Christmas at Bell House: A Private View by the Dulwich Players, reviewed by Sharon O’Connor
Could the Dulwich Players match last year's festive offering, the beautifully staged Christmas at Bell House? They could and they did. A Private View was a promenade around the rooms of Bell House, watching Dulwich Picture Gallery paintings come brilliantly to life and tell their stories, and making full use of the house’s architecture and atmosphere.
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Kingswood Arts are offering lots of festive Christmas events this year including the immersive Once Upon a Kingswood Christmas from 16 - 23 December 2023, and Winter Wednesdays, which include sing-along carols, mulled wine, mince pies, festive stalls and live music, including the Brixton Chamber Orchestra on 20 December. They are also collecting donations of winter clothes for Wrap Up London so please dig out your no longer needed coats and scarves. For more about Kingswood Arts, please see this 3 minute film and check out their website.
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As the Christmas trees go up in Dulwich Village, don't forget the free Dulwich Village Christmas Stocking events this Sunday, 3 December: 12pm-5pm: Pop Choir at 2pm; local school pupils providing Christmas music during the afternoon; a mystery stocking hunt for children; festive food and drink; and Nutty’s Children’s Disco from 2-4pm at St Barnabas Parish Hall, Dulwich Village.
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The Dulwich Society is pleased to have completed two small projects in Dulwich with the help of funding provided by the London Borough of Southwark’s Cleaner Greener Safer (CGS) scheme.
The first of these was to refurbish the plinths for the two sets of double benches in Clarke’s Green, near the Dulwich Village/Village Way junction. These have been re-laid on proper bases, using the existing, and some new, York stone to replace the previous mix of concrete and stone. The benches are heavily used by parents and children at Dulwich Village schools.
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At its meeting in September, the executive committee of the Dulwich Society discussed the remit of Travel and Environment subcommittee. Over the summer the executive committee undertook a review of the activities of the subcommittee and how best to fulfil the important environmental objectives that the Society has. Harry Winter had expressed his desire to step down as chair of the subcommittee and this was considered in the review.
As a consequence of this review, the executive committee decided that the Travel and Environment subcommittee be disbanded.
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Thurs 30 November, 5.30pm - 8.30pm
£1 entry for adults (children go free)
Kindly sponsored by Hamptons
Craft stalls, festive food and drink (BBQ, pizza, popcorn, crepes, bar, mulled wine and mince pies, cakes), musical entertainment by students of CND. Tombolas with prizes generously donated by local businesses including Chern Thai, Bartley's Flowers, Bodyfit Studios, Cherry Tree, Cook!, Cuppo Bubbo, Dulwich Books, Dulwich Sports Club, Duo Dance, ED Flowers, ED Picturehouse, EOS Dance, Fison Fitness, Flotsam & Jetsam, Gail's, Food and Wine, Half Moon Pub, Harold George, Heritage Cheese, Hot Pod Yoga, Jags Sports Club, Jones of Brockley, Kerry Flower, La Niche Dog Grooming, Mac + Miller, Myla & Davis, Oddono's, Poached, Pizza Express, Porters, Proud Sow, Review Bookshop, Rocca, Roger Pope Opticians, Romeo Jones, Shaun's DIY, Sort it Out, South London Music, Splash Dry Cleaners, The Real Greek, Village Books, Wild & Lees.
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Society member Trevor Moore writes:
In 2019 an article appeared in the Dulwich Society Journal about the publication of Words in Pain, a collection of thought-provoking and moving letters I co-edited for a centenary edition – the original, anonymous version, having appeared in 1919. (How I delved behind the original anonymity to discover the author’s identity – Olga Jacoby - for the 2019 edition is explained in the Foreword.)
In the four years since, the book has captured the imagination of many worldwide – we are on a third reprint. But what has astounded me is the number of further revelations and connections that have come about.
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Poppy Appeal: as fewer of us carry cash now, the Royal British Legion is providing card machines and QR codes to make it easier to donate. Poppies are available from a seller at North Dulwich station with collecting tins in Bartley’s, Proud Sow, the Crown & Greyhound & the Picture Gallery in the Village; M&S, the Neighbourhood Vet & Sainsbury’s in East Dulwich; and various shops in West Dulwich. In addition, Sainsbury's at Dog Kennel Hill in East Dulwich will have a stall selling poppy merchandise. Please give generously and wear your poppy with pride.
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The Mark Evison Foundation Carol Concert is on Friday 24 November 2023, at 7pm, Christ’s Chapel, Dulwich Village. With Dulwich College Choir and celebrities including Angus Imrie, Eve Matheson, Rachel Mackley, Susanna Reid and Mick Brown. There is a champagne reception afterwards in Dulwich Picture Gallery's Linley Room, next to the chapel. Tickets £25/U16s free, available from
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Wildlife Committee member Dave Clark volunteers at the very special PODA Bird Reserve in Bulgaria. With only two bird reserves in an area the size of the UK, Bulgaria has limited opportunities to experience nature undisturbed. PODA Bird Reserve provides fantastic nature engagement opportunities for the local community with many schools and children relying on it to access nature. Also, international birders and tourists can experience the passage of migration on the famous Via Pontica route where pelicans, eagles and storks can readily be seen.
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The Dulwich Players return to present another unusual evening at Bell House in December 2023 with four short plays, each about a well-known picture from the Dulwich Picture Gallery Collection which were stored at Bell House from 1946-47 after their return from evacuation to North Wales in WW2. In the rooms of Bell House each picture will come to life and tell its story, some humorous, some thought provoking.
Get into the Christmas spirit as the audience perambulates through the house, as if attending a 1940s cocktail party.
Friday 1 December – Saturday 2 December at 7.30pm for 7.45pm; Sunday 3 December 2.30pm for 2.45 & 7.30pm for 7.45pm. Saturday night is Gala Night when the audience are invited to wear black tie and cocktail dresses. Tickets £18 (includes a glass of mulled wine) available from Bell House. Numbers are limited so early booking is advisable.
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Our latest local history talk is now up on YouTube. Calista Lucy, Keeper of the Archives at Dulwich College, gave us a fascinating insight into the life of Joan Woodward (1573-1623), wife of Edward Alleyn, the early modern actor, playhouse owner and founder of the educational charity Alleyn's College of God's Gift, here in Dulwich. We learnt how she was more than just the stepdaughter of theatrical manager Philip Henslowe and a trophy wife for Edward Alleyn. The talk also raised funds for St Christopher's Hospice. You can watch the talk on YouTube.
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