Permission to Shout ‘Bravo!’?
It has been a little while since my last blog post, back in the spring, after the absolutely wonderful educational shows that I attended with my ever inquisitive ten year old son.
After a busy early summer we made a happy return to a show that promised to be just as good, with notable and exciting differences. It was titled ‘Bravo Bravo!’ and told the story of the Chinook Helicopter ‘Bravo November’ that is an exhibit at the museum.
However, the theme was to tell the story of the crews of a machine that spent her long career hovering in places miles from anybody’s comfort zone. So if nothing else, it would be an adventure. It seemed altogether right to have our idea of a visit to the museum turned upside down.
We always head to Cosford for adventure. And the location of the show perhaps put us in familiar territory. As we tend to head straight to Hangar One, the one nearest the airfield. And this was where the show would take place, away from the more academic lecture theatre beneath the Vulcan. It indicated to me that the museum has spaces for every kind of performance.
We took our seats. I was immediately puzzled. As was my son. We had been promised high flying acrobatics but in the neatly arranged ‘pop up’ theatre space, ice creams included, there were just some foam mats on the floor. I think my son felt like he was attending a gentle PE lesson. I think for a moment he was disappointed, but then his natural curiosity began to ‘join the dots’. Trying to recall his words as closely as I can, he pondered. “If the actors are going to fly.. they are going to need some kind of contraption”. I think he just likes the word!
His predictions were proved right in the most dramatic way. The actors arrived ‘in the circuit’ of an imagined airfield at relatively low altitude, but soon they wheeled in the mightiest device you could imagine to propel the star of the show to dizzying heights. Well, they looked dizzying from the front row. This was perhaps the first thing to make a big impression, my son visits these kinds of hangars to see technological marvels and this is what the show used to such good effect. He loved the fact that to act out the life of a helicopter, the actors had resorted to some amazing machinery. I have deliberately avoided too many ‘spoilers’ but the museum have an excellent preview video.
The characters were well judged. I also thought that the costumes were very clever too. I’d feel rude not leaving a note of appreciation for Bravo November and her contra-rotating epaulettes. They ought to set a fashion trend.
Both my son and I soon relaxed into the idea of energetic humans playing the part of aeroplanes. In fact it took me back to the school playground version of myself, running around pretending to be a fighter plane. I fear the knees of my trousers were often patched as I always seemed to portray an aeroplane with unreliable undercarriage.
As mentioned, best to avoid too many ‘spoilers’ but the show built energy throughout. Topics of bravery and adaptability came to the fore. Dramatic and of course tragic moments were dealt with in a way that seemed right. You need to be there to fully appreciate the story.
We then took a tour of the real Chinook’s interior. Our guide was exceptionally well informed. He assured my son that while he had not served on board ‘Bravo November’ there was at least one other helicopter perched elsewhere in the Hangar that was one of ‘his’…! We were treated to the best of two different storytelling styles. The bold and energetic, followed by a quieter more contemplative half hour sat in the aircraft itself. My son sat in the cockpit and the guide apologised that some of the instruments were missing. But that this was part of a broader story of restoration that would unfold over the coming years. My son loved the missing components, as he could see the milled metal structures beneath, a bit like super tough LEGO apparently!
