The Lunar Men

On 7th December Vivienne and I went as invited Lunar Society guests to see a one-off enactment of a meeting of members of the original Lunar Society, ‘The Lunar Men’, put on by the science group of the local U3A at the village hall in Dorridge.
The performance took as its theme the post-dinner deliberations of members of the Lunar Society in 1780 meeting in Matthew Boulton’s house in Birmingham when this great city was at the forefront of the industrial revolution.
All the characters were in period costume and there were extensive props on stage (including a working Van de Graaff generator - perhaps this was a very early prototype!).
Most of the performance consisted of considerable speeches by Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestley, Josiah Wedgwood, James Watt and Matthew Boulton explaining with great enthusiasm their work and ideas.
There was a well-produced and informative parallel Keynote presentation alongside the performance with text, images and animations to add to what was said by the main characters. The group may reprise the playlet for a wider audience (including historical societies) and our present Lunar Society in the New Year. Well worth attending if you get the chance.