The Mayflower!

We found the old Sky box the other day. The one we used to use for television, when we lived in sunny Southampton. We have an extremely large satellite dish on our roof; about four times as big as the usual ones back in the UK; I like to call it, an Expat Dish!  I plugged it into the socket on the wall and hey presto, I started receiving SKY TV. Not only that, but the settings, tuned to the Meridian region, on the south coast of England were still in place. It was good to see the news from back home, also the advertisements aimed solely at those living in Hampshire. The Mayflower Theatre popped up, promoting its latest production of Miss Saigon, not a show I have seen myself, but it brought back many memories of happy times spent at this fantastic Playhouse.

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Originally the Mayflower was called The Empire Theatre and was opened in 1928. At the time it was the largest theatre on the south coast of England. With the onset of moving pictures and dwindling admissions, The Empire became a cinema of sorts, popular among local residents from 1933; by 1942, The Empire was mainly used for viewing the latest films of the day. Between 1950 and 1986, The Empire became the Gaumont, still used mainly as a cinema, although very much in decline, as television became the popular pastime of the day. The Gaumont also hosted many of the musical greats of the era, but was still failing to make money. Several applications were made to turn it into a bingo hall and a ten pin bowling alley, all were refused. In 1983 Southampton City Council bought the building, refurbishing it at a cost of three million pounds, turning it into a charitable trust. This was also the same year it became a grade II listed building. After major renovation work between 1986-87, the new Mayflower opened on 24 February 1987. Initial audience figures were disappointing, although with the introduction of major pantomimes, audience turnout climbed steeply, making it the popular venue it is today!

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Darrell and I have attended many presentations at this grand old theatre, including Taboo, The Goodbye Girl, Evita and my favourite Psychic Sally. All of the performances were exceptional. I always enjoyed dressing up in my finery, watching the latest performance, in the best seats we could get. We have of course seen many West End productions too and both enjoy going to the cinema; something we haven't done since moving to Spain; rather disappointing for me. This isn't surprising; living on the Costa Blanca, it isn't usual to enjoy British theatre. Nevertheless it shouldn't stop us attending Spanish shows or indeed Italian opera when we can!

Alicante does have its own theatre, The Teatro Principal, which hosts cultural events, concerts, dance and opera. The 160 year old neo classical building is well worth a visit and does on occasion show English speaking productions. There are also many other venues up and down the Coast, as well as local amateur dramatic society productions, popular among the Expat community. As a keen theatre goer myself, I need to spend more time enjoying these shows and will make a point of doing so in the future.

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Many of the facilities Darrell and I took for granted, living in Southampton are no longer on our doorstep. Living in Gran Alacant, we have access to fantastic beaches and scenery, but there are not the English speaking activities  we used to love; from the cinema, theatre to concerts and bookshops. Today both of us rely heavily on the internet to keep up to date with the latest movies or books and it is a continual source of angst, that we can't just walk down the high street and purchase a novel or buy a ticket for the afternoon matinee. This is a fact of life living here and you do eventually accept the differences. I can at least look back on  past experiences  with fondness and could of course fly back, stay in Southampton for a few days, attending a play if I so wish. The difficulties of Expat life are not insurmountable, you can overcome most disadvantages. I do miss the UK everyday, but I am more than happy to be living in Spain; the benefits of our life here, outweigh the negative aspects of living back home!

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