Last year I learnt the poem below to perform at Old Time Music Hall.
Forgiven by A.A. Milne
I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day ...
Then Nanny let my beetle out -
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -
She went and let my beetle out -
And Beetle ran away.
She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.
She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind,
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid -
And we'd get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.
We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"
It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:
"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."
And Nanny's very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day ...
Then Nanny let my beetle out -
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out -
She went and let my beetle out -
And Beetle ran away.
She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a match.
She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn't mind,
As there's lots and lots of beetles which she's certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid -
And we'd get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.
We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
"A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!"
It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:
"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."
And Nanny's very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,
And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match.
As I became more confident with my lines I started to perform for my ladies and gents with varying responses, from bemusement as they wonder about my sanity, to absolute glee. Even now I still occasionally perform it to new people if I feel it will brighten up their day; I affectionately call it 'Getting Alexander beetle out of his box.'
Recently I performed for one of my new ladies and the giggles I heard as I walked out of the door, were priceless.
This same lady has temporarily lost the use of her legs and lives in a flat with no lift.
'I'm doing a couple more steps a day' she told me' My aim is get down those stairs to see the outside world again'
Following my performance of Alexander, the lady was asking about my shows.
'I do Music Hall every year at the theatre just up the road'
'Oh It's a shame I can't get there, I'd enjoy that' she said
'Well I'll tell you what' I replied 'You get down those stairs by Christmas and I will come and pick you up and take you to the matinee.
Oh that is really lovely, thank you so much. Do you mean it?'
'Of course'
Then she burst into tears
'Thank you so much I now have a real purpose to get down those stairs'
If anyone else fancies coming along to my shows with the Lytton players visit
http://www.lyttonplayers.co.uk/
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