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.

School Plays 1955-59

1955 Twelfth Night

The school presented, last December 1955, "Twelfth Night", one of Shakespeare's most delightful and mature comedies; and, in every sense, this was a SCHOOL production. The cast of twenty-five included Sixth-Formers, like Anne Wood and Garbett; brand new first formers, like the charming, efficient pages, Pat Lockett and Doreen Tyrell; and an array of other talents from all the intervening years, - talents found and proved in the school's own training ground, the annual Dramatic Competition. This is not the place to summarise the well-known plot. But the essence of "Twelfth Night" is in the combination of skilful, sophisticated romance and boisterous fun. The school production brought out both the blend and the individual charm of each aspect. Eileen Hirst, as Olivia, and Holdcroft, T., as Orsino, maintained, with well-spoken verse and grave air, the sophistication; Anne Wood, as Viola, unwound her own emotions and the general plot, with feeling; Kathleen Cooper nicely modulated her part as Viola's twin, Sebastian; while Snookes, as Sir Toby, and his belching crew, Deeley, as Sir Andrew, and Vickers, as Fabian, cavorted and laughed with that spontaneity which only comes from carefully-planned movement and timed articulation. The mischievous Maria was played, with amazing assurance, by Shirley Challender; and in their highly individual and very exacting roles, Riggott, J. excelled as the superior Malvolio, and Foster, A., as the ready Fool. Disciplined production with skilful lighting and a careful music-pattern, made full use of each area in the permanent set, the set in itself deceptively simple. The audience saw clearly the sequence of events and all the time had a variety of setting and location. We record our appreciation of the efforts of the entire cast, all of whom - Lords, Ladies, Captains, Officers, Priest - we would have liked to name; of the assisting Staff, especially Mr. Atack, Mr. Farrar, Miss. Fleming and Mrs. Podmore and the horde of pupil helpers. Above all, we acknowledge a real debt to Mr. Walker for yet another of his spirited yet precise productions. We may be biased; but can anything better be done by any school, anywhere ?


Twelfth Night Page Boys

Photo from Dee Tyrrell. Thank you, Dee. L-R: Jennifer Lindley, Dee Tyrrell, Patricia Lockett, Susan Butcher

1956 Adventure Story

This year the School presented Terence Rattigan's "Adventure Story", and Mr. Colley produced results from his youthful actors and actresses (many of whom were inexperienced in stage work) of which he can justly be proud. Alexander (Neil Spruce) round whom the play revolves is an earnest and sensitive young Macedonian king, whose life's work is conquest, the only way by which he believes, he can become a god. He succeeds in conquering the known world, mainly at the expense of Darius, King of the Persians (a difficult part, well played by T. Holdcroft). The Queen Mother of Persia, compassionately played by Eileen Hirst, is brought captive to the Macedonian camp by Clitus, whose incorrigible loyalty to Alexander was vigorously played by M. Snookes. After the murder of the fleeing Darius by Bessus (J. Sudworth) Alexander remains alone to prove the bitter-sweet of victory and the killing of his friends Clitus and Philotas (M. Randall) What we saw in the performance was the product of many hours of hard work on the part of producer, cast and stage staff. Their work was not wasted and we thank them for the enjoyment the performance gave us. Sheila Farmer UV1A


Images from the play

Photos from John Sudworth. Thank you, John Adventure Story photo notes from John Sudworth: Bottom left: Bessus (John Sudworth) helps the dying Darius (Terry Holdcroft) to his feet. Top left: Alexander the Great (Neil Spruce) and Cleitus (Med Snookes) look and listen as Ptolemy (Mick Goodliffe) reads out the charges of treason and murder against Bessus (John Sudworth). Middle: Philotas (Maurice Randall) negotiates with Darius. Right: Bessus (John Sudworth)

1957 Arms and the Man

Please send in your memories of this School Play. Cast (in order of appearance) Raina ... Jacqueline Leonard Catherine ... Susan Butcher Louka ... Shirley Challender Bluntshli ... Melvin Snookes Russian Officer ... Peter Sell Nicolas ... Maurice Randall Petkoff ... Peter Lockett Sergius ... Terence Holdcroft Scene: Bulgaria; the house and garden of Major Paul Petkoff. ACT I. Raina's bedroom. November, 1885. ACT II. The garden. March, 1886. INTERVAL. ACT III. The library. Later on the same day. PRODUCER: Mr. J. REED. STAGE MANAGER: Mr. E. ATACK. BUSINESS MANAGER: Mrs. M. LUMB. DECOR: Miss. J HARRISON. WARDROBE: Miss. M. METCALFE, Miss. M. McGLADE. LIGHTING & SOUND EFFECTS: Mr. W. FARRAR. PROPERTIES: Miss K. WARD, ANNE BREAR, PAMELA HALL MAKE UP: Mr. W. J. LEONARD, Mr E. C. COLLEY. PROMPTER: WINNIE TAYLOR STAGE STAFF: LOCKETT, VENTOM, KAYE, LEE, TAYLOR. Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" was successfully presented in December by a cast who did well to overcome the difficulties of a play in which there is much talk and little action. Jacqueline Leonard, Susan Butcher, Peter Lockett and Peter Sell are particularly to be congratulated on their first school performances. Jacqueline portrayed with feeling and understanding the young and emotional Raina, while Susan had great success as Raina's domineering but well-intentioned mother. Lockett as Petkoff, acted the henpecked, bewildered father with considerable humour, while Sell, in a small part as the Russian Officer, did his best to support the others in their difficult tasks. Of the four other players, Melvin Snookes excelled in the role of Bluntschli, a confident and unromantic soldier of fortune, while Terence Holdcroft gave a sincere and thoughtful portrayal of Sergius, Raina's affected suitor. Shirley Challender played the saucy servant, Louka, with pert assurance, and Maurice Randall brought a sinister calculation to the part of Nicolas, the efficient but worldly-wise manservant. I know that the cast would like to thank those members of staff and pupils who in various ways made the production possible, and Mr. Reed for his hard work, patience and understanding during the rehearsals and performance. Winnie Taylor, LV1A.

1958 A Midsummer Night's Dream

Photo from Elizabeth Stevens. Thank you. Back Row L-R: 1, 2 Fifth Row L-R: Peter Lockett (Oberon), Pat Snow (Titania) Fourth Row L-R: Margaret Woodward, Sandra Chapman Third Row L-R: Elizabeth Stevens (Cobweb), 2 Second Row L-R: Marjorie Gascoigne, John Morrissey, Shirley Deighton Front Row L-R: 1, Vivienne Toft, Griffiths Can anyone help with the missing names? Few works of art can be further from our mid-century attitudes of mind than this Elizabethan commentary on romantic love. Almost everything in the play is a challenge to both producers and actors : the enchanted wood, the idealisation of marriage, fairies, dewy May mornings, ancient tradition, the confusion of myth and reality; moreover, the modulations of Shakespearean blank verse, even in its less developed form, do not rise easily to young lips any more than the variety of pace demanded by courtly dignity, fairy nimbleness and rustic rumbustiousness occurs to young minds. I mention the hazards at the outset so that I may make clear how valuable an achievement this year's production was. David Hawcroft (whose speech could have been slower and clearer) as Theseus, and Susan Butcher as a very dignified and queenly Hippolyta set the courtly tone from rise of curtain; a solemn stability against which the adventures of the lovers and the rustics are to be contrasted. Introduced by the irascible Egeus (Peter Richmond) the lovers set a gradually increasing pace to their contrapuntal cavortings in the forest. Diana Wood's convincing, and at times moving, portrayal of the jilted Helena was appropriately met by Doreen Tyrrell's fiery Hermia. These two were hardly matched in positive performance by their male counterparts Lysander (Peter Kaye) and Demetrious (Roger Wilson) who played in a more subdued manner, though Kaye is to be commended on his handling of some of the blank verse passages. The lovers have extensive and difficult roles, and all four developed clear characters to lend conviction to our willing deception. It is even more difficult to be a fairy. Peter Lockett gave a neatly varied and assured performance as Oberon while Pat Snow as Titania provided a graceful link between the quite human world of Athens and the ethereal world of Cobweb (Elizabeth Stevens), Mustardseed and their tripping companions whose very naiveté gave them more fairy qualities than any producer could have devised. In the most demanding role, however, Morrissey as Puck played with lively movement and vivacious expression and managed to overcome many of the inherent difficulties of the part. The rustics, led by Melvin Snookes as Bully Bottom provided excellent comedy. Although there were faults of slurred speech, they performed as a team with energy and precise timing, giving us relief from romance with their earthly clowning. Bottom, in spite of the handicap of an asphyxiating ass's head, was a strong centre to the buffoonery, though he spoke in a startling variety of accents. He did give the impression, in the words of Michael Drayton, of . . . 'a Man that in some Trance hath seene More than his wond'ring utt'rance can unfold'. But he was supported : Thisbe's nonsensical elegance, Moonshine's mute mystification, Wall's near imbecility, Lion's laughter and Quince's quavering are things that will be remembered. He would be humourless indeed who did not enjoy this performance Mr. Losasso and Mr. Kennedy deserve our congratulations for their resourcefulness in producing Shakespeare through the mouths of young actors, and our thanks for the many hours of work they devoted to our entertainment. James Reed. On Wednesday, 10th December 1958, at 4-15 p.m., a time when the School is almost empty, the sound of many voices could be heard from the Domestic Science Room. To the surprise of those who passed, a crowd of people were eating sandwiches and drinking tea. They were the cast of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". By 4-30 p.m. most of the crowd had departed - the boys went to Room 7 and the girls to Room 6. What happened behind the door of Room 7 is unknown, but a number of grunts, sighs and bangs were heard by those outside. When the door opened, the boys who went in dressed in flannels and blazers, came out arrayed in pieces of sacking and curtain. In Room 6 there was a minor upset. The fairies had forgotten to have their shower. They were duly packed off to the Gym, and fifteen minutes later had to be literally dragged away from a place which normally they would not go near. For a time there was an uneasy peace while an assortment of half-dressed girls smeared their arms and legs with make-up materials. There was a major interruption when a rather heavy-footed fairy knocked the liquid make-up bottle over the skirt of a helping Sixth Former, who for the rest of the evening paraded round the School in a very bright orange smock. Gradually, a procession of people made their way to the Make-up room. Here, members of Staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves, because they were free to mess up their pupils' faces without any danger of being arrested for assault and battery. The pupils, looking stranger than ever, returned to their respective rooms to finish dressing. The usual phrase from Room 6 was, "Mind my wings!" At last everybody assembled once more in the Domestic Science Room. The call-boy asked for the cast for the first scene, and the School Play had begun. A transformation occurred in the usually tidy room. Cards appeared, fairies played 'lotto' and Bottom (Snookes) played the guitar. The call-boy vainly tried to make himself heard above the din. Actors came and went, looking either dejected or elated. The air became heavy with the cigarette smoke of the Staff. After Act IV, Scene 1, several people dashed into the corridor to help the shivering 'props' man with a very quick change of scene. The final curtain over, there was a motley rush of fairies, soldiers, lovers and clowns making for the changing rooms. The producers looked like cats who had taken the cream off the milk, and the first night of the School Play was over. Pamela Firth, LVIA

Photo from Wray Vamplew. Thank you, Wray.

L-R: 1, 2, Peter Dickens, Roger Toft, Roy Lockwood, Wray Vamplew

1959 The Queen and the Rebels

Cast: John Morrissey, Keith Twigg, John Robinson, David Nicoll, Pete Dickens, Pete Kaye, Colin Oxley, Alan Lascelles, Philip Vickers, Roger Toft, Derrick Day, Colin Evison, Sandra Chapman, Teresa Cosgrove, Dorren Tyrrell, Jackie Leonard Other names associated with this dramatic offering :- Jim Reed (producer), Mr Atack (Stage Manager), Mr J A Wharton (Asst. Stage Manager), Mr D A Hassall (Business Manager), Mr D Burnell (decor!), Miss M Metcalfe(costume), Mr C H Owen (Lighting and Sound effects), Misses K Ward, Viviene Toft, Ingrid Berrisford, Margaret Bromley are "properties". Mr C.H.Owen (Make-up a surprise!) Pat Snow (prompter), Philip Drury, Brian Stead, Leslie Winterburn, Chris Kenningley, Michael Taylor, and Neville Edwards - humped the scenery - Bless! Pete Kaye Excellent Production at Hemsworth Grammar School Hemsworth Grammar School's production of Ugo Betti's "The Queen and the Rebels", which finishes its three night run tonight, is an excellent vehicle for the pupils' histrionic abilities. Prominent in an outstanding cast are Peter Kaye, as Amos, the clever and ruthless Commissar, and Doreen Tyrrell, as Argia, the girl of easy virtue who finds the mantle of royalty thrust upon her and accepts it although it means her death. Set in a revolt-torn state in Central Europe, the play tells of the rebels' efforts to find the former Queen. All the action takes place in one room where suspects are interrogated and the plot slowly unfolds. The play deals with one bus load of travellers and their actions under questioning. All of the 18-strong cast gave of their best in what is an interesting study of fear. As the true Queen, Elisabetta, Jacqueline Leonard gives a polished performance, interpreting the difficult role well. Roger Toft, as Raim, the Vicar-of-Bray-style inquisitor, is equally as good. John Morrissey makes a suitable job of Biante, the fanatical general. Keith Twigg is equal to his part as a sycophantic "engineer". In lesser roles, Peter Dickens makes a commanding bodyguard, and Teresa Cosgrove and Sandra Chapman make convincing peasant women. The Queen's son is played by Derek Day. Travellers on the bus are Colin Evison, Phillip Vickers, Jeffrey Stevens and Colin Oxley. Soldiers are John Robinson and David Nicolls. A peasant is played by Alan Lascelles. The play was produced by Mr. J. Reed. Others who assisted were:- Stage Manager Mr. E. Atack with Mr. J. H. Wharton; Costumes Miss M. Metcalfe; Properties Miss K. Ward; Make Up Mr. W.H. Owen Prompter Pat Snell. "THE QUEEN AND THE REBELS" From the School Magazine This year's School Play, by Ugo Betti, was a somewhat unusual choice on the part of the producer, Mr. Reed. Theme and action were contemporary, and both author and play were, in general, unknown to the audience. This change was indeed refreshing, and although the subject was essentially a serious one it proved to be a most interesting and entertaining production. The entire play was set in a hall in the main public building of a hillside village, and the carefully chosen, simple scenery effectively captured the poverty of the country, while at the same time the eye-catching flag on the wall served as a symbol of the future prosperity which the revolution ideally hoped to achieve. From the conversation of the first scene the audience were thrown into the midst of the noises and smells of a country in revolt, and simultaneously their interest was aroused, chiefly through the sinister questions of Commissar Amos, then thought to be a civilian, and the worried queries of the Engineer (Keith Twigg). Why, in fact, had these people been stopped in this isolated spot? The Engineer put forward the views of the average citizen, and he made it quite clear that the deposed Queen would get no help from the people. It soon emerges that the reason for the delay is that the rebels believe, rightly, that ex-Queen Elisabetta is among the travellers. The Queen was played by Jacqueline Leonard who gave a most realistic and often moving portrayal of a terrified woman who has no friend to turn to; by no means an easy task. It was ironical that after all her fear and suffering she died as a peasant woman, her true identity known only to Raim and Argia, the only other woman traveller. Even more ironical was the fact that the rebels took Argia who, in Raim's blunt words was a 'cheap, low, dirty slut', for the Queen. Doreen Tyrrell played this difficult role with strength and confidence (which, I hastily add, is no reflection on her true character). She skilfully showed how Argia, at first as morally contemptible as Balm, gradually grew to realise her worth as a human being, shook off her past and emerged as a woman of dignity and nobility, attempting to save the Queen but dying in her place. Argia's ultimate nobility was effectively emphasised by the cowardice and completely subdued spirit of Orazio, the hall porter, a minor but important character well played by Terence Donohue. The Third scene, the trial, was the most dramatically effective and a credit to both cast and producer. In it we saw Argia, accused of being the Queen, trapped; on one side by General Biante (John Morrissey) and Cornmissar Amos (Peter Kaye), and on the other by a bitter and angry group of peasants. This bitterness was indeed realistic, and the way in which they piled accusation after accusation on the 'Queen' was very effective. Morrissey's performance as the General was fiery and intense, and helped by a magnificently bloody sling he really made the audience feel his pain. Not everyone would take his death as calmly as Commissar Amos. Special mention should be made of Peter Kaye who, as the Commissar, played excellently. He is a very accomplished actor and really lives his part; his fine speaking voice and natural movement deserve particular praise. The very hard work done by Kaye and Doreen Tyrrell in exacting roles was, I am sure, appreciated by all who saw the play. To all members of staff and pupils who worked behind the scenes our thanks are due, and our gratitude for a memorable production. J.M. Cooper. UVIA. (Photo Above)