TODAY THE STRUGGLE An anthology of art and literature inspired by the Spanish Civil War, 1936-9, and presented by members of the Middle Sixth. "None of us are actors," claimed the Headmaster at the start of this dramatic recreation of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of its painters and writers—and at first this seemed unfortunately to be all too true. The cast were grouped on stage in embarrassed informality, the early readings were hesitant and inaudible, the acting no more than a visual illustration of the text, and it appeared the evening would merely prove that theatrical spontaneity is an illusion only to be successfully sustained through very careful rehearsal. Gradually though the cast began to forget about the audience and became involved in the literature —being rather than simply portraying, forging coherence where before had been unrelated action. At the climax of the reading from Auden's "Spain 1937" all simultaneously raised their arms in one dramatic symbol of solidarity. The performers, like the people they were portraying, had become united in a common cause. After the interval the performance, again mirroring the action, became more disjointed, losing at times both pace and continuity. As the resistance to Franco broke down, so the cast lost its group identity, though isolated moments, like the shooting of the prisoners and the individual's reaction to confinement, were very effective. Technically superb, with particularly impressive lighting effects, the performance was at its best where it appeared most carefully rehearsed and where the cast worked closely together. The final moments echoed the opening in that the whole group huddled on stage, yet the difference summed up the achievement of the evening. No longer embarrassed but rather with the sombre experience of having endured the struggle, the cast combined the dejection of defeat with the spirit of survival in the haunting rendering of their earlier triumph song. By the end the Headmaster's opening words appeared not merely irrelevant but palpably untrue. I.M.K.I.
C.C.F. NOTES An important change in CCF policy started in September when firstyear boys seeking the Duke of Edinburgh Award were able to enter the CCF for a preliminary year, with the options, at the end of the year, of entering one of the three Service Sections of the CCF or of leaving to continue their Award training quite independently. It was agreed that a first-year boy wishing to attend a Service camp or course should only do so when he and his parents had accepted his undertaking to remain in the CCF after the preliminary year. Many first-year boys have now "signed on" for full CCF service, but they will continue the broader Duke of Edinburgh Award training until the end of the school year. This arrangement seems to make the best use of two organisations in the school; organisations of equal value for boys to take part in, but having a different emphasis in their methods. Thus the first-year boy whose wish is to pursue the Duke of Edinburgh Award without any 12
