Drama

May I add a personal word of warm thanks to Mr. Ellery and our admirable Chapel Monitor, Steven Foster, and those other staff and boys who helped to share an extra burden in the first half of Term owing to my unavoidable absence? And thank Mrs. Le Tocq for arranging for people to see to the Chapel Flowers?

Our thanks are also due to Mr. W. B. Cook, Head Master of Durham School and Canon David Galliford, who very kindly came to preach to us. N.H.K-W.

THE CRUCIBLE—by Arthur Miller

The play was given on November 19th, 20th and 21st at Queen Anne Grammar School, with a mixed cast of Queen Anne girls and St. Peter's boys.

The play and the cast were well chosen and the production had great vitality. Those falsely accused of witchcraft were passionate in their innocence and trust in God; equally convincing was the commitment to Satan of Abigail (Deborah Hawley) and her cover: the hysteria she generated and projected during the trial scene was a tour de force. As Tituba, Julia Wise, with rolling eye and darkened visage, was sly and dangerous.

Stephen Parker as John Proctor avoided the trap of portraying injured innocence, and showed us a vacillating man who became strong. Robert Carson as Giles Corey gave a sensitive portrayal of an obstinate old man with a kindly humour and spirit of steel.

The most difficult parts were those of the two clergymen, for both were faced with a dilemma of conscience. Both characters developed well from an uncertain start, and Timothy Young as the Revd. Hale became mighty in righteousness.

As Mary Warren, Janet Keighley convinced us of the power of fear over conscience, while Elizabeth Walker as Elizabeth Proctor was moving as a faded rose blooming again under martyrdom. Anthony Lawrence as Danforth, ranting and self-opinionated, certainly lived the part.

All the cast, every one, lived their parts all the time they were on stage, with expression and gesture, even when apart from the main action.

The Head Master of St. Peter's, and many others, have praised this as among the best school productions they have seen. Clearly the players, the producer and all concerned gave of their very best.

What an achievement!

QUEEN ANNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

17IC CRI1C72.te

by arthur miller.

ST. PETER'S SCHOOL.

CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE. The Revd. Parris : Christopher Brown. Betty Parris : Fiona Dodgson. Tituba Julia rise. Abigail Williams : Deborah Hawley. Susanna Walcott : Hazel Rudd. Ann Putnam : Adrienne Watson. Thomas Putnam : Neil Bowen, Mercy Lewis : Jacqueline Tate. Mary Warren : Janet Keighley. John Proctor : Stephen Parker. Rebecca Nurse : Laura McGillivray. Giles Corey : Robert Carson. The Revd. Hale : Timothy Young. Elizabeth Proctor : Elizabeth Walker. Francis Nurse : John Harrison. Ezekiel Cheover : Peter Crossley. Marshall Herrick : Graham Hunt. Judge Hathorre : Robin Walker. Deputy-Governor Danforth : Anthony Lawrence. Sarah Good : Barbara PUlleyn. the voice of Martha Corey : Jane McArthur.

Scene: Salem, Massachusetts.

/( 1

Time 1692.

Act I : A small upper bedroom in the house of The Revd. Parris. At II : The common room of Proctor's house, eight days later. Act III : The vestry of the Salem meeting house. Aot IV : A cell in Salem jail, that fall.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

Stage manager: Robin Butterfield. Assistants: Helena Barker, Caroline Hill, Carole Turner, Lesley Richardson. Set and costume design: Joan Scalway. Set construction: David Smith, Richard Bell, Charles Johnson, John Lucas. Wardrobe mistress: Joan Davidson, Assistants: Peggy Levitt, Monica Boynton. Lighting: Pat Molgate, Harry Everist. Publicity: Gillian Lange, Paul Nixon. Poster and programme design: Adrienne Watson. Business manager: Kay Barker. Prompt: Andrea Monroe.

Produoed by Carole Smith.

I would like to offer my sincere thanks to St. Peter's School for their co-operation and assistance, to Paul Nixon particularly for his invaluable help in all aspects of the production and to all those from Queen Anne School who have so generously given their talents and their time. C.S.

PEER GYNT

The familiarity of Grieg's music is a far cry from Ibsen's travelogue of alienation, this saga of the lonely will. The Odyssey, Faust and Sartre come to mind before the allusive message and episodic obscurity of the work. It was a difficult challenge for a school production, and one the cast largely succeeded in overcoming. The three stages of the hero's life found excellent expression in their various incarnations. The unsure, selfcentred, braggart adolescent shown at the beginning, when Peer's character is made most evident, was portrayed with vigour and conviction by Julian Les, whose clarity of diction gave us ample opportunity to appreciate, if not understand, the strange runes of Ibsen's poetry. In this first part the Queen Anne's contingent, led by June Inglis and Elizabeth Nock, provided a worthy complement to the cast.

Tim Morley's study of the cynical roué given a mad vision of the logical end to his philosophy was subtle and perhaps the most sympathetic view of the character. The sly old man, almost but not quite concealing his desire for human involvement, was Mark Hepworth, who showed us some good, straightforward acting.

Once Peer leaves his native village he encounters a host of odd personages, each of which gave some member or other of the cast a delightful occasion to throw himself into the role. Those which stand out most are Richard Hamilton-Williams's satanic Mountain King, the superb, inert depth of the Great Boyg, alias Richard Atkinson, Brian Macartney, the gloriously insane Dr. Begriffenfeldt and the quiet menace of Chris Beall as the Strange Passenger. But around these a swarm of lunatics and trolls disported themselves in a manner both unnervingly individual and overwhelmingly collective—a triumph of production.

A striking image left by the play was provided by Richard HamiltonWilliams and Gordon Mcllroy's set with David Fotheringham's lighting. Between them they achieved marvellous chromatic and spatial effects to arouse one's curiosity and admiration when the Scandinavian developments got too hard. Indeed in view of the technical inventiveness the School possesses one wonders what advantage is gained by adopting the fore-stage convention in preference to the proscenium. If the theatre is to be a means for the entertainment and enlightenment of an audience rather than an end in itself, then matters such as the choice of subject and the mobilisation of precious time, space and material must be kept severely in proportion.

All in all it is a tribute to the School's standard of acting and production that a play like "Peer Gynt" could be put on with such effectiveness and colour.

R.G.D.

CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

In Act 1 AASE, a peasant's widow PEER GYNT, her son, as a young man Two old women June Inglis Julian Les Carmen Ellis, Ann Hardcastle

ASLAK, a blacksmith Michael Bainbridge

Steward David Green

MADS MOEN His parents Girls at the wedding A man from Hedalen SOLVEIG t his daughters HELGA J John Pearson Graeme Perks, Lesley Moore Alison Letham, Sandra Pickering Richard Hornby Stella Godderidge Paula Read

A Woman in Green The King of the Dovre BOYG Elizabeth Nock Richard Hamilton-Williams Richard Atkinson

KARI, a crofter's wife

Shona Dodd An Urchin Ian Bartlett Wedding-guests Christopher Smith, Roger Dunk, Stephen Jeffrey, John Hudson, Andrew Beadnall, Neil Gray, Jonathan Littlefield, Richard McMahon.

Trolls John Bowen, Nigel Brindley, James Brockbank, Peter Brooker, Charles Drewery, Christopher Duckling, Graeme Gibson, Andrew Halstead, David Jowsey, Richard Keyes, Charles Knowlson, Kevin Mendham, Michael Harrison, Stephen Hawkswell, Gregory Pritchard, Peter Rhodes, Paul Spencer, John Wilson.

In Act II PEER GYNT as a prosperous middle-aged man Timothy Morley Mr. COTTON Richard McMahon EBERKOPF } Rich tourists M. BALLON { John Hudson Herr von t Andrew Beadnall Professor Begriffenfeldt, D. Phil Brian Macartney Keepers Christopher Monro, Stephen Jeffrey Fellah Roger Dunk HUSSEIN Charles Steadman Lunatics Peter Brooker, Charles Drewery, Graeme Gibson, James Brockbank, Michael Harrison, Stephen Hawks- well, Charles Knowlson.

In Act III PEER GYNT, as an old man Mark Hepworth

A Norwegian skipper Bosun Paul Scott Jonathan Littlefield

Steersman Watch Cook

Stephen Jeffrey Christopher Monro Neil Gray

A strange passenger Cabin-boy Auctioneer Youths Button Moulder Christopher Beall Paul Green Christopher Smith Ian Bartlett, Paul Green, David Green, John Kerr Gary Hodgson

A thin person Peter Rivers

and others we have met before

The action of the play spans about 50 years; it is set in the 19th century, partly in Gudbrandsdale and the Dovre mountains in Norway; partly on the coast of Morocco, near the Sphinx of Gizeh and in the lunatic asylum at Cairo; also at sea.