1

www.bristololdvictheatreclub.org.uk










The plaque to Julian Slade near Bristol Old
Vics box office.
Text reproduced over page.
Photo: Joe Spurgeon.
We said we wouldnt
look back?


ave you observed and scrutinised the
plaque that hangs on the wall to the
left of Bristol Old Vics box office? It
deserves studying. The message references
the talent and output of musician some
would say, magician Julian Slade whose
most famous and successful musical Salad
Days first appeared on the stage of the
Theatre Royal in 1954. To celebrate its 60
th

birthday, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is
presenting a fund-raising gala concert version
on Sunday, 29
th
June, an event which has
been advertised in previous Newsletters.
Julian Slade, who is in the Theatre Clubs
In Conversation archive as one of its many
illustrious guests, arrived in Bristol via
education at Eton and then Cambridge.
Initially harbouring a desire to be an actor, he
joined Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in
1951. Denis Carey, then Resident Director of
Bristol Old Vic, recognised in the young
student a passion and gift for music. He began
to encourage him as a composer and asked
him to write songs and incidental music for a
production of Two Gentlemen of Verona.
In 1952 Julian joined BOV Company as a
walk-on player and resident Musical Director
and it was in the Theatre Royal one day that
H

June 2014
2
Full text of the plaque that honours the
work and memory of Julian Slade.

this newly arrived young man willingly
responded to an appeal. The story has been
told so many times that one could be forgiven
for believing that it is apocryphal - an
extended version of the truth, a tale to tell
because its a good tale to tell. But the details
are exactly as frequently stated.
The supremely talented Neil Rhoden, who
was a great friend of Julians and Musical
Director on some of his shows both here and
(as Neil puts it) in Town, confirms it.
Director Denis Carey assembled the
Company one summer and announced that
something was needed for a Christmas show.
Preferably something original. He asked if
anybody thought they could write something
and three hands went up: those of Julian,
Dorothy Reynolds and James Cairncross. The
result was the colourful, uplifting Christmas
in King Street. It was a light-hearted show,
imaginative and full of fun and so successful
with local audiences that the same team was
set to work for a second time. As a result, the
following year was graced with the premiere
of The Merry Gentleman.
In 1954 came a repeat request only this
time it was something that the resident
company can put on for the end of summer.
Without James Cairncross this time, Julian
and Dorothy addressed the project.
Extraordinarily, before they even had ideas
about a story line they discussed a title. They
were in the stalls bar at the Theatre Royal, a
pokey, unprepossessing space, and
overhearing their conversation was Olive, a
member of the Front of House staff.
Olive pulled from her handbag a piece of
paper on which she had noted names she
thought would make good titles, a list
compiled for no other reason than that she
liked the words. How about Salad Days?
she asked and the title was sealed. It has been
suggested that her idea came from a
production of Antony and Cleopatra earlier in
the season in which Cleopatra refers to My
salad days, when I was green in judgment.
Salad Days was on all the posters before
a single note had been written, says Neil
incredulously. In fact, before there were any
ideas at all. But Julian was a quick study. He
worked very fast and once the outline had

JULIAN SLADE

1930 2006

COMPOSER AND WRITER OF MUSICALS,
JULIAN SLADE BEGAN HIS THEATRICAL
CAREER AS A STUDENT AT
THE BRISTOL OLD VIC
THEATRE SCHOOL.
BETWEEN 1952 AND 1974.
NO LESS THAN TEN OF THE TWENTY
MUSICALS HE WROTE,
WITH OR WITHOUT OTHER PARTNERS,
WERE FIRST STAGED AT THIS
THEATRE.

THEIR TITLES WERE:

**CHRISTMAS IN KING STREET 1952
**THE MERRY GENTLEMAN 1953
*THE DUENNA 1953
*SALAD DAYS 1954
*HOORAY FOR DAISY 1959
*FOLLOWTHAT GIRL 1960
60,000 NIGHTS 1966
THE PERSUIT OF LOVE 1967
*TRELAWNY 1972
OUT OF BOUNDS 1974

*TRANSFERRED WITHIN ONE YEAR TO
LONDONS WEST END
**REVIVAL AT THE THEATRE ROYAL IN
1959 / 70 AND 1972.

HE WROTE SEVEN MUSICALS IN
PARTNERSHIP WITH DOROTHY REYNOLDS.
CHRISTMAS IN KING STREET, THE MERRY
GENTLEMAN AND SALAD DAYS
WERE WRITTEN WHEN THEY WERE BOTH
MEMBERS OF
THE BRISTOL OLD VIC COMPANY.

JULIAN ALSO WROTE INCIDENTAL MUSIC
FOR A NUMBER OF SHAKESPEARE
PRODUCTIONS STAGED HERE
BETWEEN 1951 AND 1954.

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE HE RETAINED
A STRONG AFFECTION FOR THE BRISTOL
OLD VIC THEATRE SCHOOL,
THE BRISTOL OLD VIC
AND THE THEATRE ROYAL.

HE REMEMBERED THEM ALL WITH
GRATITUDE.

3
been decided it was six weeks from start to
finish and most of the show had been written
in two to three weeks. Dorothy provided the
book (or script) for the story, Julian
contributed the songs and lyrics.
The two writers evolved a plot at the start
of which Jane and Timothy meet in a park,
(Hyde Park, Neil explains) and fall in love,
though they dont quite recognise that till
later. According to one reviewer the show
unfolds about two young well-to-do
university students marrying each other, in
order to thwart more grandiose parental plans,
and earning their living temporarily by
minding a piano belonging to a tramp which
had the power to make people dance.
The story is very slight but it is the
through-line about which some hilarious and
original set pieces, including visits to a beauty
parlour and a police station and a flying
saucer ride, are clustered. And, of course, it
enjoys a happy-ever-after ending. Its songs
are memorable: We Said We Wouldnt Look
Back, I Sit in the Sun, Oh, Look at Me!, We
Dont Understand Our Children . . .
The show opened at Bristol Old Vic on 1
st

June, 1954 and was expected to run for three
weeks. However, its light-hearted innocence
chimed with the mood of the moment. It
proved an unimaginable sensation and
transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre, London
with a cast that included Eleanor Drew (the
original Jane who died earlier this year aged
91), John Warner, Newton Blick (whose
programme C.V. begins: Newton Blick
served in the 1914 1918 war), Yvonne
Coulette, Michael Aldridge and Pat Heywood.
(The Bristol production had included a young
Eric Porter.)
Adrian Slade, Julians brother, explains;
Almost everyone who went to the West End
with the show in August 1954 was a member
of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company.
Much as they all liked the show, and much as
Bristol audiences had loved it, I think most of
them expected to be back in Bristol by the late
autumn. Even after 21 curtain calls on the first
night there was considerable uncertainty
because by no means were all the reviews
favourable - indeed one or two critics were
very rude about the 'tinkly tunes' and
'flimsiness' of it all.
If I remember rightly, adds Neil, I think
the London producers wanted to recast some
of the roles, but Julian and Denis insisted it
should be the whole product intact or nothing.
For the actors who didnt transfer it was
entirely their own choice.
Having seen Salad Days in Bristol, Peter
Rodford writing in Plays & Players in the
days before actors were expected to be multi-
taskers, was favourable. He referred to a
thoroughly delightful three-hour production
comprised of a series of sketches which
independently would have earned a high place
in many a revue and which were so full of
good things that the piece as a whole could,
and should, find a wider market outside the
West Country. . The Company . . . worked
with enthusiasm and enjoyment and, for
actors, danced with impressive skill.
Although it later received the Evening
Standard Award for Most Enjoyable Show, as
Adrian says, some critics panned it describing
it variously as light weight, absurdly
Musician and composer Julian Slade
. . quick study. .
4










Oh, look at
me!

Full company
of the original
London
production
come under
the spell of
Minnie, the
magic piano.

whimsical and slightly more kindly,
chirpingly innocent.
In the light of the shows subsequent track
record, one particularly scathing review has
the power to amuse. It was in Plays & Players
again and the writer is identified only by
initials: R.B.
If you discard all critical judgement,
having been over-dined and over-wined, then
you will have a good time. It is the perfect
entertainment for the tired public school boy.
In the old days, that is six months ago, a
cast was chosen after long auditions and most
of the actors had some training in singing and
dancing. Now the policy appears to be that of
engaging a cast of straight players and hoping
for the best. This present company contains
some of the best young actors in Britain, who
in spite of their material, make a brave show.
Much of the writing of the book and
lyrics is banal, so that when an original witty
line comes up the audience laughs solidly for
several minutes.
He goes on to lambast it further claiming
that the authors have not decided if they
should write a burlesque, a fantasy, a revue or
a sentimental musical and advises them to go
to the Wyndhams to see The Boy Friend,
where style, technique, talent and form have
transformed this type of entertainment into a
fine work of art.
Whatever happened to R.B., we wonder.
Neil Rhoden redresses a balance: In point
of fact, Julian and Dorothy had created a new
genre with its synthesis of burlesque, fantasy
and revue - and R.B. failed to see its
importance.
Famously, many years later, a musical
called Les Misrables also suffered this kind
of treatment.
It certainly received mixed reviews, Neil
concurs. The Press looked down on Julian
Slade describing his music as sickly sweet,
fanciful and with no substance. Pop music
was emerging in the 50s, exposing everyone
to a new culture of youthfulness and
excitement. The world was changing. In this
climate Julian was seen by some as old-
fashioned with ideas that were restrained and
sweet.
The public adored it. Having opened at the
Vaudeville on 5
th
August 1954, Salad Days
ran for five-and-a-half years and 2283
performances. Night after night the House
Full notices went up and it became the longest
running show in musical theatre history until
the record was broken much later by Lionel
Barts Oliver!
5
We said we wouldnt look back.
Eleanor Drew as Jane; John Warner as
Timothy in the original London production.
This achievement is all the more
astonishing considering that this humble
Bristol production broke through a West End
regime dominated by the Americans with
gritty, more meaningful musicals like
Oklahoma!, Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me,
Kate and Guys and Dolls, all of which had
been playing in London around the time.
Perhaps it was its very frothiness, its
ability to lift peoples spirits, to bring joy and
pleasure that powered its success.
But why did it take off so? What was its
secret and why has it endured?
Julian had a unique voice. He wrote tunes
that could not be ascribed to anybody else, -
Neils face darkens momentarily unlike
one or two very famous composers of musical
shows who are notoriously derivative and
steal music from other sources. Julians have
a wonderful charm and originality. They are
tuneful and melodic and a pleasure to listen
to.
Adrian Slade commends the many fans
who came from Bristol initially to boost the
attendance figures. But very soon the wider
London audience was beginning to fall under
the spell, filling every seat in the theatre. If
you had asked them then what it was that
brought them into the growing army of fans,
most probably they would have said that they
'loved the songs' (or, as Noel Coward put it to
Julian after he had seen the show 'Such tunes,
dear boy! Such tunes! ). But many of the
predominantly upper middle class audiences
of those days almost certainly identified
themselves with the story line - the carefree
side of university, the parental pressures to
get a job, the influential uncles you might
have to go and see, the class of girl or boy
you were expected to marry, the reluctance to
do what was expected of you, even worries
about the cold war and, of course, for the
older generation there were the anxieties they
all had about their children or their own
marriages.
At first glance Salad Days may look like
a very simple show, he adds, with some
very pretty music but for the audiences of the
'50s it was a show with many messages and
allusions that struck home. That was why it
was such a success then, and I think, funnily
enough, why it was equally successful with
London audiences in 2013 at the Riverside
Studios in Hammersmith.
BOV Theatre School tends to revive Salad
Days every ten years though this is not a
pattern strictly adhered to. It was produced in
1984 with Lisa Bowerman and Bryan
Kennedy in the lead roles; in 1989 with
Joanna Riding and Brendan O'Hea; in 1994
with Charlotte Collingwood and Aled Jones;
in 2004 with Laura Sanchez and Alan
Morrissey.
There have been concert versions but, as
Neil points out, precious few full-blown
professional revivals. The amateur stage
continues to present it in abundance. In its day
it wasnt such a large cast when compared to
the musicals with singing and dancing
choruses. It was written with double casting
in mind! There was originally a cast of 12, I
think.
Adrian Slade retains a great affection for
BOV Theatre School. Its students are
presenting a special one-off tribute to Julian
to mark the 60th Anniversary of the opening
6
Julian Slade
A self caricature.
of Salad Days see page 18 and Adrian will
be present. He is also attending the Prize-
giving on 12
th
June - the very day, perhaps, on
which you read these words to give the
Award bearing his brothers name.
Principal Paul Rummer pays tribute to
Adrians encouragement and loyalty: Adrian
is a terrific supporter of the Theatre School
and its students. The annual Julian Slade
award (to develop musical talent) is much
cherished and a terrific boost to the winning
student. It also indirectly recognises the
excellent work in singing and music at the
Theatre School, led by Pam Rudge. Were all
looking forward to Adrian joining Pam and
the students on stage at the Salad Days
concert on Sunday, 29th June at the
Redgrave.
Meanwhile, it is worth reflecting upon the
fact that in the days before extended periods
of Research and Development, seemingly
endless Preview
performances to get
things right, high-tech
effects, celebrity names
and all the
extraordinary para-
phernalia of modern
theatre production, a
simple tale and a good
old-fashioned show
lovingly crafted in a
provincial theatre by a
team of creative
individuals took on a
life of its own and
became a phenomenon.

Neil Rhoden was Musical Director of Bristol
Old Vic from 1969 1981 and from 1983 for
twenty-five years was Musical Director and
Staff Director at Bristol Old Vic Theatre
School.

In part 2 next month, Adrian Slade evaluates
the effect fame had on a naturally modest
Julian, we record some well nigh incredible
spin-offs from the Bristol production and its
West End transfer and reveal a little-known
fact that provides a bizarre link between Salad
Days, The Boy Friend and a popular radio
programme.

Saturday, 14
th
June
from 10.30 a.m.



at
Bristol Old Vic
and at 11 a.m.



with
















PAUL RUMMER

BOV Theatre School has enjoyed a
particularly successful two years.
As well as landmark productions
of The Last Days of Mankind in 2014
to this years London Road via a sell-
out Christmas show and a brilliant
Directors Cuts season at the Brewery
there has been the inclusion of the
former Friends programme into that of
BOV Theatre Club.

Principal Paul Rummer makes a
welcome visit to celebrate the artistic
output of the School,
assess its current position
and tell us how it is coping when
funding is being squeezed.

Theatre Club members and under-16s free.
Guests: 5

7
small party of Theatre Club members
attended the celebration of the life and
work of Peter OToole, held at
Londons Old Vic in May.
The celebrity-studded proceedings were
introduced and compred by Barry Cryer and
during the programme Stephen Fry made the
announcement that the award hitherto known
as the Patrons Prize, which funds a contract
with Bristol Old Vic Company for two
deserving Theatre School graduates, is
henceforward to be known as The Peter
OToole Prize.



Alan Wright, BOVs Director of
Development, assesses a life
well lived.

In his own Wright

s a teenager, I remember reading
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
and desperately wanting to be Irish.
Joyce used language in a way I hadnt
encountered before, painting vivid pictures of
characters who, however flawed and
vulnerable, were imbued with a unique spirit.
Eventually, I got my way and moved to
Dublin at the end of the 1970s. It was an
exciting place, capital of a country emerging
from over fifty years of relative isolation.
Young actors such as Gabriel Byrne and
Liam Neeson were beginning to make an
impression, and the affable Cyril Cusack had
already inspired the careers of three very
talented daughters.
I vividly remember approaching Cyrils
front door for the first time, as he arrived
simultaneously on his bicycle, a wicker
basket filled with shopping attached to the
handlebars. Along with the actor, Niall Toibin,
and the writer, Dominic Behan, Cyril seemed
to have an endless reservoir of stories from
the Irish stage that were soon further
enhanced when my employer, Radio Telefis
Eireann, embarked upon the most ambitious
project it had ever attempted, a four-part
television adaptation of James Plunketts epic
novel, Strumpet City.
With great authenticity, Cyril played the
role of an alcoholic priest opposite Peter
OToole as the heroic James Larkin, the first
organiser of the Irish labour movement in the
early twentieth-century. I am certain it was
Peters presence that persuaded another of
my heroes, Peter Ustinov, to accept a cameo
role in the series.
It is difficult to describe the impact Peter
OToole had on RTE. The organisation had a
proud history of public service broadcasting,
but was massively overshadowed by the
presence of the BBC, available in most parts
of Ireland. Strumpet City allowed RTE to
assert itself internationally for the first time. It
was Peters gift to Irish television, as we
certainly didnt have the capacity to pay his
going rate.
It was this generosity of spirit that was
highlighted time and time again at last
months extraordinary celebration of Peter
OTooles life staged at the Old Vic under the
guiding hand of Tom Morris. There was an
outpouring of affection and respect from a
glittering array of artists including Benedict
Cumberbatch, Trevor Eve, John Standing,
Stephen Fry, Sinead Cusack, Albert Finney,
and Kevin Spacey. In such auspicious
company, students from Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School shone on stage as they
demonstrated their sword-fighting prowess.
The audience included such luminaries as
Edward Fox, Jeremy Irons, Robert Powell,
Sam Neal, and a brace of Irelands Oscar
A
A
8
To good living. Peter OToole
winning directors, Jim Sheridan and Neil
Jordan.
However, in most peoples opinion the star
of the show was Michael D. Higgins, the
diminutive President of Ireland. The average
Irish person uses a vocabulary almost 30%
bigger than the English and the Presidents
extraordinary descriptive eloquence was
appropriate testament to that statistic. He
painted a picture of Peter OToole as an
exceptional talent with the most generous
spirit, fiercely proud of his Irish heritage and
uncompromising in his view of the world. At
the end of the Presidents moving and
amusing tribute to the great man, I was once
more reminded of Emile Zolas description of
himself:
I am an artist... I am here to live out loud.
I feel privileged to know just how much
Bristol Old Vic meant to Peter OToole and
how his memory will always be enshrined
within the fabric of our very precious theatre. I
also believe the fictional life of my literary
hero, Stephen Dedalus, was somehow
reflected in the extraordinary life of Peter
OToole.
AW
Chris Harris.

wo days after the Peter OToole
celebration came the Jollification for
Chris Harris. This was at Bath Theatre
Royal where Chris had presented so many of
his annual pantomimes, returning year after
year as both Dame and director.
Jollification was exactly the right term to
describe an assembly of family, colleagues,
friends and fans, all of whom remembered
this gifted individual with love and
admiration.
A final reference to the event will appear
in next months Newsletter.



Saturday, 21
st
June



The Watermill

2. 30 p.m. performance.





by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman
Directed by Caroline Leslie

We will break our journey for lunch at Newbury
before proceeding to The Watermill with time to
wander by the river.
From Bristol Hotel, Prince Street at 9 a.m.
arriving back at 8 p.m. approx.

Price, which includes theatre ticket, coach
travel and drivers remuneration:-
Members 29
Guests 34

Call Isabel.

Then send cheque, payable to BOV Theatre
Club, together with a stamped, self-addressed
envelope (please include your phone number)
to: Trips Organiser, Bristol Old Vic Theatre
Club, Theatre Royal, King Street, BRISTOL
BS1 4ED.

T
9
Toby Hulse In Conversation.
Photo Arthur Turner.
Toby Hulse is highly valued as a writer,
adapter and director. On graduating from
the Theatre School in 1999 he was the
Dennis Cartledge Award-winning student.
Barry Williamson heard him In
Conversation.

Expect the unexpected

oby wrote his first play at the age of
six. In it there appeared Drake,
Raleigh, Potatoes, the Armada,
Elizabeth 1
st
and a Cloak (to cover a puddle).
His most recent work will be performed in
November in the Studio an adaptation of
Michael Foremans childrens story about the
famous game of football played across No
Mans Land between the British and German
soldiers at Christmas 1914. (There will be a
special event connected with the production
for Theatre Club members see page 13)
In between there has been a glittering
career as an actor, primary school teacher,
investment banker, theatre director, BOV
Theatre School tutor and school workshop
organiser. We sat on the edge of our seats as
one project followed another, all embraced
with great enthusiasm and wonderful humour
perhaps the investment bank episode was
the exception when he asked a Company
Director to explain the social purpose of their
work and the top man answered, None . . .
Goodbye Mr Hulse.
Toby explained the role that chance has
played in his life; having a father who worked
as an Arts administrator and was not
unreceptive to talk of a career in theatre; the
wise advice to read English at Oxford, then
bursting with talented and creative spirits, all
hooked on the theatre. The first play that
really excited him to the possibility of
working professionally in theatre was an
adaptation that he did of a short story by
Nikolai Gogol called The Nose. He also
directed it and discovered the intoxication of
making people laugh. There was a chance
meeting in a pub with a primary school
teacher leading to training and six years
working in schools.
Then the big break. A small legacy
enabled Toby to spend a year at the Theatre
School on the Directors course and the
Principal at the time, Chris Denys, asked him
to stay on as a tutor (teaching, clowning,
story-telling and abbreviating Shakespeare);
finally breaking out to childrens theatre
through writing the No Loud Bangs series (in
which he also appeared) and just recently
directing Minotaur and the wonderful work in
over twenty Somerset schools where actors
are not everyday visitors.
Always expect the unexpected and when
a door opens be ready to walk through and
make the most of opportunities.
As someone who has had not much more
than one and a half creative thoughts in sixty
years, listening to Toby describe his life now
was awe-inspiring; the excitement of
developing ideas, of working with a team of
actors, of involving children in the whole
process. No two days are the same. It might
be a school-teaching day or writing in the
open office of Coopers Gallery (where we
often see him) or negotiating with theatre staff
and schools for future projects or directing a
play like Minotaur . . . Wonderful, rich,
invaluable.

A few memorable lines:
The moment you forget the audience is the
moment you should leave the theatre.

Acting is desperately competitive but also
compulsively collaborative.

Drama is just pretentiousness; theatre is
working with other people.

What an inspiration!
BW
T
10
Barry Williamson also went to the Tobacco
Factory Theatre to hear graduating
students Millie Corser and Dominic
Creasey look back over three years at the
Theatre School.

Millie and Dom







t was a morning filled with good humour,
enthusiasm, hope for the future and thanks
for all the good things of the past three
years. Millie and Dom gave us all that and an
insight into why the BOVTS is regarded as
the best place in the country to train for the
theatre. They have loved their years in Bristol.
The School building itself is small,
somewhat shabby, full of the atmosphere of a
good family; the staff supportive and kind, all
wanting each student to develop the potential
they know is there. A wonderful camaraderie
develops among the students themselves, a
real glue that means friends for life. What
could be a better start?
Millie and Dom spoke eloquently and
antiphonally about their experiences and their
audience was riveted by the responses to
questions, a combination of information and
anecdote.

Auditions?
You learn to distance yourself from getting
the part and learn not to fear rejection; you
grow a thick skin. Many Directors don't like
you to learn the lines because they want to
mould you into the part if you are lucky
enough to get it.
Rejection isn't meant personally, just that
you're not right for the way the Director wants
to develop the role.

Tours?
One of the best things we ever did, the West
Country Tour; on the road all together all
those village halls with dire acoustics but
always the buzz of excited audiences and
children with all their honesty and unexpected
interjections; and the unforgettable trip to
Edinburgh with Romeo and Juliet.

What if there are aspects of a role that go
against a moral stance you hold?
The writer has given you a story and you
have to respect it if you didn't like it you
should have rejected it at the beginning. Trust
the writer and try to find out what makes
different people tick.

Favourite productions?
Love Steals Us from Loneliness, the recent
Directors Cuts production at the Brewery
Theatre, a wonderful feeling of creating
something magical; and also Romeo and
Juliet which was our special baby that we
took to the Edinburgh Fringe. There was all
the buzz of Edinburgh and the chance to see
as many as six shows a day.

Favourite venues?
Dom: The Brewery with its black box, quite
intimate and you're not too worried about
projecting your voice.
Millie: Bristol Old Vics Studio, a
marvellous space on two levels with the
chance to do things differently.
I
Dominic and Millie, graduating and going.
They have both been in the cast of
Blue Stockings this week.
Photo: Arthur Turner
11
Radio work?
Creating a character on the air is a real skill.
Your voice has to make the listeners imagine
your body. The sound of your voice has to
match the shape of the body you happen to be
acting.

How to stop becoming stale?
It must be hard in a long run to keep up the
momentum but we were told all you need to
do is to change one thing each week and
you'll feel refreshed for example don't wear
any pants and the performance will take on a
new life . . .

Why the life of an actor?
If you've moved people, if you've made them
laugh and cry and possibly changed them a bit
and you've shared the experience together,
that's all you can hope for and its wonderful
and utterly worthwhile.

Millie and Dom are great fun. Both are
sociable and enterprising and burst with
energy. Because of their performances in last
years Romeo and Juliet which they took to
the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, having given
the Theatre Club a special fund-raising
performance at the School, we have got to
know them a little more than other students
perhaps.
It follows that we will miss them when
they leave. They both hope to be at the Picnic
on the Downs. Join us if you can. (see page
17)
BW

International affairs

s part of out on-going support for
BOV Theatre School, the Committee
has recently agreed to make a
donation of 2,000 towards a new fund
dedicated to helping International students
who find themselves in unexpected financial
hardship. Paul Rummer refers to it in his
column, Notes from Downside Road.
International Students are obliged to
support themselves as a condition of
obtaining a Visa.
Further information giving the context of
this donation will be published next month.

Sunday, 3
rd
August



Worcestershire.
Former home of the Bishops of Worcester.

Guided tour of the beautiful State Rooms,
the Hurd library, the Chapel and
Bishops House.
Gain a fascinating insight into Victorian
social history in the Castle Museum galleries.

In the stables and barns a unique collection of
gypsy caravans, carriages and carts with a
chance to explore local agricultural history.

Explore the past and discover what life was
like for our ancestors.

A sunny restaurant can lay on meals
(please order when applying with
payment upfront) with
starter: choice of soup or prawn cocktail
main: chicken or fish or vegetarian lasagne
dessert: unknown at present.
3 course: 14.95; 2 course 11.95.
Snacks, coffee or tea are available.
A walled garden caters for picnickers.

Leave at 9.30 a.m. from the Bristol Hotel,
Prince Street. Two-hour Castle tour begins at
11.15 a.m.

We begin the homeward journey at 5 p.m.
arriving back at 7.30 p.m.

Price, which includes coach travel, Castle
entry, tour and drivers remuneration:-
Members 23
Guests 28
Add price of a meal if required.

Call Isabel.

Then send cheque, payable to BOV Theatre
Club, together with a stamped, self-addressed
envelope (please include your phone number)
to: Trips Organiser, Bristol Old Vic Theatre
Club, Theatre Royal, King Street, BRISTOL
BS1 4ED.

A
12
Bristol Old Vic:
the next few weeks.









World Cup Final 1966
squad announced!

World Cup Final 1966 is a funny, affectionate
look at this epic moment in footballing history
and runs throughout this years 2014 FIFA
World Cup which starts on 12
th
June in Brazil,
with the Final on 13
th
July. World Cup Final
1966 follows the path to glory of the players
and manager of the 1966 team, as well as
culminating in a full-scale re-enactment of the
1966 World Cup final on stage.
Its cast of eleven was recently announced.
Legendary goalie Gordon Banks is being
played by Les Bubb who has worked on the
first three Harry Potter films, toured with Take
That and brought his award-winning physical
performance style to a new generation,
starring in Hububb for BBC1 from 1997-2002.
He is also starring in this summers animated
move Tarzan.
Bristol Old Vic regulars Stewart Wright
(Swallows and Amazons, ITVs Doc Martin),
Zara Ramm (Treasure Island) and Tom
Wainwright (The Boy Who Cried Wolf) are
playing Ray Wilson, Geoff Hurst and Alan
Ball respectively.
Returning from a hugely successful
international tour of A Midsummer Nights
Dream is Kyle Lima playing Jack Charlton.
Roy Weskin who starred in the original
Battersea Arts Centre production of World
Cup Final 1966 ten years ago returns in the
role of Bobby Charlton.
Neil Haigh (as Nobby Stiles), Brian
Hargreaves (as Roger Hunt), Oliver
Llewellyn-Jenkins (as Bobby Moore),
Karla Shacklock (as Martin Peters)
complete the squad and Glyn Grimstead
takes the role of Englands greatest ever
manager, Alf Ramsey.
We can say with complete confidence that
at Bristol Old Vic at least, England will win the
World Cup this summer. Guaranteed.
*World Cup Final 1966, written and directed by
Carl Heap and Tom Morris, plays in the
Theatre Royal from Thursday, 12
th
June to
Saturday, 12
th
July.

WILD MEN
From the harmonies of childhood to
the chaos of war

When the Great
War breaks out a
small town
stands strong under the occupation. The front
line filters into the hearts of those left at home
and a group of choristers reunite to fight
together.
This is a tale of beauty and of destruction.
Using choral music, inventive physical theatre
and ensemble performance this year's Made
In Bristol company Hotel Echo Theatre Co.
make their debut production with a story of
harmony amongst chaos.
*Hotel Echo Theatre Company presents
Wild Men in the Studio from Wednesday
25
th
to Saturday, 28
th
June.

Box Office: 0117 987 7877
Email: tickets@bristololdvic.org.uk
www.bristololdvic.org.uk
13


War Game.

Inspired by Michael Foremans
novella.
Devised and directed by Toby Hulse.

War Game tells the story of the opening
months of World War 1 through the eyes of a
village football team who sign up, train, are
despatched to the Front and then play in the
famous Christmas Day match across No
Man's Land.
Inspired by Michael Foremans novella for
young readers, this devised adaptation is
timed to be part of the centenary memorials
of the start of World War 1.
*War Game plays in Bristol Old Vics Studio
from Tuesday 11
th
to Saturday, 22
nd
November.


A unique InHouse Day

nother of our popular InHouse Days
but this time with a difference. It enjoys
the familiar features of an InHouse
Coffee Morning, In Conversation, lunch,
afternoon performance but with an
interesting twist. This time we are devising a
special event aimed at Theatre Club
Members and the young people in their lives.
At present we are negotiating with a very
special In Conversation guest and developing
the participation of members of the Young
Company.
Essentially, however, this interactive day
will be about us and the young people in our
lives and provides a rare opportunity for
Theatre Club members to work gently and
creatively with a team from Bristol Old Vic in
the shape of Toby Hulse and Lisa Gregan.
Some details are in the panel opposite:
please support this venture by phoning
Marion on the number given and reserving
your tickets with her.

Saturday, 15
th
November



InHouse Day for
War Game

A brand new event for Theatre Club
members and the young people in
their lives.

The day will consist of an In Conversation
free to all members, 5 for guests (free if
supported by a performance ticket), followed
by a ticketed event which will include

a buffet lunch
attendance at the 3pm performance of
War Game
post script an after show discussion
and refreshments and
an informative and fun event steered
by Lisa Gregan and Toby Hulse,
building on themes from the
production, which will involve
members of the Young Company as
well as the Theatre Club audience.

Kidnap the young people in your family and
bring them to this special event.
Suitable for young people
aged 11 upwards.

Cost:
Members: 17
Guests: 22
All under 18s: 15.

Tickets are limited.
Phone Marion
or email Fran Havard
and then send a cheque
payable to BOV Theatre Club
together with a stamped, self-addressed
envelope (please include your phone
number) to:
InHouse Day, Bristol Old Vic Theatre Club,
King Street, Bristol BS1 4ED

Final details of the speaker and timings will
be published in the July Newsletter.
A
14
Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School

Notes from Downside Road


News
from
the
Principal


hat an eventful month, and
firstly congratulations to
Callum McIntyre on his success
at the Sondheim competition. Callum was
runner-up in a hotly fought event,
competing against students from
specialist musical theatre courses; a great
result. You can see him in action on 29
th

June taking part in our Salad Days concert
evening at the Redgrave. Weve heard
that Katie Moore is sadly no longer
available, but have another special guest
lined up to join our singers. We hope to
see you there.

We were proud to be part of the mem-
orial event for Peter OToole at the
London Old Vic on 18
th
May; partly the
event was to raise funds for a Peter
OToole prize to enable Theatre School
graduating acting students to join the cast
of Bristol Old Vic productions. This is a
very exciting prospect and I hope to bring
you more news in the near future. Taking
part on behalf of the Theatre School were
Erin Doherty, Ryan McKen, Joseph Black
and Marcus Fraser demonstrating their
spectacular dramatic fights before an Old
(Continued over page)

Playing until Saturday, 21
st
June
at
Bristol Old Vics
Studio

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
presents





Book and Lyrics by Alecky Blythe.
Music and Lyrics by Adam Cork.
Directed by Nicholas Bone.

A musical that documents the events of
2006. The residents of London Road had
struggled for years with kerb crawling on
their street. When Steve Wright, the
occupant of No. 79, was convicted of the
murders of five women, the community
grappled with what it meant to be at the
epicentre of this tragedy.

A quietly stunning achievement The creative
daring and needling intelligence returns the
complex texture of human life to musical theatre.
Sunday Times

Tickets 15 / concessions 10
from Bristol Old Vic.
Box Office: 0117 987 7877
bristololdvic.org.uk

W
15
Vic packed with the top names from
theatre and film - a truly memorable
event for those four and all attending.

Our Downside Road site is shortly to be
transformed into a construction site, with
preparatory work starting from 16
th
June
in preparation for the building of the
Link. Our fundraising has gone well to
achieve the completion of the main work;
our brilliant fundraiser, Vanessa
Edwards, is now going flat out to meet
the target for fitting out the new rooms
with specialist equipment. We are very
grateful to those of you who have already
made a donation; theres still time to help
us complete the fit-out in time for the
opening in early 2015.

One of the areas of student training that
makes the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
unique is our focus on taking productions
on tour; we present nearly one hundred
performances annually with our three
touring shows, the largest of which is our
West Country tour - this year Feydeaus
Sauce for the Goose. On 28
th
May at
Wedmore Village Hall, we performed to
a packed audience and were presented, at
the curtain call, with a donation to our
student hardship funds by Valerie
Godfrey and Holly Cole of Wedmore
Theatre Club, who have booked us to
perform for twenty-five consecutive
years. The students always receive a
warm welcome and receive great
hospitality in Wedmore; our sincere
thanks to all involved for continuing to
support the Theatre School we look
forward to returning next year.

Tuesday 20th May saw a packed Theatre
Royal, Bath witness a Jollification in
memory of Chris Harris. It was a very
fitting tribute to a dear friend to so many
of us; Andrew Stocker and I were very
proud to be able to contribute to this very
poignant event.





I dont need to remind everyone of the
productions we still have on this term, so
well advertised in this Newsletter, as well
as the joint Theatre School and Theatre
Club events coming up in June and early
July. We have already been planning
events for the coming autumn term,
which begins with the welcome to our
new International students in late
September. Our heartfelt thanks to the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre Club for the very
generous donation being made to kick
start a special fund to support our
International students. This is most
gratefully received and will provide a
much-needed resource for students from
abroad if faced with hardship whilst at
the Theatre School.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the
many events still left to enjoy this term.

Paul Rummer
3
rd
June 2014
Callum McIntyre, runner up in the
Sondheim competition.
Callum played Edmund in The Lion, The
Witch &The Wardrobe, Romeo in Romeo
& Juliet, The Student in The Blue Room.
16
A sad tales best . . .

Kim Durham introduced his production
of The Winters Tale, which has a cast
of students of BOV Theatre Schools
International Course, at the last
Directors / Designers Preview.

This report was published in last months
electronic version of the Newsletter.

A sad tales best for winter.

rom the classical canon, Shakespeares
The Winters Tale is this years choice
for students on the International
Course, The Winters Tale, generally classed
a Shakespeare comedy or one of his late
romances, is a play about the seasons and
time and bringing things back to fruition. It is
also sometimes referred to as a problem
play. The first half is intense the Court and
dangerous domestic politics, psychological
drama and is tragic and wintry in tone. It is
set in Sicily where Polixenes, the King of
Bohemia has been the guest of Leontes, King
of Sicilia, for just over nine months.
They have been close friends since
childhood but in a fit of inexplicable and
sudden rage, Leontes accuses his wife
Hermione of being unfaithful to him. The
father of their new-born babe, he asserts, is
Polixenes. Wife and child are both banished.
The second half, sunny, funny and
exuberant - pastoral and peopled with
shepherds and shepherdesses - takes place in
Bohemia.
Between first and second halves lies a span
of sixteen years a period bridged briefly in a
speech by the character Time. The play
includes, its director Kim Durham reminded
us, probably the most famous stage direction
of all. Exit pursued by a bear is an incident
that occurs as Antigonus, a courtier, fulfils his
orders to carry Hermiones infant to a barren
spot and leave it to a cruel fate. The child
grows up to be Perdita, one of Shakepeares
most beautiful heroines. Full of grace and
purity she is successfully wooed by Florizel
whom Perdita believes to be a country swain.
Forbidden to marry they flee to Sicily for a
dnouement of surprises that stretches
credulity to the limit.
There are ten international students of
which four are women and all of them must
have enough to do. There is a lot of doubling
of parts. The action is set in the 1950s and the
production is vaguely eastern European in
look.


Thursday, 19
th
to Saturday, 21
st
June
at
the Tobacco Factory Theatre

Bristol Old Vic Theatre Schools
International Students
present












The Winters Tale
by William Shakespeare.
Directed by Kim Durham.

Shakespeares magical play takes us from
deep tragedy to high comedy, from an act
born of insane paranoia in a winter palace
to a wild country summer festival.

Along the way we are reminded what it
is to be human: to love and to lose and
perhaps, also, to be restored.

Tickets: 15 / concessions 10.
Booking info: 0117 902 0344
www.tobaccofactorytheatre.com


F
17
Thursday, 19
th
June
Bristol Old Vic Studio
After-show TalkBack


Following the
matinee perf-
ormance of
London Road.
Purchase your
ticket for the
production and
join a post-show
discussion with
members of the
creative team.

No tickets for the TalkBack needed.



Sunday, 22
nd
June from 1 p.m.
Meet at the Theatre School.

Picnic on the Downs.

fresco and watch the annual, highly
competitive game of rounders.
Enjoy a fun afternoon with the
graduating students of BOV Theatre
School as they say farewell and disappear
across the Downs to embark upon their
professional careers.

Free but tickets from Andrew.
0117 973 3955

Tuesday, 24
th
June
to Tuesday, 1
st
July
from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Royal West of England
Academy
Queens Road
(opposite Victoria Rooms)

Bristol Old Vic Theatre Schools

Exhibition
of
Costume
Scenic Art
Theatre Design.

Free entry

Saturday, 28
th
June from 10.30 a.m.
Special viewing
with an introduction
by Angela Davies,
(pictured left)
BOV Theatre
Schools Head of
Design.

Free but tickets from Andrew
0117 973 3955.


Prizegiving

BOV Theatre Schools annual Prizegiving
takes place almost as you read these
words. Prize winners names will be
published in the July Newsletter.



Not everything is black and white. Choose
to receive your Newsletter by email and all
images are in colour.
Contact our Theatre Club Membership
Secretary.

Students Patrick
Tolan and Dominic
Creasey enjoy last
years Picnic on
the Downs.
Join us this year
for an ever-
popular event.
Bring a picnic
lunch and a bottle
of wine, dine al
18

Sunday, 29
th
June
6 p.m.
at
the Redgrave Theatre

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
presents

A special
60th Birthday Gala
Concert of








Enjoy the froth and whimsy
of these end-of-season songs,
showcased by a talented cast of final-
year acting students
under the musical direction of
Pamela Rudge
and a very special guest.

By supporting this
one-off special performance
you will be helping to raise funds for the
Theatre Schools Link building
at Downside Road,
enabling us to develop and promote the
finest talent to entertain you.

Tickets: 25.
from Andrew on 0117 973 3955.
www.oldvic.ac.uk


Friends
of the University of Bristol
Theatre Collection

Tuesday, 8
th
July 2014
6.30 - 8.30 pm

EVENING VISIT
to the Theatre Collections Exhibition

The Master: Nol Coward
1899 1973
An exhibition celebrating Cowards life
and work

An opportunity to see the current exhibition,
The Master: Nol Coward 1899-1973 with
light refreshments and a selection of
Nol Cowards music.
Please join the Friends of the Theatre
Collection and celebrate one of the most
significant figures in British theatre in the
twentieth century.

RSVP ESSENTIAL
email:theatre-collection@bristol.ac.uk or tel
0117 33 15086
Doors open from 6.00 pm



Monday 28th July at 6pm and 8:30pm.
at the Alma Tavern Theatre
Paperbark Theatre Company
presents

the final Bristol performances
of award-winning Australian play
This is Where We Live.
by Vivienne Walshe.

The heart breaking story of Chloe (Shaelee
Rooke) and Chris (Oliver de Rohan), two
isolated teenagers stuck in an outback town.
Directed by Alec Fellows-Bennett
(All recent graduates of the Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School.)
Please see the Paperbark Theatre listing on
the following link to book tickets:
http://www.almataverntheatre.co.uk/theatre/w
hat-s-on.html