The Stage

For eighteen years, up to his retirement in 1955, he guided the daily life of St. Olave's. During this time he had to cope with many difficulties occasioned by the war and its aftermath. The 1942 air raid he took as a challenge in the real sense, and the resultant confidence he thus engendered among the boys and staff was remarkable and invaluable. It was clear that nothing Hitler might do would disturb him or his charges!

As a teacher and schoolmaster, Wentworth Ping's undoubted success was due to the fact that he knew what he was trying to do. His robust faith in humanity, and especially in his boys, carried him along. He was able to appreciate and understand their difficulties, both in the classroom and in their general School life, and was ever conscious of his position "in loco parentis".

His strong sense of loyalty could better be described as fidelity, for he was truly faithful to all in which he believed. He was reluctant to speak ill of anyone, but always prepared to remonstrate with and if need be to punish, and it was abundantly clear that he was fair in all he did. The strong affections his Old Boys always retained for him provide ample proof of the uprightness and equity of his methods.

Wentworth Ping was an institution, and there are very many who, like myself, count themselves fortunate in having known him and shared his friendship. He will be remembered for generations and his influence will long endure. The keystone around which his life and work were built was the warmth of his abiding friendliness—surely a worthy epitaph. J.D.

Gottlieb Biedermann Babette, his wife Anna, their maid Schmitz Eisenning Policeman Widow Knechtling Doctor of Philosophy Chief Fireman

THE FIRE RAISERS (A morality without a moral) by MAX FRISCH

Firemen

Producer IAN LOWE

The Place — Europe The Time -- Today Stage Crew under the direction of Simon I'Anson Lighting: Richard Hind, Timothy Barker and others Make-up under the direction of Anne Hall 10

Christopher Smith Susan Dyde Sally Temple Simon Wallace Richard Harland James Brockbank Julia Binns Ian Bartlett Graeme Perks John Wilson David Potter Peter Brooker Richard Long Timothy Ward Christopher Duckling

As soon as we entered the Memorial Hall we knew that this was to be no ordinary play—instead of the traditional blankness of drawn velvet curtains there was the stage out front, and Christopher Smith, as Gottlieb Biedermann, complacently reading his evening paper as he sat by the table. The interest stimulated in this way was never allowed to falter once the play began. As the complacency of Biedermann and his detachment from the arson described in his evening paper was shattered by the intrusion into his home of Schmitz and Eisenning, so were we, the audience, compelled to sit up and take notice and think The skilful use of a Greek-style chorus led by Graeme Perks as the Chief Fireman accented the problems of Biedermann and his hand-wringing wife, Babette (Susan Dyde) and drew the audience into the tragedy which seemed to become inevitable once the Fire-raisers themselves were brought into our midst. The deceptive oafishness and bonhommie of Schmitz, the Fireraiser, played by Simon Wallace, drew some nervous laughs from the audience, but we knew there was no cause for mirth and when he was joined by his friend, the ex-waiter, Willie Eisenning (played by Richard Harland) quiet and sinister, we knew that the foolish Biedermann would be unable to extricate himself. The use of the big screen to remind us at intervals of past horrors, sinister lighting effects and the chanting of the chorus, all prepared us for the shattering end. It may have been as the programme said, "a morality without a moral", but we were certainly meant to go away with a message. What message did you take away? J.G.

H.M.S. PINAFORE

or The Lass that Loved a Sailor by W. S. GILBERT and ARTHUR SULLIVAN

Dramatis Personae

The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. (First Lord of the Admiralty) Captain Corcoran (commanding H.M.S. Pinafore) Ralph Rackstraw (Able Seaman) Dick Deadeye (Able Seaman) Bill Bobstay (Boatswain's Mate) Bob Beckett (Carpenter's Mate) Tom Tucker (Midshipmite) Sergeant of Marines Josephine (The Captain's Daughter) Hebe (Sir Joseph's First Cousin) Mrs. Cripps (Little Buttercup) (A Portsmouth Bumboat Woman) S. R. Dench

J. J. Beadle

G. D. Gumbrell D. C. Bretherton B. Creasy J. P. H. Harrison A. P. P. Gray J. B. Littlefield M. B. Anderson P. J. P. Smith S. M. Burn

C. T. Anelay E. J. Atha D. J. Barron J. P. Brown P. A. E. Challis K. G. Coulthard

Sailors R. G. Depledge T. S. Dresser D. R. Du Croz V. J. Feeney P. D. R. Gardiner D. H. Hamilton T. F. Hudson D. J. Hughes P. M. Nixon D. A, Shepherd R. G. J. Sherratt J. D. Spence

First Lord's Sisters, his Cousins and his Aunts R. M. Barron P. W. M. Crowley J. A. McGrath C. J. E. Bird D. J. Fawthrop M. A. Raheem R. N. Brindley P. G. Fender T. J. Raylor R. A. C. Bronk J. A. Johnson C. G. Rymer J. S. Campbell M. W. Johnston J. P. Wilson R. M. Craig M. P. Kerr I. P. Wiggle (All but four of these,"ladies" are supplied by the boys of St. Olave's,) Marine C. Duckling

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1st Violins C. G. Sandercock (leader) G. W. Stevens

2nd Violins L. Sandercock E. Oliver

Violas G. Stevens A. Wright Cellos S. T. Jordan I. Massey ORCHESTRA Double Bass G. Summers

Flute S. Brooke

Oboe R. M. Spencer

Clarinets F. Woolner M. T. H. Iveson

Horn J. Cundall

Trumpet W. Riley

Trombone N. P. Moxon

Percussion F. Reeve H. C. Gatiss H. Clough

Scene: Quarter-deck of H.M.S. Pinafore Act I Noon Act II Night

Set designed by and painted under the direction of J. N. Gaastra Constructed by M. Dawson Lighting: T. Barker and R. A. Hind Programme cover designed by J. C. Brown Make up: Mrs. Hall, assisted by Mrs. Du Croz, J. Littlefield, V. J. Feeney, B. Creasy, K. Dell, S. R. Dench, T. S. Dresser, D. C. Bretherton, J. D. Spence

Wardrobe Mistress: Miss N. Gypson We thank Mrs. Forbes Adam for lending us many of the costumes and the Combined Cadet Force for uniforms and other items; and Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Craven, Mrs. Dench, Mrs. Field, Mrs. Gardiner, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Jordan, Mrs. Nix, Mrs. Nixon, Mrs. Rayson, Mrs. Sandercock, Mrs. Le Tocq and Mrs. Wise for their help with clothes and dressing. We are also grateful to Mr. Sandercock and Mrs. Jordan for their musical assistance.

Stage Manager S. G. I'Anson Director of Music K. R. Pemberton Producer C. E. Field Repetiteur L. Sandercock

I hate knocking, but I won't flatter, so, thank Heavens, it was a success. The "crew", the audience, the orchestra (I haven't heard a better at St. Peter's), they all enjoyed themselves.

The Chorus numbers went with a zing, the Sailors particularly giving out a good lungful of sea air. I noticed a group of my colleagues serving well before the mast—volunteers, not pressed men—and I heard them too !

The acting was remarkably good for a musical. Simon Dench and Jeremy Beadle particularly caught the mood, while David Bretherton was a masterpiece of casting, what an agitator, a Shop Steward for any Union!

I have one little moan : I didn't think the soloists made the best of quite good voices; they didn't sing out at us.

I had a good chuckle at the Midshipmite, his topper as big as himself, and at Little Buttercup (Little!), carpet-slippers and all.

The Set, Quarter-Deck of H.M.S. Pinafore, was as ship-shape as any First Lord could wish.

It was the zest of Edmund Field's production and Keith Pemberton's music which made it so enjoyable. At last the whole cast full of confidence and end-of-term spirit (I went on the last night) exploded into triumphant last Chorus and Encore.

I don't expect it ended there, Backstage.

J.P.R.

ALADDIN

Presented by The Rise (Extract from the article by John Neale in The Risite, by courtesy of it Editor): `The panto got off to an excellent start with Charles Baggs, dressed (as usual) as a little girl, introducing the play.

The actual pantomime itself was a huge success, the acting atrocious, the entertainment first class. Outstanding in the roles were Pete Finegan as Aladdin, who ad-lib'd quite freely, Mike Ellison as Widow Twankey (the "K" pronounced "J"), Mike Pyrah as the baddy, Mart Poynor, who by now had learnt his lines, and, in my opinion the best, "the girl with no clothes on"—Jane Howell as the Genie. Sara Daniels, Fiona Marsden, and Fiona Beacon were well cast as girls and their acting was good too.'

THE MANOR HOUSE PLAY

While watchinr., a long and rather trivial play being performed by young and relatively inexperienced actors, the aspiring reviewer should have plenty of time to compose patronising comments on the social value of House Plays. Logically, The Manor's performance of "Big . . . Bad .. . Mouse" should have been just such an occasion, and yet Steven BruceJones's production not only held the audience's attention throughout but culled some very fine performances from his cast. Much of the credit must go to Simon Dench who, from the moment he appeared as the bullying and bombastic Mr. Price-Hargreaves, dominated the stage and dispelled the early mood of hesitancy with his confidence. To his Hardy, Marcus Haw's windy and witless Mr. Bloome played an admirable Laurel, and these two formed a comic duo that rose above the feebleness of the script. There were faults of course—inaudibility, overplaying to the audience, the odd muffed line—but the producer's inventiveness, the welldesigned set by David Livingston, and the splendid support of the rest of the cast, Edward Storey, Michael Christelow, Christopher Harland, Richard Collingwood-Gittins, and Andrew Gray, and led by Barry Creasy's fine character acting, were more than adequate compensation. Undoubtedly House Plays do have a great social value—this one had the merit of being thoroughly enjoyable as well.