‘Flying Nannies …’

‘Flying Nannies …’ by Ms Paige Turner
Of late, I have focused on ‘Theatre’. It’s because we were Thespian-starved during the pandemic and we are now seeing as much theatre as we can afford. This trip was primarily to give our five-year-old granddaughter a break from summer club. She has two working parents and is on school holiday.
PL Travers, author of the ‘Mary Poppins’ series of novels had confessed that the story was largely autobiographical. Probably not the flying nanny bit but more the ‘Mr Banks father’. Pamela Travers lost her own father who was also a banker when she was seven. The character Mr Banks has an epiphany … when he refuses a loan to a kind man who later gives each of the visiting Banks’ children a sixpence. The kind man tells the children to spend their sixpences wisely. And Mr Banks has a volte-face.
The umbrella with the parrot head our granddaughter wanted cost a lot more than sixpence. But she was swept up with the magic. And so was I. I had my own epiphany as Mary Poppins – brilliantly executed by Zizi Stallen – soared above the West End audience. What joy that must be, I thought, to be transported above an applauding audience. What a metaphor.
Of course neither Zizi nor Mary Poppins could possibly see their adoring crowd. They would always be blinded by the Fresnals and the spotlights. Theatre does that, of course. It can be both elevating and blinding.
The Banks’ children offer up their sixpences to their father when he is down on his financial luck – because the best way to spend your money is on those you love.
I hope our granddaughter remembers this. ‘Cos the umbrella with the parrot head cost thirty quid. But I hope it helps her soar on rainy days.
My plays are available from www.stagescripts.com
Creative Ink for Actors Reunion – Bun Feast – Saturday 13th May, 2023. Amersham Barn Hall. 20th Anniversary – when we set out to deliver ‘Blackberry Promises’.