Oh no she's not!

But while St Albans and Harpenden have been hosting celebrity shows, something rather more down-to-earth is soon to have curtain-up on the New Greens Estate.

Two years ago Christ Church teamed up with the New Greens Residents Association to lay on Red Robin Hood, a community panto with all the features you would expect.  It was a great success.

Out of this brave initiative have come two developments.

One is a community choir formed of members from New Greens and the Christ Church congregation.  This meets fortnightly.

The other is a second panto, The Treasure of Parrot Island, soon to burst onto stage at the New Greens Social Club from 17th to 19th January.

Once again the actors and all those working behind the scenes or in front-of-house are drawn from both the local community and the Christ Church congregation.

Also, as last time, the script has been written by Christ Church member, Malcolm Blaxland.

“Drama and music engage people in a way other things do not,” he explains.  “People come on board with some hesitation but then really love it.” 

There are no professionals involved but children and adults throw themselves into acting, building scenery and selling tickets.

It’s one example of a church getting thoroughly involved in its local community in a joint venture.

“It’s all about relationship,” explains Malcolm.

“As Christians we have a relationship with Jesus.  We want to build quality relationships within our local community too.

This is one way we can achieve that  – and have a great deal of fun in the process.”

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