Bradfield '73

younger school teams. Unfortunately they were under strength and played below their usual standard and were beaten convincingly by Rise. There were individual successes for cricketers of the House: J. C. Rounthwaite was awarded his 1st XI colours and D. I. Riley was selected to play for he 1st XI at the end of the term. (

On the river this term Temple provided several rowers for school rews. A. R. Hornby rowed for the 1st VIII and 2nd IV throughout the term and won a tankard with the latter crew at York Summer

Regatta after being beaten finalists on two previous occasions. M. J. F.

Davidson rowed for the 3rd IV at York and Bradford and P. M.

Shepherd was a member of the 2nd VIII. J. M. Newdick and R. M.

Coates-Walker rowed for Colts crews, the former at the National Schools

Regatta. Many members of the 5th and 4th forms rowed this term and the large number promises well for the future. Some Junior Colts rowed in Schools Invitation regattas with some successes. A. R. Hornby was awarded his 1st VIII colours and M. J. F. Davidson and J. M. Newdick 2nd VIII and Colts VIII colours respectively. The Junior House IV :

C. G. A. Morcom, P. A. Newdick, T. C. Moore and I. A. Nichols with

C. A. F. Brown coxing beat Dronfield in their first race even though

P. A. Newdick parted from his seat half way through the race. In the semi-final they won a close race against the strong Queen's crew and in the final beat the favourites School House convincingly to win the Junior

House IVs cup.

Some members of the House took part in less well publicised sports; for instance C. G. A. Morcom won the York Canoe Club's Still Water

Slalom and C. J. Hirst continued his orienteering this term and won a gold award.

Academic standards throughout the term were high as confirmed by the Prizegiving at which Temple collected over 25% of the prizes: a fitting end to a term of hard work by the House. 1 We say goodbye to the majority of M VI and C. A. Hodge, to whom e extend our best wishes for the future. M.J.F.D. BRADFIELD '73 "THE BACCHAE" by EURIPIDES

At 7-0 a.m. on 7th June, six members of the School, Mr. Croft and the Head Master set out from St. Peter's in the brand new minibus.

On the outskirts of the city we picked up two others, making the full complement of males. At Wakefield we made contact with the five other members of the party, four girls and their teacher.

As we sped along, the sun rose in the sky, for which we were very grateful. At Brackley we were allowed to stretch our legs, and some of us were refreshed. Then we re-embarked to complete the journey.

At about one o'clock we stopped for lunch in surroundings which were pastoral rather than bosky. As we sat by the river and ate, we made the acquaintance of a family of swans who willingly accepted all our unwanted food. Perhaps these swans were descendants of those which 47

Marcel Proust met during his stay by the River Wye and which prompted his famous book, "Swan's Wye".

Cucumber sandwiches, confectionery and resinated wine devoured, we started on the final hour of the journey which took us to Bradfield. We arrived in good time for the play.

The play was performed in the open and entirely in Greek. The play tells of the god Dionysus's revenge on the Theban house of Cadmus. Dionysus, son of Zeus and Semele, was not honoured in his mother's native Thebes. Having founded his Bacchic religion in the East, Dionysus began to spread his cult through Greece; when the Thebans refused to acknowledge his deity, Dionysus drove the women of the city mad, including Agave, mother of Pentheus, and Ino, her sister. Pentheus, the King of Thebes, was determined to stamp out the Bacchic cult.

At the beginning of the play Dionysus arrives at Thebes and tells of what he has done so far. He tells of his plan to disguise himself as an Eastern priest of the Dionysus cult.

Cadmus, founder of the Cadmaean line, and Teiresias, the prophet, announce their intention of going to the Bacchic rites. Pentheus arrives on stage, and, having denounced the Bacchic cult as an abomination, orders the two old men not to go. They defy him and leave. The disguised Dionysus is brought, captive, before Pentheus, and he attempts to make Pentheus see the error of his ways, but Pentheus orders that Dionysus should be imprisoned. A messenger tells Pentheus of the rites taking place on the mountain-side and then Dionysus engineers his escape. He attempts to make Pentheus see reason, but, having failed, he decides to take revenge on Pentheus. He plays on Pentheus's craving to witness the rites, and, infecting his brain, persuades him to dress as a woman in order to watch the rites. This done, Pentheus is led out of the city in a daze.

A horrified messenger tells the Chorus of what has happened to Dionysus, having taken him up to the mountain, made Pentheus appear to be a lion to the Bacchants, and led by his own mother, Agave, they tore him to pieces.

Cadmus enters with the headless body of Pentheus, lamenting. Agave enters brandishing the head, still thinking it is that of a lion. Slowly, Cadmus makes her realise what she is carrying, and they both lament.

Dionysus, in his true identity, appears on top of the palace and dispenses his justice. Cadmus and his wife must leave Thebes, and when they die they will be turned into serpents. Thebes itself will be overrun by barbarians, and all the women, including Agave, will be led into captivity. The play ends with the almost banal words of the Chorus that gods never behave as you might expect them to do.

The main faults of the production lay in the Choric interludes. The voices of the Chorus were not always audible, often being drowned by the music. Both the movements of the Chorus and the music were too slow and stately, and were not sufficiently suggestive of Bacchic frenzy; also the music was uncertain as to whether it owed its allegiance to Vaughan Williams or jazz.

The actor portraying Pentheus could have been more aware that he was playing a king rather than just any young man. The parts of the two messengers offered many opportunities for acting, and these were seized upon by the actors, especially the second of the two. Despite the reservations mentioned above, the play made a profound impression. , . 1 i 48