An Afternoon Out with Cruella de Vil
FIONA MCGARRY is taken out by her mother and lavishly entertained at Hastings’ Posh Club.
What is The Posh Club?
The poster for the current season in St John the Evangelist Church Hall describes it as “Ritzy Tea and Classy Cabaret in Uptown St Leonards”. It is indeed a very elegant and slightly risqué event for people over 60, held regularly in locations in London and the South East, including Hastings. As their website puts it, “Each event is styled as a tongue-in-cheek ‘posh’ 1940’s afternoon tea with three live show business turns, volunteer waiters in black tie, vintage crockery and an in-house pianist”. Hastings Posh Club features Dickie Eton (producer) Rachel Spinetti (hostess), and local musician Blair (pianist), as well as a glamourous group of volunteers.
Posh club Sister Suzie and Matt Jackson
CREDIT: Fiona McGarry
How did it start?
A few years ago, Annie Bowden organised a tea party for her mum, who was feeling lonely after moving down to Crawley from the more socially vibrant Hackney. It was such fun that Annie and her brother, Simon Casson, decided to hire and decorate the local church hall and invite all their more senior neighbours to a daytime soirée. They put on their glad rags, got some friends to be ‘posh waiters’ and dug out some old music. Simon is a producer at “post-queer performance and events collective” Duckie, so he booked some cabaret performers… and The Posh Club was born. The club subsequently expanded to Hackney, Elephant & Castle, Brighton and Hasting,s and holds regular events.
What happens?
My mum, now 90, first went to Hasting Posh Club in 2018 and wanted to go again, insisting that I go with her to experience it. It took a while to get tickets, not just because they are only £5 but, this summer, audiences are limited to 50 members instead of the usual 100.
The format is similar each time, basically lots of dressing up – the dress code is ‘very posh’. The hall was transformed by glitter balls, coloured lighting and gold chairs, and the audience and volunteers wore enough sequins to dazzle Elton John. My son told me I looked like Cruella de Vil on a night out, so I think I fitted in.
They put on their glad rags, got some friends to be ‘posh waiters’ and dug out some old music
The festivities began with some old-time piano and a slap up high tea: all kinds of sandwiches, scones and cakes were served by the Posh waiters. My mum was soon swapping wartime stories of being an evacuee while I found out about knee replacements. There were people who had retired here (Bexhill), people who had grown up here and one lady who spoke wistfully of meeting her future husband at school, just down the road.
And the Posh cabaret?
Rachel Spinetti, our hostess, took command of the stage to introduce the first act: drag artist, lip-sync extraordinaire and activist, Paris Grande, who set the scene perfectly. Paris glided and cavorted around the stage to Don’t rain on my parade, accompanied by the woops and cheers of the audience. It was easy to forget that this was lunchtime and not a late-night show.
The music ranged from 1940s to disco, Peggy Lee to the O’Jays. We were also treated to some great rock n’ roll and country songs from Sister Suzie and Matt Jackson. Suzie had broken her leg (apparently while trying to swat a fly) but she still looked beautiful in a kimono, with a flower in her hair.
CREDIT: Fiona McGarry
Finally, after the raffle and a glass of bubbly, Debbie Haze sang some uplifting favourites, including plenty of ABBA. My mum sprang to her feet to dance, as did nearly everyone else – including one man in red crocodile shoes.
What’s it all about?
Part of the Posh Club ethos is to facilitate interaction between older people and people of different ages. Co-organiser Simon Casson says, “It’s not the type of thing that capitalism encourages, but it’s our responsibility to create the crossover between the generations.” It’s also about having fun. Anne, one of the volunteers, said that, like me, she had originally come with her mother: “I enjoyed it so much, I came back as a volunteer.” My mum will certainly be back for more – if she can get a ticket.
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