Category: Travel

“A Christmas Carol” production and Manchester Christmas market

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This year, me and my boyfriend Aaron were a little bored and fed up with all the samey seasonal pantomimes, so instead, we decided to travel to Bolton on Monday 22nd of December to it’s lovely Octagon Theatre in the town centre, to watch their adaptation of the Charles Dickens 1843 novella classic “A Christmas Carol” 🎄🎄 It was absolutely phenomenal 😊 We also attended Manchester Christmas market, which was truly magical 🌟🌟 I hope you enjoy this theatre/travel blog post! 💕

Mine and Aaron’s original seats were diagonal, one of us in front and slightly to the side, E28 and F26, however a seat became available so thankfully we were able to sit together. The show itself was absolutely superb 💕

There are countless retellings of “A Christmas Carol” in 20th century cinematic history and popular culture, many of which adopt the protagonist’s surname, Scrooge. You needn’t be particularly familiar with the story to have heard the phrase “bah-humbug”, or be knowledgeable of poor little Tiny Tim; “God bless us, every one!”. I have only recently in fact just watched “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol”, which I thought was fantastic 😀 Like many Christmas tales, “A Christmas Carol” exists to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas 🎄 Good will to all men, the importance of kind generosity, warmth, love and consideration of other less fortunate people’s plights.

I was so impressed by the Octagon Theatre’s retelling of “A Christmas Carol”. It perfectly encapsulated the dark gothic Victorian gloom alongside the contrasting dancing, cheer and comedic merriment; accommodating also a family friendly modern audience. Director Sarah Tipple says this is a ‘testament to its enduring appeal and the power of the ideas at its heart” (official programme).

The central character, Ebenezer Scrooge, played by the brilliant David Birrell, delivered a stunning performance; serious and moody, sharp and caustically witty

The Octagon Theatre is in fact a “theatre-in-the-round”, I believe the creative team, particularly the set and costume designer, Hannah Wolfe, used this to her full advantage. The props were playful in the sense that they were whizzed in and out in all directions; a continuing movement and replacement of scenery; like organised chaos. It was rather impressive, as too were the costume changes, much of the cast playing more than one role

The most horror ridden element of the production, in my opinion, was the apparition of Jacob Marley, depicted by understudy Mark Paterson. Matley appears to Scrooge warning him of an afterlife of chains and shackles should he not make effort to change his selfish ways “I wear the chains I forged in life” (Marley). It is explained Scrooge shall soon be visited by three spirits; the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the ominous, silent Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Children in the audience were visibly frightened by Marley, with his terrifying skeletal mask and spooky stage wanderings.

An interesting retelling, the Ghost of Christmas Past in this adaptation is also Scrooge’s deceased younger beloved sister Fran, usually the spirit is portrayed by an androgynous candle light flickering figure, or a sometimes a woman. The Ghost of Christmas Past’s costume was absolutely divine; glitter and gorgeous sparkle ✨️ from head to toe, worn beautifully by actress Hannah Brown. We see through past memories how close Fran and Scrooge were growing up, how devastated he was when she died and how disappointed the now spirit Fran is of how Scrooge’s once kind compassionate nature has altered completely to a cruel and nasty disposition; a stern, bitter, no feeling, miserable old bachelor: “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population”

Scrooge was actually of course betrothed to the beautiful Belle. Ironically, his ambition to  “make something of himself “, and to climb the ladder of success in his chosen profession,  seeking financial stability to guarantee a stable future for them both, in the midst of it all, he sadly loses Belle’s affections, and so loses the love of his life. Belle terminates the engagement, a memory which still mentally haunts Scrooge. It is almost too painful to see how besotted with Belle Scrooge is at Mr Fezziwig’s (Scrooge’s former employer) annual Christmas party, and how blissful his life could have been with her. Belle is played by Lucy Keirl, who also takes on the role of Christmas Present. In other cinematic versions of “A Christmas Carol”, I recall the Ghost of Christmas Present predominantly to be a big benevolent jolly Santa Claus kind of figure. Not in the Bolton Octagon Theatre production!  Keirl is a right little punk lass! With red tartan pants, a scooter and a confident spunky attitude to match… also, amusingly, she has an obsession for food or specifically Christmas pudding 😆

In the present, Scrooge is shown Christmas day at the Cratchit’s. (Cratchit is Scrooge’s long suffering and faithful employee – played by Mark Peterson, understudy). Only a small bird is roasting, but nevertheless the Cratchit’s are a family full of “joy and solace in each other” (Sarah Tipple, Director). It is evident however that Tiny Tim is not well in health 😢 Scrooge is also, in the present, given a window into the world of his nephew Fred (Conor Neaves), who in this version so desperately wishes to have a better relationship with his uncle, and longs to celebrate the holiday season with him, as a proper family. Neaves has an outstanding powerful singing voice and oozed charisma throughout

It was a child in a hooded sweater who portrayed the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.  He personifies death, yet was nowhere near as petrifying as the Jacob Marley apparition, though I fear a deep black garment shrouded grim reeper archetype might have been a step too far for a family audience. Fortunately for Scrooge, the future revelation of his name on a gravestone, local folk not mourning but actually celebratory of his death is only a shadow of what COULD be. Upon awakening, Scrooge is redeemed, delirious and delighted “as merry as a school boy… as light as a feather… as happy as an angel…as giddy as a drunken man”, with a new found determination to be a better employer and friend to all in his community. An epic story which promotes empathy, charity and social responsibility; teaching close human relationships triumph always material wealth.

The choreographer and movement director Gemma Payne did an amazing job of bringing completely uplifting dance compositions, astounding lyrics and songs from composer Susannah Pearse, also arranger and orchestrator Rebecca Applin offered great musical vibrancy. Not at all forgetting the genius writing of Kate Ferguson; a spoken word performer and renowned dramaturg and playwright…

… I absolutely adored it! 😁😁

Unfortunately our train from Bolton to Manchester Piccadilly was cancelled so we hopped in an uber to our Britannia Saches Hotel, near Piccadilly Gardens. A quick change and we were out 💕💕

I was at first hugely disappointed as it seemed the Christmas market in Piccadilly Gardens was  coming to a close and we feared we had missed out on the experience. We were however directed to the Albert Square market which was extended into the new year. It was magnificent 😄😄 There were cute quirky Christmas stalls and crafts, handmade gifts, ornaments, traditional wooden chalets, mulled wine, ale, Dutch pancakes, bratwurst german sausages (I didn’t eat im a veggie/vegan lol), a merry-go-round, a festive ferris wheel, unbelievable light decorations, all you would hope for 🥰🥰 I bought a unique quirky wooden personalised Rudolph reindeer and a wooden snowman gift for my mum’s grave 💕

Afterwards, we had our tea at a local Nandos and had a few alcoholic drinks in the Northern Quarter 😜😜 Excellent live music 🎶 from a duo in The Freemount, and an acoustic guitar 🎸 playing songstress in Mothers of Invention.  We also had one in an Irish bar but it was pretty pricey! The next morning we had  beaut vegan breakfasts at Moose Coffee; two vegan sausage patties, caramelised onion, smoked vegan Applewood cheese, fresh tomato, in a brioche bun, with homemade potato hash on the side, and two soya lattes Delicious 😋 .. It was a quick photograph with the impressive “Stranger Things” themed tree in Manchester Piccadilly station and a direct train back home to Doncaster 😄

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my latest theatre and travel blog post, your support means so much! I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas 🎄🎄 Mine was wonderful and the first Aaron spent with me and my family 🥰🥰 Look out for new blog posts in the coming year, art/craft and theatre/travel related! Have an amazing new year! Love, Lauren xx

(All information obtained from official programme and direct quotes)

© 2025 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

5K Tough Mudder 2025

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Last Saturday, on 26th July, on the one year anniversary of my beautiful mum passing away, I fought like a warrior woman to complete a 5K Yorkshire Tough Mudder at Broughton Hall, Skipton, North Yorkshire.

An extremely messy mud obstacle course, designed to test your strength, grit and determination, with super intense obstacles to push you to your absolute limit.

I completed the course with my good friend Shez. To be honest, I don’t think I could ever have succeeded without his support; he encouraged me throughout. Shez ran for the LGBTQIA+ community and Autism Plus, both meaningful charities to him and I ran for Alzheimer’s Research, very close to my heart

With half hearted training in the run up to the event (not like Shez who hit the gym hard!) I underestimated the intensity and difficulty massively 😫 It was the hardest, most gruelling physical challenge I have ever done! Yet, somehow, I emerged victorious… here is the story:

Kiss of Mud: The first obstacle was Kiss of Mud, we had to crawl on our hands and knees through mud, with barbed wire only 14” above us! You had to get really low to avoid the barbed wire slicing your shirt and potentially making you bleed. Hardcore!

Twinkle Toes: This one really frightened me. Balancing and tip-toeing daintily along a 40″ skinny wooden platform, with Shez one side of me, the helper the other. The wood itself was narrow and the dismount awkward. It really triggered my anxiety, I was literally shaking afterwards

Stairway to Heaven: Aww ye, more like stairway to hell! This one absolutely petrified me. So even though I did a 10’000ft tandem skydive for my 21st birthday years ago for the Mitochondrial Disease charity (At that time, I was caring for someone with the disease), weirdly, I am frightened of heights! The skydive was a different sensation altogether, it felt almost as though you were flying once they popped open the parachute. However, when I abseiled down Liverpool Cathedral a few years ago to raise money for the Children’s Air Ambulance, the fear was immense, descending backwards, my knees trembling. Climbing up over and down the Stairway to Heaven triggered the same horrible feeling. I took my time and climbed/descended timidly and slowly, but it was awful! The worst one!

Trench Warfare: This one wasn’t too bad to be honest. All it entailed was what it says on the tin, crawling through a muddy made trench. Sure, a confined and dark space, but not too scary

Hydrophobia: This was the first water based obstacle. I really enjoyed the water ones! Basically you were expected to hold your breath, submerge and swim underneath a huge black pipe. We came out absolutely drenched; our gym shorts soaking and sellotaped pretty much to our wet bodies. The water was so cold and made you gasp coming up

Pyramid Scheme: A team based/ team-centric obstacle, you have to rely on other mudders totally. Luckily, there were some really nice participants who were more than happy to help me and Shez. Essentially, it is a slope you have to ascend. A solid foundation, I stood on a strong man’s shoulders and gripped hands with a few at the top, thankfully they had the strength to pull me over. Woop woop!

Cry Baby: Crawling through a tear gas filled tunnel, staying low, trying not to well up with the fumes, trying to escape as soon as possible

Mudderhorn: Surprisingly, although the Mudderhorn was higher than the Stairway to Heaven, at 40ft, I wasn’t as afraid because the surrounding net gave you (maybe a false) sort of sense of security. I needed a leg up to get on the obstacle though, ha 😆 But I actually reached the bottom before Shez, which was extremely unusual!

Cage Crawl: Here we had to pull ourselves along, with metal overhead, through a pit of water which was fun but at the same time it felt a little claustrophobic. Holding your breath, going under, coming up for air. It reminded me of the popular ITV programme ‘I’m a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here’

Devil’s Beard: Devil’s Beard was basically a on your hands and knees, through an enormous heavy net situation.  Not as frightening or as particularly challenging as the others, but by ek my knees were sore the next day!

Everest: The only challenge I didn’t complete. I was gutted. Essentially, it is like the end wall in the TV show ‘Ninja Warrior’. A 13″ quarterpipe you have to sprint at, leap upwards, and hopefully be hauled over by the other mudders at the summit. I tried about ten times. Although sometimes my hands gripped with those above me, I didn’t have the strength and they didn’t to yank me over. To be fair, about half the mudders I saw couldn’t do it either, which is some consolation. I just physically was not strong enough, simple as that.  If I’d have tried anymore I could have seriously injured myself 😢

Blockness Monster: My favourite of all the obstacles. The last water 💧 one. Rotating 500lb blocks. The first block I just could not get my grip properly and thought I was defeated. I went to exit the obstacle feeling beaten. But Shez convinced me to come back and tackle the other block together. I literally clung to his waist and we went tumbling over together, me on top, head first into the water. It was absolutely hilarious and our spectator friends Lou, Emma, Emma’s son Lucas and my boyfriend Aaron took some extremely funny videos. It was so epic!

Electroshock Therapy: This was the one I was dreading the most but it was a piece of p*ss. Apparently 10’000 volts of electricity. We psyched ourselves up and belted into it, but for some reason the shocks were much milder than I anticipated… not like I’m complaining though, ha ha! 🤣

What an achievement! Three hours fifteen minutes in total, with all the 5K power walking/ jogging and all thirteen obstacles. I almost twisted my ankle as well as I fell while jogging downhill. I was completely knackered for a few days, bumps and bruises

I am so proud though because so far I have raised £670 for Alzheimer’s Research, in loving memory of my beautiful mum Deborah Jayne 💓💓 who sadly died last year after a long battle with early onset Alzheimer’s

I received a celebratory medal, head band and t-shirt which was really cool!

If I can achieve this, I feel like I can accomplish anything. The challenge has inspired me to get super physically fit and next year I would love to do the Great North Swim, a 10K and a half marathon for charity 💓💓 So, watch this space! 😜😜

Here is the link for my Tough Mudder fundraising page if you would kindly like to donate:

https://givestar.io/gs/tough-mudder-yorkshire-96685?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwL7ajFjbGNrAvIqPWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeK-z2TMgyqePGmkZI84_0i7fZvD2G27AuYgLhavCIyQNGwEbXRCpTolnQqvg_aem_Gm-AoqLhrZWCiqDCEY4U0Q

https://toughmudder.co.uk/obstacles/ [Accessed 2nd August 2025]

💕💕💕💕

For my next UnicornPostbox blog posts, I have printed off reference photos to start my Keanu Reeves and YungBlud portrait drawings, also I have a Wonky Donkey and Sunflower 🌻 pub painting in August 🥰

Thank you as ever for taking the time to read/view. Much love, Lauren xx

© 2025 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

Leeds Easter Weekend 2025

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Over the Easter weekend, me and my boyfriend Aaron travelled to Leeds for a lovely little city break away, and to support my sister do a 10k Leeds Running Festival parkrun for Alzheimer’s Society 😊

Arriving in Leeds early Saturday afternoon, we hopped in a taxi to our hotel, the High Bank Hotel, situated on the outskirts of Leeds, in a multicultural community area. We payed for a cheap double room, with a shared bathroom/toilet. In all honesty, it wasn’t too bad, we hardly saw any other guests. However, in hindsight, by the time we’d payed for multiple taxis, the price would have worked out similar had we just booked a city central hotel, with more amenities on the doorstep, and closer to everything

We had a table booked for 5pm at a Chinese restaurant, G-Woo. The food was delicious 😋 I had salt and pepper mushrooms 🍄 for an appetiser and aubergines 🍆 and peppers 🌶 in a black bean sauce. Aaron chose veggie ‘chicken’ (substitute) curry 🍛 and chips 🍟 This was the first Chinese we have eaten together as a couple. The staff were super friendly too. Avoiding more taxis, they advised us which bus 🚌 stop from there to go to get to the city centre cheaply

Arriving in Leeds centre, it was only a short walk to The Light, Leeds. There we filled half an hours time in Funstation, partaking in arcade games, paying for tokens to win tickets 🎟 to choose prizes. We ended up with a white mouse 🐁 chocolate 🍫 and a keyring

Junkyard Golf ⛳️ club Leeds was epic! We had 18 holes of the ‘craziest golf’. 9 holes of ‘Bozo’ and 9 holes ‘Gary’. ‘Bozo’ is a “circus fear-ground” themed crazy golf course with dystopian creepy clowns 🤡 and ‘Gary’ a “garage scrapyard” 90s themed course, with a trippy ultra violet rave room. They were both proper mint. We tippled blue and pink Hooches before ‘Bozo’, and then before ‘Gary’ 😝 And, obviously, despite Aaron fluking a few lucky holes, I reigned victorious, beating him twice 🤪

After Junkyard Golf ⛳️ we had a few alcopops in the very unique Carousel bar, which was shaped circular like a real Carousel, 🎠 horse statues scattered around the circumference of the room. We then hit Turtle Bay 🐢 for 2 for 1 cocktails 🍸 It was the first time I have ever been to a Turtle Bay, with their iconic Caribbean class and soft soothing reggae vibes. I had a vodka passion martini which was beaut, but the rum based strawberry daiquiri was too much for me 🤣

After a cheeky McPlant (I’m a veggie), we ventured towards the Call Lane nightclub and bar vicinity. One venue on Briggate wanted £10 entry, even the indie Stone Roses bar was a fiver each. We avoided these, and cheesy danced in the gay bar ‘The New Penny’ instead. The drinks were absolutely extortionate in ‘Revolution’ on Call Lane, but we found a fantastic little live music gem, showcasing a spectacular Ska band

On Sunday morning (feeling very rough), we got an uber to Roundhay park to watch my sister Beth do a 10k Leeds Running Festival parkrun for Alzheimer’s Society, in loving memory of our beautiful mum, who sadly passed away last year after a long 10 year battle with early onset Alzheimer’s 😢

It was our Beth, her friend Lucy (an avid runner), and Lucy’s friend Amy who participated in the running festival. Beth’s best friend Georgina and another close friend Lorian came to spectate with me and Aaron. Me and Aaron were proper hanging from the night before, we purchased a strong cappuccino and a chocolate 🍫 cookie 🍪 each

The view was very scenic, Roundhay park is massive with beautiful surroundings, a lake and mansion house

They arrived for the race just in the nick of time. Our Beth naively didn’t undertake any kind of training prior to the event, and rocked up without any proper running trainers. Some of it she walked rather than ran. When Lucy (a bit of a fitness fanatic) finished her 10k, she rejoined Beth on the track to spur her on and offer moral support…

But, she did it! 😁 I couldn’t have been happier for her, I felt really emotional actually when she crossed the finish line, and I know mum would be so incredibly proud! 💗 She did amazing, woop woop!

We took some singular and group photos of her with her well deserved 10k Leeds Running Festival medal, then headed to the Roundhay Fox for a refreshing dark fruit cider. The weather was gorgeous so it was lovely soaking in the sunshine 🌞 rays.. we wandered through an idyllic little walkway to reach Lucy’s car 🚗 and she drove us home to Doncaster

Once back in Donny, me and Aaron ended our Easter getaway and celebrated Easter Sunday with veggie carverys, Camembert melt in the middle roasts, at Toby Carvery 😋😋

Thank you as always for taking the time to read/view 🥰🥰 My next blog post will be progression photos of an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed diamond 💎 art 🎨 I have almost finished..

Much love, Lauren xx

© 2025 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

Valentines weekend away Sheffield 2025

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For this Valentine’s Day me and my wonderful boyfriend Aaron travelled to Sheffield for a romantic weekend away. This blog post is a description of our travels, with accompanying photography, hope you enjoy! ❤️❤️

We travelled by train and arrived at our hotel, Wilson Carlile Centre on Cavendish Street, in central Sheffield, check in 2pm. At first I thought we’d gone to the wrong place, as did not appear much like a hotel, and the accommodation was around the corner in a separate building to the reception. It was a small room, with only a continental basic breakfast in the morning. It didn’t matter so much as we’re both vegetarians anyway. Good location. Cheap and relatively cheerful I’d say…

We exchanged Valentine’s Day gifts at the hotel 🥰

We arrived at 5pm at the El Paso restaurant for a romantic Valentine’s Day meal. It is both an Italian and a Tex Mex. We shared a cheesy garlic bread, Aaron had a veggie Chimichanga and I had veggie enchiladas 😋 The DJ played love songs, and Unchained Melody came on, one of my mum’s favourite songs 😢 (She has passed away). The meal was beautiful 🥰

After El Paso, we went to an adult themed crazy golf ⛳️ called Golf Fang, it was mint 🥰 An 18 hole course, with bespoke art adorning every wall. A massive amount of geeky stuff from films and popular culture etc, amazingly and uniquely designed, each hole; glow in the dark, exotic themes, etc, really cool and immersive. We also drank a lot of the Valentine’s Day special cocktails 🍸😉

Afterwards, we went drinking on West Street, I got very drunk 🤪 We ventured to West Street Live, but mainly we danced like loons in the Irish Bar 😜 The music was fantastic! Grabbed a margarita pizza 🍕 on the way back…

I felt so rough Saturday morning, we’d hardly had any sleep and had to check out at 10am 😭

We had a stroll around the city centre, the Peace Gardens, Millennium gallery, and did a little bit of shopping 🛍

My feet were killing me, my platform doc martens from the night before completely gave me blisters, I kept having to put new plasters on, even got blood on the bed sheets!

😲 So apart from that, it was nice having a little mooch. Aaron bought me a orange/black checked cardigan from Blue Banana 🥰 He bought a pink tie too for our friends upcoming wedding, we wandered around the indoor market, and we also had a McDonald’s and then a MASSIVE pancake each, with creamy lattes… then it was time to pick up our stored luggage, and grab an uber back to Sheffield train station… homeward bound! 🥰🥰

Overall, it was a brilliant little getaway, had so much fun 😍😍

My next blog posts will probably be diamond arts 💎🎨 or amateur portraits (fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research) or an Easter bunny 🐰 pub painting

Thank you so much as ever for reading/viewing.. Lots of love, Lauren xx

https://www.elpasorestaurant.co.uk/ [Accessed 16th February 2025]

https://golffang.co.uk/sheffield/ [Accessed 16th February 2025]

© 2025 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

London January 2025

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On 10th January 2025, me and my new boyfriend Aaron travelled to London on a much needed few days city break. While there we went to see an amazing West End show ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’, we visited one of my favourite places, Camden Town, had fantastic fun at the Paradox Museum, and we also journeyed to the highly anticipated Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter, on the outskirts of London. It was an incredible weekend away, mine and Aaron’s first together.

In this blog post, I shall be writing a theatre review of ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’, accompanied by a description/ travel blog of our outings! I hope you enjoy!

We left Doncaster late Friday morning, commuting to London on a NLER train, and arrived early afternoon. As we approached King’s Cross station I was feeling quite nervous, which is understandable I suppose.

On arrival into London, we went for a cheeky nandos round the corner from King’s Cross. It was an absolute nightmare carrying our large holdall luggage bags on the underground. They were so heavy and bulky, hurting our shoulders. Me and Aaron have come to the understanding that for our next getaway we are definitely going to purchase some wheeled suitcases, ha 😄

We eventually made it to our hotel, the Holiday Inn, in Kensington High Street. Although the room was quite small, it was sufficient. The hotel was clean, the staff friendly and it was situated in a great location, very central. No complaints whatsoever, and at a rather reasonable price we reserved on Booking.com. We unpacked and chilled a few hours, before embarking to Phoenix Theatre.

I love the underground. I managed to navigate us around quite smoothly, except for a few tiny hiccups. We got off a stop too early for the theatre, so we jumped into a black cab just to make sure we weren’t rushing about.

Stranger Things (SPOILERS ALERT):

‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ was absolutely incredible! 😲 A prequel to the highly rated and much adored Netflix sci-fi phenomenon.

Developed from the imaginations of the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross Duffer, the Stranger Things stage play is the origin story of Henry Creel, later to be known as the villain Vecna, the overarching antagonist of the Upside Down dominion (Season 4)

Three time Tony award winning director Stephen Daldry collaborated with Sonia Friedman, a well established theatre producer – and writer, Jack Thorne, multi award winning – plus the shows long time writer, Kate Trefry, together they devised a brilliant plot for the play, a direction which excited them all, which was, as aforementioned, the origin story of Henry Creel.

The television series is rich in mythology and character. The little ordinary town of Hawkins, Indiana, where extraordinary mind-blowing events emerge. Top secret experiments, gateways to another dimension (the Upside Down) telepathic and telekinetic superpowers, sinister entities – demogorgons, the Mind Flayer, and of course Vecna, who transpires to be an evolution of Henry Creel, the Hawkins Laboratory original test subject.

Stranger Things has roots very much from the Gothic genre. Of course, many of us have always been fascinated and interested in ‘monsters’, we may have supernatural favourites, werewolves, vampires, etc. We are just so intent on terrifying ourselves! Why is the horror genre as prevalent as as ever today? Films, TV shows.. Because we have a thirst so insatiable for these hellish creatures, our imaginations are haunted 😱😱

The scientific spin on Stranger Things is it’s parallel universe, the Upside Down – a world recognisable to our own, yet so completely twisted, deformed and horrific.

The Duffer Brothers succeed in forging attributes that are widely identifiable in the Gothic tradition, to new audiences, in new, fresh exciting ways, season by season.

Coming back to The First Shadow, set in 1959, the stage production highlights the ‘legacy of trauma in post-war America’, with Henry Creel’s father Victor evidently suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Tragically, an alcoholic, prone to bizarre outbursts and obviously entirely shell-shocked.

The actor I was most impressed with in the show was Louis Healy who played Henry Creel himself. He portrays a boy very much disturbed, who practises killing small innocent animals and rodents. So desperate to be ‘normal’ by his peers, yet he is more so depicted socially awkward, and some would say a ‘weirdo’, ‘creep’ or ‘freak’. Healy was sensational in his delivery

It was intriguing to see Dr Brenner (Joshua James) influencing the young Creel, inducting him into his scientific experiments. A scared teenager with ‘special abilities’.

An aspect of the performance I really enjoyed was the actors making full use of the space, Creel in distress running down the audience aisles, men in white laboratory suits surrounding us. It made it more atmospheric. Of course, the set and props were absolutely outstanding, as with all West End productions.

I kept glancing at Aaron to see his reaction during the performance and he was beaming with joy, very much impressed as he has never seen a professional production

As a souvenir I bought the programme, a flask and a fridge magnet. Overall, a fantastic experience

After the performance we went and had a lovely Italian and a couple of Strongbow dark fruit ciders in a nearby Irish bar

Me and Aaron decided not to have breakfast included with our hotel as we are both vegetarians, so it seemed a little pointless. £17 a head when you don’t eat an English fry up is a bit of a waste of money! Instead, we found a lovely little ‘Muffin Man’ cafe where we had pancakes with Nutella spread and bananas 🍌 They were delicious. I wore a bib, ha 🤣 A joke present Aaron got me for Christmas 🎄 because I’m such a messy eater!

Paradox Museum:

Our first port of call of the day on Saturday was the ‘Paradox Museum’, a fully interactive optical illusion Museum situated in Knightsbridge, central London, opposite from the famous Harrod’s department store. It was absolutely brilliant!

There was a ‘Paradox Sofa’ which gave the impression the top half of your body had been swallowed up by the sofa. The ‘Camouflage Room’ where you literally blend into the wallpaper wearing an orange/black checked cloak, the ‘Reversed Room’ defying gravity, upside down in the underground (you use your smartphone to rotate the image, lol), the ‘Paradox Tunnel’ affecting your gravitational direction perception, walking straight but the room spinning, the ‘Infinity Well’ (again posing to then rotate on your smartphone). There was allsorts! My favourite was Aaron’s head on a platter and me hovering over him deviously with enormous cutlery! There were rooms with ‘Charlie and the Chocolates Factory’ esque distortions where the room felt like it was shrinking,  or something like from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ where one person looked tiny and the other a huge giant!

It was hilarious because we got stuck in the wall of mirrors, and there’s me trying to navigate through going ‘Oh, it’s only a wall’, ‘Oh no, it’s just a wall’, ‘Aaron, I can’t get out’ 🤣🤣 I purchased a little colouful cube as a souvenir..Such a fab experience

Camden Town:

In the afternoon, we went to one of my favourite places ever, Camden Town. We strolled leisurely around the alternative market, taking photos of all the cool shops, tattoo studios, hippie havens, etc. Aaron bought a customised Harry Styles poster for his sister.

We crossed the beautiful Iron Footbridge over the Regent’s canal. There was a ‘poem busker’ asking for small donations for an original poem, written on their typewriter. The street market was great. I had a Greek halloumi gyro (as I say, I’m vegetarian). We went to a few eccentric shops, including one selling circus equipment, and best of all, CyberDog!

CyberDog sells festival clubwear and rave outfits. It’s immense! Selling futuristic fashion, neon glow in the dark clothing, reflective jackets, body paints, alternative accessories. I bought a punk style spiked collar, ha 🤣 There are live DJ’s playing electronic music, and podium dancers, it’s mint! Absolutely love it 🥰

Late afternoon, we ventured back to the underground station. Luckily, I asked a member of staff directions as we nearly got on the wrong tube! But, as it were, we got to the Visitors Centre in Baker Street well within time to embark on our last London adventure..

Warner Bros Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter:

I was so very excited to go to the Warner Bros Tour as I am a huge fan of Harry Potter, having read all the books and watched the films countless times.

We were really lucky to witness ‘Hogwart’s in the Snow’, Christmas 🎄 time in the wizarding world, with various snow features. The huge Christmas tree, even before we entered the main tour was ace… Upon arrival, we had veggie burgers before embarking on the tour.

We were given an ‘activity passport’, in which we were to collect 7 stamps as strolling through the different areas: 1. Gryffindor’s Crest 2. Quidditch 3. Divination 4. Hogwart’s Express 5. Gringott’s Bank 6. Diagon Alley and 7. Hogwart’s Crest

The Great Hall was magnificent and breathtaking, with all it’s suspended candles. We saw the Gryffindor boys dormitory, the enchanted pensieve from Dumbledore’s office, we saw peculiar bottles and jars in the potions section, Hagrid’s hut, the Weasley home, the Divination classroom, artifacts from the Ministry of Magic. We entered the forbidden forest, crept through Gringotts wizarding bank, walked the cobbles of my favourite, Diagon Alley

The Creature Effect Department did amazingly well creating the Basilisk, Buckbeak, Fawkes, etc..

We learnt all about the crucial visual effects throughout all the films – enhancements and created environments, computer generated characters the camera cannot capture – the Chamber of Secrets, Gringotts vault door, the Griffin stairwell to Dumbledore’s office

My favourite of all the Harry Potter films is ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ in which three wizarding schools participate in the tri-wizard tournament, so I was overjoyed to see the Yule Ball costumes

I adored seeing the Hogwart’s Express, and taking photographs as though wheeling through Platform 9 and 3/4. I especially liked the exterior sets. The Burrow, and vehicles such as sitting in Hagrid’s bike, and the Ford Anglia (from Chamber of Secrets).

It was brill in Professor Sprout’s herbology greenhouse, pulling up mandrakes, posing at the back of the Knight Bus, wandering through number 4 Privet Drive, discovering the famous cupboard under the stairs. The house displayed two iconic scenes, the mountain of envelopes fluttering in the living room (Philosopher’s Stone) and the scene from Prizoner of Azkaban where Aunt Marge swells up like a balloon!

It was delightful to learn about the makeup and prosthetics. It was very impressive, prosthetic pieces made from foam or silicone, such as for Gringotts goblins. A life size version of Dobby was created. Such models by the Creative designers were known as masquettes, which were then scanned to apply computer generated movements, facial expressions, etc

We were told how the Prop department has accumulated thousands of items, in five giant warehouses, items including: The Time Turner, the Philosopher’s stone, the Golden Snitch, the Deluminator, the Golden Egg etc and of course wands, brooms, and horcruxes. The art, prop, costume and graphic designers all collaborated to develop the wizarding sport of Quidditch. Skull-like death eater masks were constructed from casts of the actors faces. Defence against the dark arts furniture constructed too, such as the Boggart Wardrobe..The treasure in Lestrange’s vault, three months a machine ran just to produce the Hufflepuff cup replication…

It was absolutely outstanding viewing the dragon fire-breathing simulation!

I adored Diagon Alley the most, with Ollivander’s wand shop, Flourish and Blotts, the Leaky Cauldron, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes and so on. It was truly magical, as was the astonishing and intricately detailed Hogwart’s Castle Model. Every turret, tower and courtyard enhanced digitally, used in all the films

The only thing I was completely disappointed in was the Butterbeer.. it was absolutely disgusting!

I purchased an ‘Official Guide’, a Hedwig Owl teddy which is adorable and a Gryffindor Mascot Wand which was on offer. In hindsight, it might have been worth waiting for the next gift shop at the end of the tour, which had a much larger selection of different wands

We just about made it back to the coach in time. The entire experience was 7 hours long. We embarked from Baker Street at 4pm, and was back there around 11pm. The studio is situated on the outskirts of London you see, Watford area. An unbelievable experience I will never forget, truly magical! 😁😁 A quiet underground journey back to Kensington High Street

The following morning, rather than having to cart our heavy luggage on the underground, we took an uber to King’s Cross station. We had time to enjoy another lovely Italian near King’s Cross before travelling back to Doncaster

I had such a wonderful time. This last year has been so tough losing mum to early onset alzheimers disease 😢 It was lovely to get away for a few days, just what I needed, a fantastic little getaway 😊

Sources:

  • Stranger Things: The First Shadow official programme
  • Warner Bros Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter official guide

Websites:

paradoxmuseumlondon.com [Accessed 26th January 2025]

visitlondon.com [Accessed 26th January 2025]

wbstudiotour.co.uk [Accessed 26th January 2025]

© 2025 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

Leeds Christmas market 5th December

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Hi everyone, my latest UnicornPostbox blog post is a travel review of Leeds Christmas market 🎄🎄

On Thursday 5th December, me and my good friend Aaron and Joe got the train from Doncaster to Leeds… oh my goodness, what a day! 😆

It started out bad. First of all we were going up and down in an escalator hoping to get access to the Trinity shopping centre, only to realise the entire building was actually a car park 🙄🤣

When we found Trinity, we had a beaut meal in nandos, and the tree was illuminated gorgeous golds and purple

We struggled to get directions to the market, everyone seemed to point us different ways, and as the market was split in different places across the city (maybe explains it) it was somewhat confusing!

We found a ferris wheel, a fairground carousel 🎠 and what looked like Christmas huts, believing we’d found part of the christmas market, but apparently those stalls were independent! It didn’t stop us however having a Christmas sing-a-long as we ascended and descended up and down, round and round the ferris wheel. Aaron and Joe also sampled some mulled wine 🍷 I don’t think they were highly impressed. I opted for a apple cider 😝 it was nice relaxing around a fire pit, but the flooring was uneven and the tables wobbly!

By this time, it was around half 3ish so we abandoned the idea of trying to make it to the smaller market (consisting of we were told of a few rides and huts) and tried instead to find the main Christmas market…Can you believe it, it was near the train station?!

As soon as we got there, the heavens had opened and it was absolutely chucking it down! We has some miniature pancakes with syrups and sauces, and bananas 🍌 The ginormous Christmas tree was lit up beautifully, and although the market was smaller than I expected, it was still enjoyable wandering around the huts… except for the fact we were by then drenched like drowned rats! I did get a nice photo standing next to a nutcracker with my nutcracker jumper. We escaped the rain initially by getting a pint, as you do, but then headed for cover back in the Trinity shopping centre. We were peckish again at this point so we grabbed Mexican food at the Trinity food court.

We decided to go for the train home around 7ish, and that’s where the nightmare escalated 😫 All the trains were pretty much cancelled due to the adverse weather! There was a replacement bus service in 10 minutes it said on the screen. So Aaron got a digital map out on his phone and off we pelted, proper legging it. The stupid thing took us full circle back to the train station! But on a lower level! We couldn’t even fathom how to get back up, having to ask randomers directions again! By then, of course we had missed the replacement bus. Then the next problem was when we eventually got to the taxi pick up point at the station, everyone was in the same predicament struggling to get home. So everyone was ordering ubers. We waited 20 mins or so, ours never showed. Then a very kind warden took us to the actual replacement bus stop (in the complete opposite direction to which we’d tried to find earlier), but the next replacement bus service was in another few hours time… so soaking wet, cold and down in spirits, we ordered another uber, which was stuck in traffic for half an hour 🙃 .. in the end, it cost us over 60 quid between us for an uber back to Doncaster, to which my dad then picked us up at Doncaster station… omg, what a day! We were so ready to get into out pyjamas and slipper socks!

A very eventful day!

I am going pub painting tomorrow with my friend Denise, we are painting a Christmas ‘winter fox’ so that may be my next UnicornPostbox blog post, I have also just finished a turtle 🐢 diamond art… so watch this space!

Thanks as ever for reading/viewing. Much love, Lauren xx

© 2024 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

Trip to Skegness with Lou, August 2024

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On Wednesday 14th August, me and my good friend Lou went to Skegness for the day. Usually I go annually with my gran on a local bus trip but unfortunately she took ill. It was nice in a way though to do something different with my friend, as me and gran usually do the same thing each time..here is an account of our day…

Unfortunately the bus was running late so we didn’t get into Skegness until late morning. I had a vegetarian pizza 🍕 (I’m a veggie) then we leisurely strolled around Ingoldmells market. I purchased a beautiful off the shoulder elephant 🐘 bag (I adore elephants!) and a new funky bumbag.. It was easy travelling back to Skegness central..

It was incredible at the Natureland seal sanctuary! The seals 🦭 were beautiful! There was a reptile exhibit which I enjoyed the least to be honest as I’m petrified of snakes! 🐍 But a brown butterfly landed on Lou’s bag in the tropical butterflies area. There was a pet’s corner too with goats and alpacas! They’re such funny animals! The penguins were gorgeous too, I love penguins 🐧 The aquarium was cool too. I purchased a seal teddy to add to my extensive teddy collection lol 😆..

We finished off the day by going on fair ground rides! We went on the pirate ☠️ ship, waltzers and ghost 👻 train!

Aww, it was such a fantastic day and a much needed break, had a wonderful time 💕💕

For my next UnicornPostbox blog post, I am on with a peacock 🦚 diamond art  💎 🎨 and there is also a new pub painting coming up in September..

Thank you as always for taking the time to read/view, many thanks, Lauren xx

https://skegnessnatureland.co.uk/ [Accessed 18/08/2024]

© 2024 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com

Trip to Bridlington with gran, July 2024

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Hi everyone! My latest UnicornPostbox blog post is a travel blog of a day trip to Bridlington yesterday with my gran Ruth, hope you like 🥰

We set off early in the morning (I woke up at 7am, a rarity for me, I’m not really a morning person 🤣) Travelled via a local coach company 👍 It took us roughly an hour and 30 mins travelling from Doncaster 🥰

Our first port of call was browsing around the shops. I bought a new diamond art 🎨 and sketching pencils from The Works. I also bought my mum a seagull teddy 😄

We were both peckish by lunchtime so we walked to ‘Pier 6’, close to where the bus dropped us off, for some nice grub 😋 Gran had haddock and chips, and I had a veggie cheeseburger with salad and coleslaw 😋

We then had a leisurely walk around the harbour, admiring the lovely boats. A doughnut for gran and a waffle 🧇 with chocolate sauce and bananas 🍌 for me. Yum, yum 😋

We briefly passed through the fair ground rides (no, we didn’t go on any, haha 😆) and took some photos of the beach, before ascending up a slope to the arcades

Gran was a pro on the race horse 🏇 and ball game, winning some candy floss and a barbie doll. It was highly amusing also my gran’s tactics with the 2p machines, bashing them in all at once! I took a video, it was really funny 🤣

We made our way slowly back to the coach. We sat down on quite a few occasions on benches as we travelled around Brid. Gran isn’t fantastic on her feet bless her, in need of a knee replacement 💕 We had soft drinks in one cafe, and a latte/ vanilla milkshake with squirty cream in another 😋 I don’t even want to think about the calorie intake! 🤣

Overall, it was a lovely day 😊 Although the sun never came out, it was cloudy ⛅️ with only a slight drizzle. We were quite lucky

It was really nice to spend quality time with gran, she’s a wonderful woman and Grandma, 87 bless her 💕

I believe there is another coach trip next month to Skegness (we love it there!) and Bury Market later on in the year…

Thank you as ever for taking the time to read/view. All the best, Lauren xx

© 2024 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com

Alton Towers – travel blog post

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On Saturday 11th May, me and a big group of friends went to Alton Towers, for my mate Shez’s birthday.

Aww, wow, what an incredible day! I have only gone to Alton Towers once before, when I was a teenager and braved ‘Air’ (now called Galactica)

Our first port of call was the ‘Spinball Whizzer’. Unfortunately, it needed essential maintenance (no, that doesn’t scare you at all! Haha 🤣) So we ventured and some friends went on the nearby ‘Smiler’. I was a bit too much of a sissy, ha… Alternatively, we split the group and me and three friends had a bite to eat at the ‘Woodcutters Bar and Grill’ – a halloumi and mushroom burger for me, to be exact 😋 I’m a veggie!

Afterwards, me and my really good friend Louisa went to ‘The Alton Towers Dungeons’. The experience was frightening but extremely funny at the same time. We travelled in pitch black between different areas. The ‘Bishop of Stafford’ first humiliated a ‘peasant’ (embarrassed audience member), judging her guilty and locking her in a cage, lol. Then we glided through on the ‘Black River Boat’. The ‘Torturer’ showcased an array of torturing instruments, shackling a young woman and terrifying (humorously) a ‘peasant’ with a hot poker, and genital torturing device, ha. Then at the ‘Welsh Harp Inn’, the owner scares us, warning of the terrible ‘Dick Turpin’, lurking around the premises. The ‘Plague Doctor’, boils and all, grossed us out pulling organs out of a bubonic plague sufferer! The scariest of all however was at the abandoned cottage, where all the lights flickered on/off, and a petrifying white witch suddenly appeared right in front of you! It was literally like a horror film! 😱😱 We then had a stroll around ‘The World of David Walliams’ before reuniting with our friends.

The ‘Curse of Alton Manor’ was our next attraction. Walking through the eerie gardens, then a haunting ghost ship ride, with nail biting twists and turns. I was very nervous to do the underground ‘Nemesis Sub-Terra’. Descending below in an elevator into the ‘Phalanx’ research facility, we caught a glimpse of the nemesis monster egg – we were fastened securely before an unexpected drop!

Some of my friends then went on ‘Nemesis – Reborn’, but I was too much of a chicken 🐔 We all aborded the ‘Blade’, a high swinging pirate ship which was so much fun, and we also got soaked on the ‘Congo River Rapids’, with splashing waterfalls. This was my favourite and so enjoyable.

The last ride, twice, I braved the ‘Spinball Whizzer’. No wonder I have got a sore throat! I screamed my lungs out, yelling, cursing and swearing, ha! It was petrifying, but simultaneously exhilarating and a massive adrenaline rush!

It was such a wonderful day.. 🥰 I bought my mum a cute turtle teddy as a souvenir from the gift shop 🐢

I was smart and brought factor 50 suntan lotion, but after a full day walking miles in the sunshine 🌞, we were all absolutely shattered!

Even though we were there practically all day, and even with some of us having queue skipping passes, there were still rides we sadly didn’t have time for 😢 If I go again (and there are talks of returning in the summer or for ‘scarefest’ for Halloween- which I would SO be up for)… I would, with my new found bravery 😜, go on ‘The Wicker Man’, ‘Runaway Mine Train’ , and maybe ‘Nemesis – Reborn’, ‘Thi3teen’, ‘Rita’ and ‘Galactica’ again 😁😁

Thank you as ever for taking the time to read/view! 😁 Tomorrow I am going to pub painting, so look out for a new giraffe 🦒 painting! Also got a diamond art 🎨 💎 on the go!

https://www.altontowers.com/ [Accessed 13th May 2024]

© 2024 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com

‘The Wizard of Oz’ theatre review

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The 1900’s children’s novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ was declared by the library of Congress as ‘America’s greatest and best-loved homegrown fairy tale’. The classic 1939 MGM film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ was voted one of the best 10 American films of all time, in 1977, 38 years after its release.

The tale has been widely translated in over 40 languages and adapted for other cultures. The themes of the story are so universal – the constant battle between good and evil: “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” The yearning for a better life beyond the rainbow 🌈 Is the grass greener? Actually, no, we discover (or are reminded) “There’s no place like home”

It is hardly surprising the tale has over the years dominated television, screen and stage. One notable and popular retelling is Gregory Maguire’s ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ book, or more simply in the smash hit musical adaptation ‘Wicked’. In 2018 for my birthday, me and my mum (before she got too poorly) went to see Wicked at the Liverpool Empire theatre. Here the ‘Wicked Witch’ is portrayed in a totally different light, and not as the heinous villian audiences have been previously accustomed to.

Disney’s ‘Return to Oz’ 1985, a sequel, adapted from the other Oz series of books is a franchise I am familiar with, though this version was quite the flop at the box office unfortunately and never got near anywhere as successful as the 1939 favourite

It is undeniable that elements of the tale; Ruby slippers, emerald city, munchkins, the yellow brick road etc are so iconic and embedded in modern culture. Musicians for instance take massive inspiration, such as Elton John’s ‘Goodbye yellow brick road’.

The protagonist heroine ‘Dorothy’ was intriguingly based on a daughter L Frank Baum desperately longed to have (he fathered 4 boys). The excitement she would have felt reading of such fantasy and wonder. But he was also intrigued by The Brothers Grimm fairy tales. The ‘Scarecrow’ fascinatingly had a real original! Standing in Baum’s childhood’s home’s field for a multitude of years.

There’s the background introduction 😜 now how about the Sheffield Lyceum production…

The ‘Vivienne’ was undoubtedly the star of the show. The winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the first champion, she has evolved into a massive global fabulous diva, both internationally and in the UK. The first drag queen impressively also to compete in a reality TV series, ‘Dancing on Ice’. Her performance as the ‘Wicked Witch’ was teasing and tantalising, excellently executed, and domineering. Each word a dagger, each move a danger. Her witches cackle a high pitched cruel torment and threat: “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!”

Aviva Tulley, only a very young actress it must be mentioned, played ‘Dorothy’ superbly, very believable. Her voice singing ‘Over the Rainbow’ was absolutely breathtaking. ‘Toto’ was actually a puppet controlled by a puppeteer! Benjamin Yates as the ‘Scarecrow’ was charismatic, cheeky and cheerful (even if brainless), Marley Fenton as ‘Tin Man’ certainly not rusty – with his funky robot street dancing skills, and Nic Greenshields ‘Cowardly Lion’ admirable and adorable, even when afraid. Alex Bourne as ‘Professor Marvel/ the Wizard’ was simply awe-inspiring and Emily Bull as ‘Glinda/ Aunt Em’ mesmerising and majestic

The entire production was perfect and flawless. My, my best friend Robyn, and friends Sheridan and Tyler had a WONDERFUL time 😍

The show was such a spectacle, the scenery superb. Smoke special effects, lighting, prop design – the yellow brick road continually fragmented and then wheeled back together, the cast dancing with choreography from one section to the next. Impressive video on a huge retractable screen to compliment the storytelling. ‘Glinda’ cruising by on a girlie pink scooter. The melting of the ‘Wicked Witch’, disappearing as marvellously as any magician. The costumes, especially of the munchkins and the winkies- remarkable! Such a joyous day out! 😁😁

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my theatre blog, it is very much appreciated! 😀 The next blog post will be progression photos of my ‘Leonardo the Lion’ diamond art 💎 🎨

Much love, Lauren xx

Further information:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/

© 2024 Lauren Parr/ https://unicornpostbox.com