2026 - Seven Seasons in a Year

2026 would usher in a new era for us at Multi-Act Historical Portrayals. The weather would sometimes be a pain in the neck (sometimes even causing us to change plans part way through a booking), but we carried on regardless - there would be so much changability in the weather it felt like we had seven seasons in the space of the year. We would go from strength to strength, with us hitting our 1000th virtual booking at the end of January with us reaching our 2000th virtual booking on 4th September, meaning that we had to that point done an average of 128 virtual bookings for every year that we have been operating (works out to roughly one virtual booking for every 1.5 days that we have been operating) - an astonishing number which we could only have dreamed of when we first started just over four years previous on 4th July 2020 - this equates to one virtual booking every 1.12 days, an unheard of achievement. Discussions were had with some well-known establishments and museums both in the UK and overseas regarding the possibility of having displays or bringing experiences to life, bringing greater joy to those who go around and see what is on.

In January, we welcomed our first full-time member of staff, who has been hard at work helping us back-of-house in organising bookings and in selecting new portrayals to be completed. Work has started on three new and exciting portrayals, which include a little known unit called the Raiding Support Regiment and another Commando portrayal - this time, it would be an officer from 1st (King George's Own) Gurkha Rifles.

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We launched our pop-up shop in late February, with a lot of help from and the overall service provided by SumUp.

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As an echo to a previous year, we decided to take part in one of the Ultra Challenge series events, namely the South West Coast 50 - a 52km route featuring two of the more challenging hills in Somerset: North Hill in Minehead and Porlock Hill - reputedly the steepest hill in the country at a gradient of 1:3.3. Using the lessons from our last event participation, we decided that we would use the No3 Commando portrayal with what was only our second outing of our 1942 Pattern Battle Jerkin - giving an immense weight saving compared to the metal frame 1942 pattern Bergan we used during the London2Brighton. Given the steepness of the hills on the route, we knew that this was a challenge that commanded respect. Having set off from Dunster Castle at 8:30, we had reached the half-way point in 05:05:42, well within the target. In spite of our best efforts, we had to be medically withdrawn after conquering 32km of the 52km route following a fall on the climb towards Dunkery Beackon from Porlock.

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2026 would see the debut of two new portrayals - a Provost Sergeant from 4 (Escort) Provost Detachment, 164 (Escort) Provost Company, Vulnerable Point Wing; and a Major of 1st Special Boat Squadron. The West Somerset Railway's Forties Weekend would see us once again "flying in" with our Fleet Air Arm portrayal on the Saturday. We were intending to attend the Platform Dance on the Saturday evening, but we had to unfortunately withdraw from this due to other commitments. The Sunday would see us our unveiling of our Escort Provost portrayal, which not only brought in a large amount of interest, but also ensured that the troops were kept in line. On our arrival at Watchet from the first train of the day, we provided an un-scripted finale to the remembrance service that takes place every year at the War Memorial next to Watchet Harbour. We were very happy to once again meet up with two of our contacts that we first met last year in the form of Boots On The Ground Living History Group as well as Dottie and Biscuit. We also increased our network when we were introduced to Laura Fox and Pamela Newton from Rabbit Pie History.

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In what is uncharted territory for us at Multi-Act Historical Portrayals, we became the sponsor for an up and coming talent in the circus world - the Phantom Archer. In the years to come, it is hoped that we will be able to help and support them as they break out and perform to crowds for the first time.