In complete contrast to this was the excerpt from Journey's End by R C Sherriff. The cast skilfully created the still and mournful atmosphere, and used the silences in the piece to great effect. Ned Harrison as Osborne and William Dunbar played off against each other well. Both gave a very calm, controlled performance, while still allowing the tensions underneath to show through.
After this came the most topical scene from Twelfth Night, with the line about BSE which brought the house down. As this excerpt was directed by Tom Balogh, the Drama Editor, I am not entirely sure that my review will survive intact, but the piece was extremely slick, and the comedy came through very well. James MacDonald as Sir Toby Belch was an admirable old drunkard, countered by Connie Emerson's shrewd and subtle Maria. Nick Clark brought an air of unconstraint to the piece as the amiable but stupid Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
The evening finished with the stunning performance of two scenes from Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard, performed by Nick Clark and Miles Copeland. This was very well paced and full of life, and the audience was entirely gripped by the witty wordplay and surreal situations. The performers interacted excellently, and never allowed the pace to drop. They brought out the characters of the more gentle Rosencrantz and the nervously pessimistic Guildernstern superbly. An evening of extremely good drama went out on a high note.
Laura Bender (Grant's)
Moliere's The Misanthrope was presented in a new, racy and self-aware translation by Martin Crimp and certainly the acting and direction reflected this. The verse was excellently handled, especially by David Odgers and Howard Gooding who played John and Alceste very ably. Ruban Yogarajah's superbly sharp direction resulted in a most amusing performance.
Subhi Sherwell's The Pastiche was a disturbing and thought-provoking marathon that flirted with many varied ideas. It was helped along by some sophisticated acting by Edward Tyerman, Nick Clark and Thomas Wood. The script dealt purposefully with semantic and ethical issues and a great deal more besides, yet plunged into self-satire as it swallowed itself up in a peculiarly unsavoury ending. This was a fine production, witty and gripping, which impressed everybody who saw it.
Miles Copeland (Busby's)
The first of these plays was Kids, which was based on the idea that all children are born highly intelligent and able to communicate with each other, but lose this gift as they grow up. This could have been a fine basis for a play, but Kids ended up being an odd blend of modern politically correct conformity and redundant hippie philosophy, which largely failed to engage the audience. This said, the script was not without entertainment value; sections of the dialogue between Sam (Nick Clark), Johnny (Alexie Calvert-Ansari), the Baby (Leo Borg) and Wendy (Sophie Powell) were sporadically entertaining, whilst the behaviour of Ellie (Lucy Priest) was often funny. However these enjoyable sections were often engulfed by long tedious monologues and other sections of annoying stilted dialogue, which inevitably ended with one or more of the characters crying. The intrinsic problem with Kids was John Morgan's attempt to inflict a deep meaning on it; this caused problems that even good acting could not undo and resulted in a feeling of disappointment at the end.
The second play, Dreamtime, was somewhat bizarrely based on the behaviour of dogs. Surprisingly this worked extremely well, and resulted in a very funny play which illustrated John Morgan's ability as a playwright. From the opening dialogue, the play kept its energy and humour thanks to excellent performances from the cast as a whole, and especially Fred Hodder who took full advantage of the fact that he had the best lines. There were also good performances from Adam Cohen and Caroline Newte Hardie who reacted perfectly to Fred's hyperactive behaviour. Like Kids, Dreamtime was weakened by the imposition of an ambiguous philosophy, suitably supplied by Florrie Evans, but in this case it formed such a small part that no significant damage was done. This play was a rarity - a School play that was a comedy not a tragedy, and one that managed to be funny despite the lack of atmosphere up School.
The final play was The Chosen Ones, a play set in a post-apocalyptic world where there are only two men and women left. The characters in apocalyptic comedies are usually caricatures and this one was no exception; it contained Arthur the standard strong white stupid sex mad male (played by James MacDonald) who is manipulated by his more intelligent companion (played by Miles Copeland). Pitted against them was a psychotic feminist (Jenny Haydock) and her naive companion Seraphina (Rachel Byng-Maddick). Though this play was extremely funny in places, it contained nothing that had not been seen in comic sketches with a similar plot. It contained the standard condemnation of how the world had been ruined by white middle-class dominant males, but offered nothing new.
To stage Philosophical Whimsies showed ambition on the part of Philip Needham. To produce the world premiere of comedies by an unknown playwright marks a departure from the tragedies which have been put on over recent years. Hopefully this will mark the introduction of innovation into large-scale School productions, allowing drama to develop and flourish at Westminster.
Ruban Yogarajah (Liddell's)
Maurice Lynn
Avye Leventis (Antigone) convincingly projected strength of character shot through with transitory doubts and vulnerability. Saul Lipetz (Creon) provided a commanding portrayal of the pragmatic statesman and leader, while Lola Peploe's interpretation of Ismene, the heroine's life-loving sister, demonstrated sureness of touch and meticulously accurate timing. Katya Aplin, as Antigone's nanny, was deliciously convincing, while Ollie Steele as the hapless fiance Hemon dealt admirably with what was not the easiest of parts.
Earthy humour and pathos were superbly and inventively served up by the three guards played by Emmanuel de Lange, Rhodri Thomas and Anthony Kazan, while Gallia McDermott and Davina Bristow, as Prologue and Chorus respectively, skilfully wove together the strands of metatheatrical statement. The two younger members of the cast, Frederick van der Wyck as the Messenger and Mark Smith as the Pageboy, stylishly complemented the work of the major roles. And all the while Eurydice, played by Molly Oldfield, patiently, relentlessly got on with her symbolic knitting for charity.
Down to the minutest detail, this was by any standards a uniformly polished and thoroughly memorable production. Bravo, director, cast, crew, and all concerned!
Maurice Lynn
At a time when judicial mores from this most frightful of wars are being re-examined, this was a poignant - and pertinent - production, much admired by its audience.
David Hargreaves