The Book of Me – Written by You is a weekly blog prompt created by Julie Goucher of the blog Angler’s Rest. This is a fifteen month writing project to highlight my life so that I will have something to leave behind for my descendants. Week thirteen’s prompt is Special People or Iconic Figures.

• If you had to hold a dinner party and could invite a maximum of 12 special people who would you invite?
• You can NOT include family in this – the special people could be famous or historical people.
• What meals would you serve and why?
• Perhaps include the recipe or a photo if you decided to actually cook the items!

______________________________________

The theatre has always played a part in my life. I grew up listening to musicals. I experienced my first Broadway show when I was in elementary school. My father took me to see my first opera, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, when I was six. We had family friends who were members of the repertory cast of the local theatre company. As a young adult, I was a theatre major at my university. When I graduated, I studied costume design at the graduate level for three years. I also worked professionally for several theatres during my twenties.

I am also an Anglophile. I grew up outside of Boston which has one of the best public television stations in the country, WGBH. They were and still are the producing force for many British dramas that come to the United States. I was introduced to Doctor Who in elementary school. I’ve watched countless hours of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances, and so on. I have watched David Suchet play Hercule Poirot since he debuted in the role. I watched all of the Jeremy Brett episodes of Sherlock Holmes and I can’t wait for the next installment of Sherlock. And don’t even get me started on Downton Abbey. I am a certifiable Masterpiece Theatre addict (and have been since I was a kid).

My randomly selected twelve guests are all major players in the British theatre community today.

Benedict Cumberbatch
David Tennant
Alan Rickman
Patrick Stewart
David Suchet
Ian McKellan

Emma Thompson
Helena Bonham Carter
Maggie Smith
Helen Mirren
Kate Winslet
Julie Andrews

Since if I ever got to meet or work with these people, I would probably be speechless or turn into a babbling idiot, I would choose a less stressful location in which to have our dinner party. I would prefer a meal at the local pub with a beer or two. In my case, I’d have a cider because I can’t stand beer. Perhaps we could just have fish & chips or a ploughman’s lunch to nosh on. I love the chips but I’m allergic to fish, so I’ll skip that one.

The Ploughman’s lunch is a traditional cold meal served at the pub and generally consisted of cheese, chutney, bread and beer. The meal has evolved over the years and can be quite gourmet.

Ploughman’s lunch (Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

©2013 copyright owned and written by Deborah Sweeney
Post originally found at: https://genealogylady.net/2013/11/29/book-of-me-pro…iconic-figures/