To contact the site email Dave davmckenz@aol.com or Sheila sheilan@bethere.co.uk . Material has been received from Harry Parker (HGS 1936-40). Photos have been received from Mr. Parkinson (HGS Staff member 1960-67). These include an unknown Third Form 1960-61. Could you please let us know the name of the Form? Letters written by Major Jenkinson to pupils and staff of the first school at which he was Headmaster are now on the site's School History Section. If you have a Prefects photo for 1955-56 or 1959-60 could you please let the site have a copy? Thank you.

House Dramatics 1960s

1960

The play chosen for this year's competition was "Joan the Maid" by Herman Ould, a dramatic representation of an episode in the life of Joan of Arc. The story underlines the humanity and personal influence of Joan, and the author achieves a moving climax in the final scene when the die-hard Burgundian, Henri, is converted to her cause and becomes a devoted follower of Joan. Henri realises that the exhausted figure in battle garb with whom he has been arguing heatedly about the notorious "Witch of the Armagnacs", is the wounded Joan herself who, as she limps off the stage supported by a soldier, leaves a dazed, but now humble, Henri following in her footsteps. We were certainly very fortunate in having Mr. Male from Bretton Hall as our adjudicator. His assessment of the productions was full of wit and insight into the problems of stage work. He also showed an excellent understanding of the difficulties facing young, inexperienced producers with young casts. His comments were rewarding and, I am sure, both players and audiences learnt much about movement and gesture on the stage. Holgate House won a well-deserved victory with a high score of 73 points, followed by Price (60), Guest (57) and Talbot (44). G.H.L.

1961

The play chosen for this year's competition was "Thor's Hammer". Briefly the story deals with the theft of a mighty hammer from Thor, the god of thunder, who, without it is rendered powerless. Aided by Loki, the god of fire, Thor dons the robes of a maiden and goes to marry Thrym. Thrym, now in possession of the hammer, gives it to his betrothed as a wedding gift. Immediately Thor reveals his true identity and the play ends in a mass slaughter. Such a mythical adventure lends itself to variety in interpretation, and despite the short rehearsal period all four producers must be congratulated on their originality. Realising the difficulties of producing the play as a drama, Kaye created a farce for Talbot House. The result delighted the audience and the adjudicator's decision to place Talbot first was very popular. Doreen Tyrrell, however, for Guest House produced the play in the style of classical drama. Although this interpretation was a little advanced for the youthful actors, the attempt was creditable. Price House, produced by Vamplew, entertaining on the whole, lacked imagination in interpretation. Dickens' production for Holgate, although bright in presentation, had not the vitality of the other houses, but the quality was much better than the marks suggest. The adjudicator was Mr. T.E. Tyler, the Drama Adviser for the West Riding. His placings were:- 1. Talbot---86% 2. Guest----81% 3. Price----79% 4. Holgate----62%

1962

This year the competition was presented in a new way. There was a choice of four plays and although there was no compulsion, each House chose a different play. Keith Twigg (Holgate) preferred the comedy 'Aunt Maria's Wireless'; Teresa Cosgrove (Guest) chose the light comedy, 'The King Who Limped'; Gillian Wass(Price) and Terence Donohue (Talbot) chose 'The Golden Doom' and 'The Pathfinder' respectively. The experiment was wholly successful. Mr. Dornford-May, the director of the South Yorkshire Theatre for Youth adjudicated. We are grateful to him for the very helpful advice he gave us in his criticism of our efforts. Our thanks go also to Mr. Kennedy for varying the form of the competition and for his advice during rehearsals. The results were as follows:- 1. Guest----81% 2. Holgate-----79% 3. Talbot-----69% 4. Price-----68%

1963

Once again each House chose a different play for this year's competition, and the standard shown maintained, and even enhanced the high reputation for drama of which the School is so proud. Such was the opinion of Mr. Male of Bretton Hall Training College, the adjudicator. The individual marks gained were higher than those awarded by him on his previous visit. The result was: Talbot 'The Dear Departed' 81 marks Price 'The Fortieth Man' 75 marks Holgate 'The Golden Mean' 70 marks Guest 'Wurzel Flummery' 56 marks Talbot House, Producer Nova Websdale, was supreme, and everyone concerned in this production deserves our congratulations. Particular praise should be given to Carol Fletcher who, in her first year in the school, gave an excellent performance. Second place went to Price House, Producer R. Dallywater, with particular praise due to Pickering and Smith. Mr. Male was specially impressed by the choice of play here. Holgate House were praised for their costumes, and the Producer, A. Cole was congratulated on another good performance. Newitt's technical achievement in producing a realistic radio commentary was especially entertaining. Guest House, Producer G. Vyse, chose a difficult play, and although they were placed fourth Mr. Male praised individual performances, particularly those of Gornall and Helen Evans. The Competition once again proved to be one of the most enjoyable and successful functions of the School year. Vyse, J. G., U6A

1964

The producers this year were given a free hand in their choice of play and this resulted in a varied afternoon of straight acting and comedy. The main trend, however, was towards comedies and these took the first three places. The result was: Price House: "QUEER STREET" 62% Holgate House: "THE MAN IN THE BOWLER HAT" 56% Talbot House: "A DISTANT RELATIVE" 55% Guest House: "MICHAEL" 51% Price House, producer Margaret Wigham, took a deserved first place after a prolonged preparation. This play delighted the audience with some fine acting in the comic scenes. Holgate House, producer G. Thompson, were unlucky to come second as this play too was very funny and was well performed, Jordan being outstanding. Talbot House, producer Christine Kelly, supreme for the previous three years, took third place with the final comedy amongst the cast of which S. Smith and C. Fletcher deserved special mention. Last came Guest House with quite a good interpretation of a difficult play, and here L. Hall was outstanding. The adjudicator expressed his approval and said that all those concerned had managed to uphold the School's high reputation in dramatic circles. Certainly this had again proved an extremely enjoyable and successful school function. Moody, S. J. L6S Orange, P. D. L6S

1965

This year, as in previous years, each House presented a play of its own choice. G. Hanson (Holgate) preferred a rather unusual play - ''And So It Goes On"; M. Dearden (Price) chose the thriller "The Monkey's Paw"; M. Caldwell and A. Johnson of Talbot and Guest chose "The Grand Cham's Diamond" and "The Crock, The Cock and the Candle" respectively. Holgate House was supreme and everyone concerned in this original production deserves congratulation. The play in itself was very different in costume and setting from the other three and was very well presented. Second place went to Talbot who were very fortunate in having several experienced actors to choose from. The performance was very smooth and practised, an indication of the work and time put into the production. Price House came third and chose a play which was rather beyond their actors' capabilities, but in spite of this they did a very good job and deserve praise for their performance. Although Guest House was placed fourth, this does not mean that the production was of low standard. The drawback to this play was that it tended to drag a little in places. As a whole, however, the play was enjoyable and entertaining. We extend our thanks to the adjudicator, Mr. E. L. Eyre for the helpful advice he gave us in his criticism of our efforts. Holgate 89% Talbot 82% Price 73% Guest 68% Susan Ash

1966

Photo of the winning House (Guest) is from the School Magazine 1966 Back Row L-R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Middle Row L-R: 1, 2, 3 Front Row L-R: 1, 2 Despite the effect of the outbreak of influenza the House Dramatic competition was staged as planned and the usual high standard of acting and production was maintained. The trend was towards comedy. A. Hamilton (Price) and L. Morrell (Holgate) chose the comedies "The Bloaters" and "The Mechanical Man" respectively. T. Gardner (Talbot) staged a most unusual interpretation of "Who are Great?". A straight play almost completely re-written into a farce. The only serious play was chosen by Guest producer L. Hall, "Hereward the Wake." Guest, despite muttered opposition from the body of the hall, were awarded first place. Praise is due especially to James who gave a first class performance, although he was called in only a few hours before the performance. Second place went to Price, who presented a smooth and entertaining play, marred only by an unimaginative setting and a tendency not to wait for the audience's laughter to subside. Stevens and Channer captured their parts admirably, but the play's success was due mainly to the proficiency of the cast as a whole. Holgate producer L. Morrell chose a play which could be centred around Jordan, the only experienced actor available. As a result the play was only partially successful as Jordan, although an excellent "mechanical man", did not give a good interpretation of the Hon.Percy. G. Elsworth and J. McAlpine deserve credit for their performance as Percy's nieces. Although placed fourth, Talbot were by no means disgraced by their play. The choice of play was unfortunate because it gave little scope for good acting from such a youthful cast. Positions- 1st - Guest - 83% 2nd - Price - 79% 3rd - Holgate - 66% 4th - Talbot - 62% We extend our thanks and appreciation to the adjudicator Mr. G. Phillips-Harris, who gave an instructive and helpful comment about each play. Moxon, R.H., Upson, G.M. L6A

1967

Once again the choice was three to one in favour of comedy, Guest being the only house to choose a serious play. It does not then seem surprising that Guest were awarded first place for their production of "Decline and Fall". Firth, as producer, together with his actors interpreted this play intelligently and were declared winners because of their team-work and effective staging rather than on grounds of individual talent. Second place went to Price for their production of "Cream of Tartar". The small cast showed a real feeling for comedy and provided the audience with excellent entertainment. Talbot's choice of a comedy-thriller was entertaining on the whole, but it was rather slow in parts. Even so, individual talent always provided interest in their production of "What Happened to Henry". The humour in Holgate's play, "The Crimson Coconut ", was slow. The cast played their individual parts well enough but did not blend their skills sufficiently well to make a real impact. The marks awarded by the adjudicator, Mr. Hodgson, were as follows: 1. Guest 68% 2. Price 60% 3. Talbot 52% 4. Holgate 48% Basford, J. (Danes 3)

1968

Back Row L-R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 Front Row L-R: 1, 2, 3, 4 The House Dramatics competition this year proved to be quite original. The idea was suggested by Mr. Walsh that the usual set play should be abandoned and that each house should improvise their own play along a certain theme. Though the idea was very new and the Producers were a little dubious as to its success, the scheme was adopted, with the idea of transport being the selected theme. The plays were performed in front of Mr. Manchester of the South Yorkshire Youth Theatre, who kindly consented to act as adjudicator. The winning House was Talbot who adopted the story of a stolen car as its play. The producer, Carol Cavanagh, despite a late start with rehearsals, presented a very entertaining play which received 83 marks. Price House gave us an insight into the work within the Ministry of Transport. The producer was W. Dyson. Christine Lee was excellent as Barbara Castle, and Saddler played the harassed secretary to perfection. The actors' improvised dialogue was extremely amusing and earned for Price second place with 80 marks. Holgate and Guest tied for third place with 70 marks. Holgate chose the story of the Hare and the Tortoise for its play, with rather a different ending than the original tale had, It was produced by Dennis Jordan. Guest's choice was "The Runaway Train", produced by Rosalind Poole. In this play the outstanding actor was Curran, who showed the makings of an extremely fine character actor in his talented portrayal of a workman. Mr. Manchester said that all the plays were very well done and the acting was of quite a high standard. The producers extend their thanks to Mr. Walsh for his encouragement which never flagged even in the face of their doubts.