Well, my Friends, weren't we lucky with the weather this year? And wasn't the Festival just as magical an experience as always?
For the majority of days the Outer Bailey of the Castle thronged with picnickers enjoying the sunshine - both in the afternoons for the matinee performances and in the evenings, and even in the drizzle! As dusk descended, it grew cooler, of course, but by then the play was gathering momentum and the enchantment of Ludlow Castle as the backdrop to the disintegration of Othello and the manipulation of Iago kept the shivers at bay.
It would be too much to expect England to produce a whole fortnight of perfect weather - and it didn't! There was one evening where the rain fell as the final scenes of the play were acted out .... And there was one totally wet performance where the rain began to fall as we took our seats, and it didn't stop! However, for me, personally, that performance of Othello will be the one I remember for the rest of my life, however many other performances of it I may see. The actors continued - with the rain literally bouncing onto the stage, and making icy pools in Desdemona's bed - faultlessly, no sense of hurrying the action to get out of the rain, totally professional to the end. And the tenderness with which Emilia and Othello covered the dead, and very wet, Desdemona in the tangled bed sheets was enough to bring tears to the eyes and add to the watery conditions!
The last night concert was a sell-out this year and again the weather stayed dry for the music and for the fireworks which as always were a spectacular show and a fine finale to the Festival.
I want to say thank you to all of you who wore the membership badge! It made it easy for me to spot you and I was delighted to meet so many of you who came into the Friends' Marquee, either for that promised complimentary drink, or the Friends Reception, which was a lovely and happy mid-Festival interlude. I was able to talk to so many of you - Friends of many years' standing, and new ones too. I shared a drink with one Friend who was attending her 51st Festival - accompanied by her daughter and grandson; a Friend who had come from Hawaii with his daughter from California; Friends from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as many from Ludlow, Shropshire, the West Midlands, London, Nottingham, Scotland ..... literally, all over the country, all over the world!
And thank you to all of you who completed a Questionnaire. I am in the process of collating the results but all the answers I have seen are helpful and constructive - and some of your suggestions as to what we can do differently are very interesting. I will hope to introduce as many of them that are practical (and of course, affordable!) during my time as Chair.
Now it's that anti-climax, Boxing-Day time, when the excitement and buzz of the Festival is over and when the day to day routines have to be engaged with - but I am already looking forward to the 52nd Festival and I shall hope to see as many of you as I can next year. Keep a look out for your Autumn Newsletter which should have news about 2011 and, hopefully, some Friends' Events to keep us going until next June.
Thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed this 51st Ludlow Festival, for making it a success and for your loyal support.
With best wishes
Di Schooley
Chair