin adds, some of those who saw the play discussed it and shared insights into their own decision making.
Arboretum outing
More than fifty people came from all parts of the Britain on 15 October to visit the site of the Quaker Service Memorial in the National Arboretum.
Stan Holland, who was a member of the Friends Ambulance Unit in the Second World War, was one of the visitors enjoying a ‘preview’ of the space where the memorial will be located (see photograph).
In attendance, also, were relatives of members of the Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, including sons, daughters and a wife. The visit was arranged by the Quaker Service Memorial Trust.
Travelling man
Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting, escaped from the solid walls of Friends House, opposite Euston Station, recently to enjoy the hospitality of Friends in Southern East Anglia Area Meeting. His visit was a little special, our Friend John Hall tells Eye, for it was the first time he ever remembers a recording clerk visiting an Area Meeting to discuss a particular item on the agenda. John says it was a very successful and enjoyable visit for all concerned. Maybe more invitations will follow for the travelling man.
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