Before I arrived in September 1992, I attended a number of early appeal meetings. The governors’ intention was to build a new theatre as a centenary building and to finance it half by appeal and half from school funds. There was a good deal of enthusiasm for the project, though I remember some disagreement between professional actors in the Bedales diaspora, who favoured a less intimidating proscenium arch design, and those more familiar with school drama who largely favoured a more thrust approach, placing less reliance on the power of young voices.
The ambition was for a theatre of ‘wigwam’ design by Ian Templeton, of award-winning Hampshire County Architects. It was to cost £2m, and this required the appeal to raise around £1m. This was set against the construction of New Boys’ Flat, which started in September 1992, and cost £1.8m from the school’s own resources. It was designed by (Sir) Colin Stansfield Smith who led the Hampshire team.
As the appeal progressed, it became clear that it was unlikely to raise the necessary sums, and that the school would be in difficulty if it proceeded with the theatre without that income. Coincidentally, Alison Willcocks (staff, from 1983; head, 1994-2001) and I were working with Matthew Rice (1975-80) on a new prospectus and, in one of our visits to his studio in Fulham, he sketched a much simpler and cheaper approach, involving a courtyard set against the existing drama studio completed on the fourth side with a Hampshire barn, to be moved from an existing site. Unlikely as it was that this would gain planning approval (moving barns being less acceptable than when the original barns were moved), it set us thinking and Matthew suggested we talk to Charley Brentnall at Carpenter Oak who had been responsible for moving the original barns. Charley Brentnall put us in touch with Roderick James (timber frame specialist architect) and Peter Clegg (specialist architect in ventilation), who started developing designs. The theatre was to be timber framed and draw, not on artificial ventilation, but on natural ventilation through the tall ‘chimney’ in the centre. This fitted with the school’s environment ambitions.
The change in plan caused difficulty with some who had already contributed to the appeal. It led to a difficult opening meeting addressed by Sir Hugh Beach (Chair of Governors, 1990-96) which was expertly chaired by Kiffer Weisselberg (1954-61).
In due course, construction started with framing done on site and pegs made in part by Dunannie pupils. It was opened in 1996 and named after Lord Olivier. I gathered later from Sir Hugh that in fact it cost about £2m of which the governors contributed £1m from school funds – so no different from the original! This was apparently due in part to the insistence of building control, unfamiliar with this type of construction, on what they were thought by the architects to be unnecessary additional features.
A key contribution to the success of the project was the appointment of Mike Morrison (staff, 1993-2000), who came from Monmouth School in 1993, to be the first head of drama. While the theatre debate raged, in the term before he took up his post, he brought a small play from Monmouth, performed in the Reading Room, which led at least this observer to question why we needed a new theatre at all if he could create such magic in the simplest of rooms!
The BAC Theatre Studies students performed their scripted unit in the Theatre this week, which were enjoyed by audiences of family, friends, staff and the local community and examined by our two external moderators. They performed two comedies which were directed and rehearsed using the pedagogy of Jacques LeCoq. There was a wonderful audience response to the two plays and the students outstanding performances within them.
Craig Pullen, BAC Theatre Studies moderator: “On Tuesday evening it was an absolute pleasure to come to Bedales and moderate the wonderful performances from the Block 5 Theatre Studies pupils. The level of dedication and skill on display was a joy to witness. The performers’ adaptations of Lansley’s Flies and Ridley’s Sparkleshark were brave, well executed and had the audience in raucous laughter. Well done to everyone involved, I look forward to coming back to Bedales in the future.”
Chris Bott, Houseparent: “I have had the privilege and pleasure of watching a lot of scripted and devised performances in the Olivier Theatre, and although I know I am prone to hyperbole, I have every confidence in saying that Tuesday night’s performances were the most enjoyable entertaining ensemble work I have seen in the Theatre. The commitment, timing and energy of both groups was remarkable to see in students of this age and I haven’t enjoyed an hour in the Theatre as much in years. The best compliment I can pay is that with both groups the examiners both put down their pens half way through and enjoyed the performance like the rest of the audience, such was the quality of the show. Thank you and well done.”
Peter Thackrey, Deputy Head (Pastoral): “Wonderful to see live performances again and to see some students who I never would have imagined blossoming in to such amazing actors when they joined us in Block 3!”
David Anson, Head of English: “What a brilliant evening! I thought both companies were incredibly tight both in their physicality and their voice work. Two genuinely funny pieces that genuinely lifted the spirits of the audience. Standout moment for me was Lilibet’s entrance; hilarious.”
Tristan Wilson, Head of Modern Foreign Languages: “Loved it! It was so great to see my tutees in their element and to see some very proud parents in the audience.”
By Joanne Greenwood, Theatre Manager and Production Designer
Here at Bedales we have always embraced the circular economy when it comes to productions. Reuse. Remake. Recycle. As with many theatres, we have a wardrobe which houses an extensive collection of clothing and accessories, and a prop store built up over the past 25 years.
With the global trend towards sustainably lockdown saw the creation of the Theatre Green Book. The Theatre Green Book gives theatre a path towards sustainability. It maps the journey towards a way of theatre-making that is low carbon and low waste, values people, and contributes to a more sustainable society.
The design brief we set ourselves for the Whole School Show 2021 was to honour 25 years of Bedales Olivier Theatre and to take part in the Theatre Green Book initiative in creating sustainable productions.
When designing any show, I consider what we have available to see what can be reused or adapted. Where possible, purchases are made on the basis that items have a future life and are considered an investment.
Many costumes in the wardrobe are used time and again, especially period costumes, but for a production to have an original and cohesive design there will always be adaptions and new costumes to be made. For Tales from Ovid (2021) we selected costumes from previous productions which hadn’t been used again and reinterpreted them in a new way to reflect the various tales.
The school pinafores from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (2007) formed the basis of the design for the Echo and Narcissus tale with collars made from remnants of fabric we had in stock. The Tereus and Philomela chorus wore jackets from Spring Awakening (2017), skirts from Les Misérables (2004) and boots from Me (2017). The male chorus jackets from Oedipus (2008) were used for the Midas tale with the hi top trainers from Around the World in 80 Days (2019).
The costumes in Jane Eyre (2006) were historically accurate in shape but the design concept was that all the costumes were various shades of red and therefore not realistic to how they would have been worn in the period. Worn by the Bacchic chorus in Bacchus and Pentheus with bare feet, ivy headdresses and doe eye make-up they paid tribute to the Sixth Form production of the Bacchae (1998).
The production also gave us the opportunity to use some memorable character costumes from the past:
Juno; Dress originally designed for Medea in Medea (2016)
Jupiter; Suit worn by The Prince in Sound of the Night Feather (2015)
Procne; Dress worn by Jocasta in Oedipus (2008), originally designed for Gertrude in Hamlet (2003)
Over 95% of the costumes from Tales from Ovid came from our wardrobe stock.
“Everyone in theatre starts their career by creatively stretching resource as far as possible. All theatre-makers are experts in sustainability. To the challenge of responding to the climate emergency, theatre is already bringing resourcefulness, dynamism and creativity.” – Theatre Green Book
By Hayley Cole, Head of Drama Photo by Beau Brentnall, 6.2
This year marks 25 years since the opening of the Bedales Olivier Theatre. To celebrate, we wanted to pay homage to some of the original work staged there. As the first piece performed at the Theatre was My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley, directed by a female student, we decided to invite a female Old Bedalian and professional in the field back to Bedales to direct a feminist play this term for the Sixth Form Show.
Evangeline Cullingworth has worked with the department as a practitioner over the last few years and assisted all year groups in academic and co-curricular performance projects. It is an honour to invite her back as our external director this term and we are excited to share this year’s Sixth Form Show, Image of an Unknown Woman by Elinor Cook, with you on 12 and 13 October (book tickets here).
6.2 student and Theatre Don Aryana Taheri Murphy recently interviewed Evangeline and cast member Beau Brentnall photographed the rehearsal session. Read Aryana’s interview below.
By Aryana Taheri Murphy, 6.2 and Theatre Don
Evangeline joined Bedales in 2011, where she studied A Levels in Drama, Music and English. She went on to study Theatre at NYU Tisch and completed an MA in residence at the Orange Tree Theatre. She has worked at the Hampstead Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith and Royal Opera House training under Katie Mitchell. She is especially interested in community engagement and increasing access to opera, after working on RhineGold with Birmingham Opera company.
Evangeline was attracted to Bedales for the quality of the work, both academic and artistic, as well as the vast number of opportunities and how respected the arts are within the school. She had always been interested in drama since a young child, however, after joining Bedales she became more dedicated and serious about a career in the industry. She explained that by working towards her A Levels and being involved with the Sixth Form Show, she was able to learn from the “high level of production quality” and the “incredible experience” of being a part of the Theatre. One memory she shared from her Sixth Form Show performance was smashing a watermelon (with a sponge soaked in stage blood) with a hammer and it splattering all over her clothes and face, to create the effect that she was smashing someone’s head in. She recalled the shock from the audience and her feeling of being completely out of her comfort zone but also her excitement of the experience.
This year Evangeline is directing Image of an Unknown Young Women. She explained how she attended a workshop several years ago when the play was first published and found that it stuck with her for its exploration of the impact of social media. She further explained how the play seemed more relevant now, as the only way we have been able to connect for the past two years is through phones. It made her look differently towards the piece, as 2020-2021 has been a time where “social media meets activism”.
This article was originally published in the Old Bedalian Newsletter 2021.
By Alastair Langlands, Staff 1973-2001
‘Twelfth Night’ in the grounds of Bedales, 1923
Roger Fry (later to become a Bedales parent) painted the backcloth for Macbeth, the first annual play. “From its earliest days, Bedales paid much attention to dramatic activities and the Chief’s productions of Shakespeare’s plays were memorable events for participants and audience alike. Though he had no theatrical experience he created and maintained an interest in plays and everyone became keen and fond of it.” (A Journey in My Head, Geoffrey Crump, staff, 1919-45).
Geoffrey came to Bedales in 1919, was appointed senior English master in 1922 becoming the first head of a fully-fledged English department in a school the size and status of Bedales. He insisted that if possible, at least one Shakespeare play should be acted by the older children every year, preferably with some of the staff acting with them. His enthusiasm led in the summer of 1923, with the permission of the Chief, to a production of Twelfth Night on the lower lawn of the garden at Steephurst; the cast consisted chiefly of local people, Bedales staff and Old Bedalians.
The triple arch of Steephurst porch, with a balcony facing south, appealed to Geoffrey as a suitable setting for Romeo and Juliet and there in 1926 he established Steep Shakespeare Players. He needed two years to prepare properly and to secure an adequate cast. He decided on Much Ado about Nothing for 1928.
“An incursion, however, in the month of June of a quantity of handsome young men in magnificent costumes was too much for some of the girls and the scale of the production as a whole caused an undue amount of disorganisation in the life of the school.” So, after Henry IVth, Part One in 1930, the Players moved a mile away, down to the gardens of Lord Horder’s Ashford Chace with his lordship as cordial president: Twelfth Night in 1932. These became monumental productions. The stage set was magnificent, the lavish costumes by Henriette Sturge Moore (1919-25) and a princely cast fitted neatly into Shakespeare’s roles which had been hallowed for centuries.
Players appeared from all over the land. Donald Beves, Vice-provost of King’s College, Cambridge (often spoken of as the finest amateur comedian in the country), lauded by George Rylands of The Marlowe Society, starred as Malvolio and Friar Lawrence and Geoffrey himself as Capulet and Falstaff. Starring was something Geoffrey promoted and here something conspicuous occurred: performances attracted The Times Theatre Critic with sometimes a half page photograph of the cast or a star, Tatler, Telegraph, Sketch, Sphere, Petersfield Post, Hampshire and Sussex News, Hampshire Chronicle and Portsmouth Evening News. There were players from OUDS in Oxford and ADC in Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. Joanna Dunham (1949-52) and Tessa Mayor (1929-34) were among pupils who starred. They were accompanied by Harold Gardiner (staff, 1952-68), Basil Gimson (1896-1904; staff, 1911-1947), John Slater (staff, 1952-67), Anthony Gillingham (staff, 1946-70), Robin Murray (1953-59), Christopher Weisselberg (1954-61), Bert Upton (estate staff), E L Grant Watson (1895-1904) and Roger Powell (1907-1915) with music by Harry Platts (staff, 1937-46) and Roland Biggs (staff at various times between 1923 and 1967).
An archive of large albums (12 x 16 inches), lovingly assembled to survive the Players, stylishly portrays spectacular scenes and actors. It would (of course) take Geoffrey two whole years to prepare such handsome shows (where interval tea was provided by the ‘Petersfield Tea Shop’, price 9d).
The ambition and success of Steep Shakespeare Players and the splendidly designed and extensive stage structures, by Gigi Meo (1923-40) and then Christopher Cash (1950-78), were swamped by post-war restrictions and finances.
They made an annual loss. Geoffrey had targeted Shakespeare and from 1923 managed 23 productions finishing in Ashford Chace with The Tempest in 1961. He saw the play as Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage and his own regretful farewell to Ashford Chace. He was no longer able to fund these sumptuous productions.
Local press headline ‘Find a home for them on the heath’ badgered the council to action but it was Mary More Gordon (Bedales parent) picking up the threads in 1964 who approached Arthur Gill, the owner of the beautiful Ecclesiastical Court House in East Meon. She inquired if he were willing for his 14th century hall to be used as a small theatre. He was content to have his vast hall filled with a massive structure of tiered seats. The Players had found a fine new interior site. Now called The Court Players they introduced variety. Geoffrey’s last show was Everyman and A Phoenix Too Frequent in 1965; then followed Bae Lubbock’s assistance in Anouilh’s Antigone, Peacock’s Nightmare Abbey, Strindberg’s Creditors, Shaw’s Armsand the Man and finally Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, Paul Townsend (staff, 1957-64) and Kate Slack (staff, 1962-74), wife of the headmaster appearing.
‘Romeo and Juliet’, Ashford Chace Garden Theatre, 1953
Bedales staff at this time put on frequent staff plays with Ruth Whiting (1963-2000), Geoffrey Robinson (1949-80), William Agnew (1967-78), Tim Slack (1962-74), George Smith (1959-81), Anne Archer (1971-77, 1986-2008), Philip Young (1971-74 and 1977-2007) and John Batstone (1968-93) and others involved.
But it was the extra mural playing which would not cease: active and valuable members of the company, Kate Slack and Mary More Gordon, assumed organisation in 1978. Still at the Court House, with Arthur Gill’s keen interest, they put on John O’Keeffe’s Wild Oats (1791) which had been revived by the RSC in 1976. Jane Bevan (staff, 1977-83), Nicholas Wood (1974-81), Jessica Cecil (1980-82) and Victoria Chester (1978-80) and players from the erstwhile Court Players’ productions, took part with local amateurs in East Meon. There followed George Colman’s Clandestine Marriage, Pirandello’s Henry lV, Ibsen’s Enemy of the People (with music by Philip Young) and Turgenev’s A Month in the Country.
After Arthur left the Court House, we left too to lodge in Mill Court, Binsted, a fine malmstone barn with a queen-strut roof which could be cold and audiences were encouraged to arrive with a blanket. Twelfth Night was first in 1988 with OBs Phyllida Hancock (1973-80) and Nick Tier (1982-86). To avoid royalties Kate put on a revue We’re Court on the Hop, followed by William Douglas Hume’s David and Jonathan, Stephen Poliakoff’s Breaking the Silence. Isobel Ballantine Dykes (staff, 1983-89), Paul Townsend and John Batstone, Victoria Chester, Will Rye (1987-89), Kate Day (née Fairweather, 1978-85), Polly Wreford (1973-80), Richard Quine (1981-86), Caroline Rye (1983-85), Christian Taylor (1981-86), Lucia Gahlin (1986-88) and Sarah Hulbert (1984-86) with musicians Hannah Rogers (1979-86), Alexandra Harwood (1970-84) and Kristina von der Becke (1978-85) appeared. On each occasion it was necessary to construct a stage and audience seating. It was clear to Kate that the Players were looking for a permanent playhouse.
Lord Bessborough had been a semi-professional actor during his time in Canada. He was chairman of the Chichester Festival Theatre which under the directorship of Laurence Olivier was to become the foundation of the National Theatre. In Stansted Park, Bessborough had recently installed a theatre in the stables replacing one of the 1920s destroyed during the war. Here, at Bessborough’s invitation, the Court Players performed three of Chekhov’s short plays. Chekhov was followed at Stansted by Simon Gray’s Quartermaine’s Terms.
Bessborough was extremely eager to have one of his own several plays performed in his new theatre (designed by Peter Rice, parent) which seated 100; he asked me to produce a dramatic reading of his King of Gods. I employed Bedales pupils Georgia Malden (1985-90), Esther Godfrey (1989-91), Helen Isaac (1986-91), Jossy Best (1989-91), Emma Jenkins (1986-90) and staff and the professional Tony Britten who was a friend of the Bessboroughs. This was in 1990 to an audience invited by the host. As a result, I was invited to take the name of the company The Stansted Players, founded by the ninth earl in 1929 but eclipsed by the outbreak of war.
The Stansted Players’ productions have differed from the reverent canon followed by predecessors: I have endeavoured to find plays which have never before been performed (The Noble Jilt, by Anthony Trollope) or have once been popular but fallen into desuetude (George Lillo’s The London Merchant: it was performed annually for 100 years until c1850). These plays cannot be desecrated by reducing the length to One Act of 90 minutes and including four-part songs. We meet at Sparrow’s Hanger in Selborne for 10 days of rehearsal in the theatre.
We played at Stansted Park until that theatre, following the death of Eric Bessborough, was converted into offices in 2000, our last choice being Shakespeare’s Hamlet the bad quarto.
A theatre group ETC, for OBs to meet at school and perform, managed two productions: in April Barney Powell’s (1991-96) The Cherry Orchard and then in September 1999 with Daisy Parente (1997-99) directing The Memory of Water with Lisa Jackson (1992-97), Lydia Leonard (1995-99) and Georgina Hutchinson (1994-99) and some 40 other former pupils. Support was not, however, forthcoming in the following year.
This collapse of ETC bereft the school of OBs returning to play and consequently the Stansted Players were invited to the newly erected theatre drawing an audience shortly before the start of the Autumn term. Since 2001 we have been made welcome and comfortable. When the theatre was under repair we were invited to use the Lupton Hall, before its recent refurbishment as a concert hall, with St John Hankin’s The Cassilis Engagement; the last of four performances was fully booked for a 60th wedding anniversary.
The Stansted Players have never sought stars but rather have given Bedalians opportunity to enjoy themselves for a fortnight during the summer. Staff took part in early plays: Geoffrey Robinson, Paul Townsend, Caroline Walmsley (1981 and 1990s), Graham Banks (1980-2013) and Jonathan Taylor (Deputy Head, 1996-2004) but it is pupils who have peopled the productions. The now familiar singing began with Amanda Boyd (1987-89) as soloist marking the intervals of Lady Audley’s Secret, a performance which began with the National Anthem in the days when an audience was perfectly tuned to stand respectfully. Thereafter the Players have been included for their singing qualities.
Dan Wheeler and Natasha Ruiz Barrero in ‘Two Noble Kinsmen’, Bedales Theatre, 2004
Over the three decades about 75 Bedalians have appeared on stage and some have proceeded to a professional career in music or drama: Johnny Flynn (1996-2001), Dan Wheeler (1995-2000), Jack Finch (2003-08), Esther Biddle (1994-99), Elizabeth Bichard (1996-98), Natasha Ruiz Barrero (1996-2001), Grace Banks (1998-2003), Gabriel Bruce (2002-07), Stephen Davidson (2000-05), Anna Dennis (1994-96), Dominic Floyd (1997-2002), Simon Gallear (1991-96), Jo Horsley (1994-99), Sofia Larsson (2001-06), Katie Manning (2000-05), Beth Murray (1986-89), Jo Tomlinson (1997-99), Bart Warshaw (1996-01), William Wollen (1987-92), Olivia Brett (2006-14). The plays have included more than 100 four-part songs dating from C14 to popular music of the present day and it is this playing-and-singing that attracts audiences. An essential part of every production has been the musical arrangements of Nicholas Gleed (staff, 1990-2017) and lighting by Janet Auty (staff, 1990-2015). Each year, towards the end of August, the Stansted Players return to the school, lying in the orchard and rehearsing in the theatre.
2020 p l a g u e
2019 The Watched Pot (or The Mistress of Briony) by Saki, 1911
2018 Green Stockings by A E W Mason, 1911
2017 Speed the Plough by Thomas Morton, 1798
2016 The Princess Zoubaroff by Ronald Firbank, 1920
2015 The Master of Mrs Chilvers by Jerome K Jerome, 1911
2014 The Good-natured Man by Oliver Goldsmith, 1750
2013 The Cassilis Engagement by St John Hankin, 1907
2012 Gretchen by W S Gilbert
2011 The Foresters by Lord Tennyson, 1881
2010 A Double Falsehood or the Distressed Lovers by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, 1727
2009 The Bells by Leopold Lewis 1871 & (world première) Jack o’ the Cudgel by William McGonagall, 1870
2008 A Fair Quarrel by Middleton and Rowley, 1616
2007 World Première Barchester Revisited by Simon Raven, 2000
2006 (first staged production) A Noble Jilt by Anthony Trollope, 1850
2005 The West Indian by Richard Cumberland, 1730
2004 Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, 1612
2003 Vortigern and Rowena by W H Ireland, 1790
2002 The Princess Zoubaroff by Ronald Firbank, 1920
2001 The Tender Husband by Richard Steele, 1720
2000 Hamlet (the bad quarto), 1600
1999 Daisy Miller by Henry James, 1900
1998 Pygmalion and Galatea by W S Gilbert, 1885
1997 The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, 1850
1996 Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor, 1860
1995 The Lady of Lyons by Lord Lytton, 1850
1994 The Frantic Stockjobbers by William Taverner, 1750
1993 Lovers’ Vows by Kotzbue, 1798
1992 The London Merchant by George Lillo, 1745
1991 Lady Audley’s Secret by CH Hazelwood, 1850
2023 will be the 100th anniversary of the Players descending directly from the Steep Shakespeare Players via the Court Players which Kate Slack bequeathed (with a cheque for £74) to the Stansted Players.
By Eve Allin, Bedales Events Programme Coordinator
Thank you for your support of the Bedales Events programme over the past year. We are delighted to announce that we are returning in the Autumn Term with a full programme of events. The new season brings the sunshine inside with a packed line up of live performances. Let’s celebrate our collective love of the arts: come and watch comedy, music, theatre, and poetry right on your doorstep.
After what will be nearly 18 months of the live arts sector being closed for business, we are jubilant at the prospect of bringing events back to Bedales. We are confident you will enjoy this season as much as we enjoyed creating it. You can book your tickets for the Autumn season now at bedales.org.uk/events.
Starting off with an old favourite, Hackney Colliery Band are ready to raise the roof with their foot-stomping covers and original music. Later in September, the HandleBards are cycling over to us, set and costume slung over their shoulders: bring your picnic blankets for their all-female, outdoor version of Macbeth. Red Fox Theatre bring the warmth of a traditional pub theatre to the Lupton Hall, combining music and puppetry with captivating storytelling in Catch of the Day.
The best and brightest in the country join us for talks and lectures including furniture maker and industrial designer Sebastian Bergne, AI expert and co-founder of CognitionX Tabitha Goldstaub (OB) and inspirational headteacher Tony Hartney CBE. Families and young audiences are treated to a choose-your-own-adventure spectacular from friends of Bedales, Quick Duck Theatre. If it is comedy that piques your interest, but you are looking for an evening out after so many evenings in; The Noise Next Door are back again to entertain, enthral and surprise.
As the nights draw in, Phosphoros Theatre arrive to ignite our hearts and minds – ‘All the beds I have slept in’ is an insightful and stirring piece of theatre made by lived experience refugee performers. Cecilia Knapp, Poet Laureate for London, returns to Bedales in November to spend an evening reading poetry, answering questions and teaching students. Benny Wenda joins us for the annual Global Awareness Lecture – this talk has been an opportunity delayed and we are very lucky to have Benny joining us in December.
Woven in between all these brilliant visiting artists is our renowned Home Grown work – two school shows, two contemporary music events, four classical concerts, and two Theatre Studies exam pieces. These are performances created and staged at the heart of Bedales by the wonderful students that study here.
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