Ellee Seymour

One of my favourite annual excursions is with my Shakespeare buddy son David when we visit The Globe Theatre and today we are going there to see Othello.

I love the wit of Shakespeare and his clever play on words and have yet to see an RSC production I have not enjoyed. I’m sure today will be no exception.

Performers at The Globe bring Shakespeare alive, with minstrels playing in the gallery as you arrive and a bearded man hilariously taking on a female role. I always find it a thrilling experience.

A couple of years ago I bumped into an old friend I had not seen for ages who was leaving the theatre the same as us, he had been standing in the pits (I prefer the wooden benches in the balcony). When I looked at my photos afterwards, sure enough, there he was, but I doubt I would have spotted him otherwise. Last year, a member of the audience fainted due to the unbearable heat while standing for the performance.

I wonder if Shakespeare is really hard for kids to fully appreciate, I enjoy it much more now than as a teenager. But David seems to follow it ok, and says he he will come along with me to anything with me - except opera.

But then I have taken him to countless football matches, so it’s a fair exchange.

In memory of those who are still missing.This is a local case for me, I remember reading about the mysterious disappearance of Debbie Steel, who ran a pub in Ely, Cambridgeshire with her former partner Brian McDermott. She vanished in December 1997 aged 37.

I remember police digging up the immediate area and scouring the neighbourhood. They also checked CCTV in Ely and on the London underground in case she had gone to visit family there. Nothing has ever been heard since she vanished, though one man reported a possible sighting of her at Ely railway station.

Brian still thinks of Debbie and wonders what happened to her:

“I’m reminded of Debbie constantly and still wonder what happened and why she went missing. It’s a limbo. I don’t know if she’s alive, but I do hope she is.

“I try to make sense of her disappearance, but we’re still looking for an answer. People ask about her and her dad visits from time to time and we talk, but none of us can come up with an answer.

“We’d just like to know what happened now.”

In memory of those who are still missing.