Pam Ayres 2024 At Lighthouse Poole Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Helen O
My wonderful dad is a Pam Ayres fan, so I was delighted to be able to tell him that we were off to Lighthouse Poole this evening to see the lady herself as part of her UK tour. It’s hard to believe that Pam won Opportunity Knocks back in 1975 and still continues to tour at the age of 77. In fact, Pam Ayres has performed her solo stage shows throughout the UK as well as various other countries for almost 50 years! That’s no mean feat.
Pam Ayres is well renowned as a writer, broadcaster, comedienne, songwriter and above all else, a Poet. She is also one of the few authors to have had books in the Sunday Times bestseller charts in almost every decade since the 70’s and in fact, The Bookseller magazine recently announced that she is the best-selling poet since records began, after Ted Hughes. So we knew we were in for a treat this evening.
The show was held in the Theatre at Lighthouse Poole and we were in the stalls and had a great view of the stage. The seats are very comfortable, with plenty of leg room, so all we had to do was settle down and enjoy the evening. The theatre was almost full, which is testament to how well loved Pam Ayres is.
The moment Pam stepped out on stage, she was greeted with rapturous applause, which continued throughout the entire performance. Treating us to tales of her fascinating life story, intertwined with many of her most famous poetry. She had us all in fits of laughter on many an occasion.
The delivery of her poetry was a masterpiece in itself; committed to memory and delivered with impeccable comedic timing, it was wonderful to watch this poetic master in action.
It’s hard to pick a stand out moment, from this brilliant performance; however there was something quite special about ‘Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth’. With many of the audience of a similar age to Pam, this one certainly had the audience roaring.
We, like the rest of the audience, really enjoyed ‘The Dinner Party’, which is absolutely hilarious. It takes a very special talent to be able to take a run of the mill subject and write such a brilliantly funny poem about it. Pam Ayres is so likeable as she’s so down to earth and writes about things the audience can relate to.
Her energy throughout the evening was amazing, particularly given her age. The audience was absolutely captivated by her, for the whole performance. In fact, she burst back on the stage after the interval, straight into a poem about a letter that she’d written to her mother, to tell her she was pregnant. Pure class!
I found myself unexpectedly emotional when she delivered a poem about her son leaving the family home to go to university. Fortunately, Pam soon brought the laughter again.
The show ran for approximately 2 hours including a short interval, which was just enough time to grab a drink and take a comfort break.
With a ticket price from £33 each, I think this represents good value for money for an evening of pure entertainment. I would definitely recommend the show to any Pam Ayres fan, she’s so clever and witty and her observational humour about things which may seem very ordinary, are absolute genius.
Rating: 5/5
RRP – Tickets from £33 each
Pam Ayres was appearing at Lighthouse Poole for one night only, as part of a UK tour. Further information relating to her tour dates can be found here: https://pamayres.com/tour-dates/
Address: Lighthouse, 21 Kingland Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1UG