J. S. Golland (1969)
One of the most exciting events of the past year has been the joint development of CONVERGENCE, the Joint Dramatic Society of the two Harrow County Schools. This is so, not merely because of the presence of so many charming young ladies on our stage, but because their programme has been so successful. Moreover, it has mainly been arranged by their own committee. True, Mr. Bilson produced Romeo and Juliet, and Mrs. Landry produced Black Comedy, but as if these two plays were not enough for one society in one year, they also gave us The Audition, produced by Suzanne Finch, and The Wheel of Fire, arranged and directed by Nigel Sheinwald, as well as a number of interesting meetings with stars and back-stage staff from the Old Vic. Romeo was such a tremendous success partly because of the enormous zest and dedication of the Lowlands Road contingent; they not only shone on stage, but helped in so many ways behind the scenes. This fact was recognised in the award to Joyce Hutber, from the Props Department, who was declared Apprentice-of-the-Year.
After the GCE examinations, they presented for us a double bill and a poetry reading in two evenings of delightful entertainment. In The Audition, Clive Anderson blossomed as the writer of an embarrassingly ingenious musical, with suitable corny music composed by Stephen Games (and played by him in an amusing pastiche of Tin Pan Alley styles.) The inevitable Miss Pratt displayed some more of her flexibility and other talents as a would-be star, and Gillian Spraggs' voice from the balcony provided a hard note of contrast. Suzanne Finch deserves every congratulation for her handling of this unusual and rather sophisticated play.
BLACK COMEDY
This was a hilariously funny play, though perhaps James Taylor as the artist in a fix overdid the athletic clowning a little. The central idea, that the action took place in a black-out, was ingenious and led to some good miming. Susan Pearl, descending from the heights of her Antigone and her boy friend's bedroom wearing only his shirt showed a real sense of comic timing: the "business" on the couch was especially good. Francis Matthews, too, disguised his appearance well to play a North-country 'pouff'. Irene Fawkes gave a brilliant little cameo as a mousey woman gleefully sipping gin in the dark, and newcomer Julia Spackman was most impressive as the daffy girl. Her "daddypegs" was a part tailor-made for Richard Salter, in spite of the torn cartilage that gave him an over-realistic limp and caused him to be in excruciating agony for most of the time.
To do so much in so short a time was a remarkable achievement on the part of Mrs. Landry, who must be warmly thanked for giving us so much pleasure; perhaps the lack of time accounted for the freshness and vivacity of the whole cast?
Many of those mentioned also appeared in the Old Boy's production of Under Milk Wood earlier this month.
If CONVERGENCE can keep this up, the future for drama in Harrow should be very bright indeed.
Members of CONVERGENCE Committee, 1968/69:
Chris Kinman, Michael Portillo, Francis Matthews, John Ryder, Richard Salter.
(Gaytonian 1969)