SEASON 24 (1952-53)
Right You Are (If You Think So)
The Merchant of Venice
Juno and the Paycock
Thieves' Carnival
Crime Passionnel
Tartuffe
September 1952
RIGHT YOU ARE (IF YOU THINK SO)
by Luigi Pirandello
Directed by Abraham Asseo
Designed by Beryl Anthony
Another feather in our cap! This production attracted interest because Pirandello's plays were rarely performed in this country at this time, despite their influence on the development of modern drama.
As one reviewer remarked:
"The warm reception given to this play by a crowded house suggests that the commercial theatre would not be taking too grave a risk if they presented Pirandello to a West-End audience."
November 1952
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Eric Voce
Designed by Ernest Ives
As there is not much to say about this production - no reviews or gossip - I thought I would take time to draw attention to Alfred's remarks in the concurrent issue of Forestage about the Student production in July - mainly because it involved a bright young ingénue by the name of Josephine Arundel. Although there had been some disappointment in the student one-act plays in February, Alfred remarked that "the really excellent standard shown in the performance of Corinth House, seemed a considerable advance in their work. The authoress Pamela Hansford Johnson and her husband C P Snow, present on the first night, were most congratulatory."
Well done Josephine. I wonder when she'll show up next!
I would also like to mention one member of the Merchant of Venice cast who played an important role in my life, John Springall. He was only a member of Questors for a very short period, during which he was involved in running classes for the young peoples groups.
He was a teacher in Harrow Weald and a few years after this production he formed the Harrow Youth Theatre. He was a great motivator, rather like Alfred, and when I joined the HYT in the early 60s he introduced me to the extraordinary adventure of theatre, and those of us still around remember him with great affection and gratitude.
January 1953
JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK
by Sean O'Casey
Directed by Alfred Emmet
Designed by Juliette Howard
Our first full length O'Casey production, but nothing to report I'm afraid, except to say that it's another"star" cast with lots of names and faces familiar to our older members.
However, an angry letter in the February issue of Forestage reminds us of the very cramped conditions the Questors were working in at the time.
Dear Sir,
I was unfortunate enough to attend the Building Fund performance of "Juno and the Paycock" last evening. I write in the heat of the moment, to say that I was amazed at what seemed to be a complete disregard of the audience, every member of which, incidentally, had paid for his seat. It might have been a Dress Rehearsal. A constant stream of people in and out of the office caused intermittent and disturbing shafts of light across the auditorium. Tea preparations were clearly audible; and people entering the theatre from the back caused distracting noises throughout the evening. This sort of thing, inexcusable in the local Parish Hall , is quite intolerable in a theatre such as ours.
March 1953
THIEVES' CARNIVAL
by Jean Anouilh
Directed by Abraham Asseo
Designed by Honor O'Nians
Another tantalising production for which we have nothing but the photos and the programme.
The slot had originally been kept open for a new play, but apparently they couldn't find one good enough. They considered doing O'Neill's ANNIE CHRISTIE but plumped for Jean Anouilh instead, thus (intentionally or unintentionally I'm not sure) initiating a mini-season of French plays.
The wonderful set was one of the last to be designed for us by Honor O'Nians who had been an important influence on our style of production since the early forties.
Also Colette King, who had been popping up on stage for quite a while now, was associate director on this production and soon to become a very familiar director in her own right, particularly of the student group.
I'm pleased to say, that after a short rest, Ted Scrivener is back on the scene!
Photos and programme for THIEVES' CARNIVAL
April 1953
CRIME PASSIONEL (les Mains Sales)
by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Kitty Black
Directed by Alfred Emmet
Designed by Marjorie Golsby
This was Jo Arundel's first "big" production after leaving the student group.
Despite that, and without wishing to steal the glory that is unquestionably hers, I feel duty bound to quote in full this extract from A Few Drops of Water.
Especially disaster-prone seems to have been the April 1953 production of Jean-Paul Sartre's CRIME PASSIONEL, in a translation by Kitty Black, remembered as a text of astounding quality. The production, however, had its moments; a particularly difficult technical sequence involved an off-stage explosion causing among other things a window to fall in, narrowly missing the target of the assassination attempt.
On one occasion, the window fell in several minutes before the explosion happened, before the actor playing Hugo (John Clemow) had received his cue to move, and he calmly propped the window up against his desk and carried on.
On another night, the bottle of brandy which was a vital property for the rest of the scene (Hugo's response to his narrow escape being to get extremely drunk) was nowhere to be found. The actor sidled to the wings to ask where the bottle was and was told that one of the other actors, fearing the bottle would get damaged in the explosion, had thoughtfully placed it under the table.
Later in the run, having successfully got drunk, Hugo hurled his glass so hard that it went through the scenery.
And to cap it all, this unfortunate actor, rushing off stage for a 5-second costume alteration for the transformation scene right at the end of the play, found himself helped into an inside-out raincoat by a wardrobe assistant who immediately vanished leaving him struggling to get the buttons done up!June 1953
TARTUFFE
by Moliere, in a free translation by Miles Malleson
Directed by Barbara Hutchins (Kit Emmet)
Designed by Carlisle Chang
This beautifully set production, with Diana Benn looking particularly stunning in the role of Elmire, was taken to The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham for three performances as part of an exchange scheme organised by the Little Theatre Guild. It appears that a reciprocal visit by The Crescent Theatre to Questors didn't materialise.
Coronation fever was gripping the club, and the May issue of Forestage announced an Elizabethan Frolic in the theatre grounds, to celebrate the "new Elizabethan Age":
"If you have never tilted at a quintain or singed the King of Spain's beard, this will be your chance to recapture some of the air of those days, in the street of Elizabethan shops and among the (almost) genuine Elizabethan worthies who will be present in their costumes of the day. Sir Walter Raleigh will be there, in disguise, and a handsome prize will go to the first person to deduce the identity of that piratical courtier. Later in the evening the players of Master W. S. (by a coincidence this stands for Wilfrid Sharp) will be there to entertain you with their usual fare."
