Romanoff & Juliet...cont'd
|
 |
| Aoove: The General (G S Shaw) with his soldiers (Alan Bowen and Peter Lewis and their infamous “Bloody Rifles” |
GS Shaw as the General |
The costumes were a complete mixture – from beautiful long dresses for the American girls, to the dark, austere clothes of the Russians. Then there was the military glitz of the General, the resplendent Archbishop and the 2 soldiers in their ‘day clothes’ like a pair of ragamuffins. When that lot was ordered Fox and Partners, who always supplied the costumes for school plays, they must have wondered what on earth we were doing. |
|
|
Some of the American contingent. Hooper, American Ambassador (Roger Horgan) Juliet the Ambassador’s daughter (Jane Evans) Beulah, Juliet’s Mam (Marilyn Saunders) |
|
Some of the Russian contingent. Igor the Ambassador’s son (Terry Richards) Spy (Roger MacCallum) Vadim, Russian Ambassador (John Lewis) Evdokia, Igor’s Mam (Patricia Thomas) |
 |
Left: The Archbishop (Charles James) being transformed by the dextrous fingers of Julian Jones Right:Juliet (Jane Evans) described in the local ‘Telegraph’ as “an extremely attractive damsel reclining on a bed” ‐ to the subsequent outrage of the Free Church Council |
| It’s a good job we had a dress rehearsal. If we had been confronted with Charlie James in full Archbishop’s Regalia complete with long grey beard on the first night, the rest of us would have got the giggles for sure. The dress rehearsal went well and this was one of the occasions when Mr Islwyn Griffiths took a set of colour slides of the play. The dress rehearsal made me realise as well that to put on a play successfully required an army of helpers backstage. The set, the makeup, costumes, lighting and prompting, The people who did this were as important as the people on stage . A lot of people – both staff and pupils gave up a lot of their own free time to make these plays a success. |
 |
 |
Click on either for a larger image of an otiginal programme and ticket |
|
|
|
| Continue next column top right... |
|
|
| Continued from column bottom left |
Anybody who says they were not nervous on stage on the first night of a play, must be devoid of a central nervous system. I was terrified that it would all go wrong and I’d forget my lines and go to pieces. Fortunately that didn’t happen, no one forgot their lines and the play had been well rehearsed. One thing that surprised me, never having been on stage before, was that from on the stage, regardless of the lighting, you could see people in the audience – and hear what they were saying. The play seemed to go down well with the audience, lots of laughter and lots of applause.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Click on the images above for
larger versions
with captions of dress rehearsal scenes!
|
|
The following day, there was a report in the local paper about the play. It was written by the late Vernon Scott –that finest of local reporters and authors of the day. I think he was writing for the “Guardian” at the time. Vernon obviously enjoyed the play, here are some extracts from his report: |
|
EVERY MINUTE ENJOYABLE
|
| “I attended the opening performance on Tuesday and like the rest of the large audience, enjoyed every minute of it.”
“Superbly produced by Stuart Shaw - who also gives a memorable performance as the The Spy is ordained as a kneeling Friar. L– R: Alan Bowen, Charlie James, Roger MacCallum, Peter Lewis, G S Shaw. General, a philosophical peacemaker and matchmaker - the play offers considerable acting scope and the talented and youthful cast respond with refreshing gusto.”
“Romanoff and Juliet” reflects great credit on those who by thought and effort, endeavour to put the school on a high dramatic pedestal. It is a tremendous success and I advise all parents and friends to see the two remaining performances. They will find the visit well worthwhile.” |
This was music to our ears and ensured we had full audiences for the remaining nights. The only down side of Vernon’s report from my point of view was that he reported some personal comments made about me by members of the audience. I was so embarrassed I told my mother “I’m not going back to school this afternoon Mam, I can’t face it.” And I didn’t. (How I wish I had reminded Vernon of this later in life, when I got to know him well. The pair of us would have got the giggles all over again.
Then, events took a different turn. The local “Telegraph” reporter, who remained anonymous,
saw the play in an entirely different light. Here are some comments from his review
of the play: |
Strong Words, And Plenty
Of Cuddling!
|
“Comment from one schoolboy programme seller at the entrance to Bush Grammar School last week: “If you like the Lady Chatterley story you’ll really lap this up.” Possible explanation for this view was the abundance of kissing and cuddling and the protracted appearance of an extremely attractive young damsel reclining on a bed even when she had no part in the act.”
“…..one schoolboy soldier posed the question: “Where’s my bloody rifle?” Subsequently the “damns” and “hells” became an accepted figure of speech by almost everyone.”
“The play may not have been everyone’s idea of good choice. It was certainly not flawless by any yardstick. But the cast generally deserve praise for wholehearted effort.” |
We weren’t too pleased with this report on the play but had no idea what was to follow, as reported in the local “Telegraph”: |
Churches Condemn that
‘Naughty’ School
Play
|
NEARLY forty representatives attending Friday’s meeting of the Pembroke Borough Free Church Council at Wesley Chapel Pembroke Dock unanimously condemned the recent Pembroke Grammar School play “Romanoff and Juliet” as an unsuitable presentation. Members were so appalled and perturbed that a letter of protest has been sent to the Grammar School Headmaster (Mr. T. C. Roberts) and the Board of Governors. ……
[it]reads as follows: “It was with feelings of great regret that we read a report in last week’s ‘Western Telegraph’ of the impression made by the latest production staged by the pupils of Bush Grammar School, and we would like to put on record how perturbed and appalled we were, as members of the Free Church Council to understand that such an unsuitable play could be produced and staged in your school, and presented by children to children, in Pembroke. “
In these days, when so much is said and written about immorality among teen-agers, we feel compelled to register our protest against the production of this play, and ask you to bear in mind the concern of the Council when choosing plays for the future.” The Headmaster declined to make any comment on the matter. |
Click to continue Romanoff & Juliet
|
|
| Back To Memories Home
|
|
|
|
© 2009-2011 ThePenvro.com - General Copyright Notice: Unless indicated to the contrary, all materials on this site including design, text, graphics, photographs and images are the copyright of ThePenvro.com and are not available for commercial use. All other images and/or photographs appearing on this site are the property of their respective owners, as indicated.
Where copyright for photographs on this site is known, it is indicated. There are other examples where attempts to locate the copyright holders have failed. Wherever the original photographer or company is known they are attributed. However, in some cases, there is no indication of who took the original photo or where the copyright, if any, may reside. If anyone viewing the site can provide such information, the wishes of the copyright holder will be respected. Please contact:info@thepenvro.com
|
