Unison gave a large number of the music and dramatic groups connected with the School an opportunity to combine to provide a worthy programme of entertainment. The result of this co-operative effort, organised under the direction of Mr. D. R. Kincaid. was outstanding for its pace and variety.
The first half began with an energetic Gang Show routine performed by members of the School Scout Group, and, after this rousing start, a contrast of mood was provided by the delicacy of the Junior Choir's excellent singing of two Russian Folk Songs. Other items included a tuneful pastiche of the Twenties by the Refined Oompah Band, songs by Byrd and Lassus from the Choir, and three Hit Parade numbers performed with full electronic panache by The Styx Ferrymen. During the Styx Ferrymen's act, the stage was crowded with a shadowy throng of wildly gyrating figures whose lugubrious demeanour and zombie-like movements appropriately enough suggested one of the more lurid scenes in Dante's Inferno.
The School Dramatic Society's anthology of verse and prose, Willingly to School, was wittingly compiled and directed by Mr. J. S. Golland. the horrors of school life from Victorian times to the present day were vividly presented in a series of dramatic readings. Good use was made of a few simple props and pieces of costume and among the highlights was an inspired cameo in which William Davies, mournfully arrayed in bath-robe and straw hat, appeared as the poet John Betjeman. It was also amusing to compare the operatic ejaculations of the Fat Owl of Greyfriars (Ouch, yarooh, leggo, you fellows!) with the technologically biased expletives of Jennings and Darbishire ('Petrified Plutonium!').
The first half ended with the Scouts again. After a song eulogising the ubiquity of Coca-Cola, there followed an hilarious pantomime sketch in which Stephen Carter, as the fatalistically daffy Gustav, and Andrew Powell, superbly petulant yet long-suffering in the role of Snow White, gave highly diverting comic performances.
The second part began in a more serious mood with two charming songs from the Parents' Union Choir under the skilful direction of Mr. A. Haley. the rest of the programme consisted of a production by the Old Gaytonians' Dramatic Society of The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan. Among a strong cast, David Little and Ann Winter were particularly impressive on the leading parts. they gave tautly-controlled performances which stressed the aridity of the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Crocker-Harris and avoided over-sentimentality. the play's atmosphere of emotional tension was well sustained by the Director, Mr. A. Purton, and the moments of climax came very effectively.
The production effectively rounded off an interesting and unusual evening of music and drama. Since it contained so many different kinds of entertainment it was inevitably rather loosely-knit, but the title of Unison was nevertheless an apt one.
D. R. Burt.
Source: Gaytonian 1968