30 Years of Drama at Mollison Drive
1975 – 2005
If you look at our Archive and peruse our list of past glories, you may note that in mounting Oliver! this Christmas, we are for the first time in thirty years repeating one of our previous productions. I have good cause to remember that Oliver! It was the first time I was really involved in drama at Wilson’s. I had no previous acting or directing experience, though at a much younger age I had been fascinated with puppet theatres and made any number of them to ‘entertain’ audiences of friends and neighbours, who graciously allowed themselves to be dragged round to see the latest ingenious tour de force. I was left with an abiding interest in the technical side of theatre production and special effects, and when one evening, a few days before the first night of Sweeney Todd in the newly-built Wallington home of Wilson’s School, I casually enquired how they proposed to arrange for a trap-door to swallow the demon barber’s unfortunate victims, I was taken aback to hear that no-one had actually given it much thought. Immediately I set to considering the problem and came up with what I thought would be a simple and effective solution. I explained my proposal to the redoubtable John Gibbons, the maths teacher who was then in charge of all technical aspects of school drama (he left shortly after this to work for the BBC); he ridiculed my idea and said that it clearly would not work. Outraged, I set off for the DT room (or woodwork shop, as it was then known), made the thing, brought it into the hall and demonstrated its fluid and effective movement to what I hoped would be an impressed and penitent John Gibbons. His response was a curt ‘OK, thanks very much - that’s another job crossed off the list.’ I realised that I had been suckered, or as it came to be known, ‘Gibboned’ - and that was only the first time. John was a founder member of an amateur dramatic group based on Imperial College, called Pandora Theatre, and it wasn’t long before I found myself press-ganged into accepting acting roles, stage managing, painting scenery, designing fliers, and going off on summer tours.
Back at Wilson’s, my sensational trap-door was clearly sufficient recommendation for me to be asked to create the scenery for the next production, Oliver. I don’t think it was very good: just a series of flats painted with brick wall patterns, that the stage crew took an eternity to rearrange between scenes; no upper level, and no London backdrop. It did, however, have the cardinal virtue of being tremendously cheap; we even mixed our own paint from powder and size, as I recall. There are those who would prefer it if we went back to those good old days, I am sure.
By this time I was itching to have a go at putting on the stage a classical drama, and when I chose the Birds of Aristophanes, I found a willing and most supportive ally in the then Head of Drama, Laurie Smith, who not only decided to let me have a go, but made an enormous commitment of time and energy to help me devise a suitable script. When I finally realised how hopeless at directing I was, he kindly took over from me; with some relief I moved over to the scene design and the music, which I composed and taught to a band of sixth-formers. We cast Tim Hudson in the lead role; this was the first time that I worked closely with him on a play. He later became a professional actor and has been back to Wilson’s in recent years as guest speaker at Prizegiving.
Laurie Smith left soon after this and for a short time the Head of English, Ken Daynes, resumed the helm. Then a new appointment, Chris Burge, heralded a brief golden age of drama in the early eighties. Ken had chosen The Importance Of Being Earnest and had assembled a stellar cast for it; Chris took it over and produced one of the most well-received and fondly-remembered shows ever to be staged here. Tim Hudson contributed an extraordinary turn as Lady Bracknell, a performance which I later saw him reprise in his own version at Oxford. Chris went on to startle audiences with some bold and challenging choices, though his first, Antonio’s Revenge, was a blood-curdling epic that had many of the audience squirming and the rest looking at their watches. During Chris’s tenure I continued happily creating ever trickier set designs, which the unfailingly helpful Kevin Hemmings, Alan Smith and John Parker of the Art and Technology departments always found a way of making into reality, and finally started directing some pieces completely on my own. At the same time one particularly enterprising sixth-former, Edward Applewhite, was mounting his own productions at school, including an ambitious My Fair Lady with full orchestra.
When Chris left in 1985, I was left in sole charge of school drama and the next year put on The Sport of My Mad Mother with Paul Longhurst and Mark Stone in the leading roles. For that show the Hall floor was transformed into the most convincing and dangerous-looking backstreet alley seen outside of Croydon. The play requires gunshots to be heard, which we decided to create by using live maroons contained in metal drums. Unfortunately the effects team ordered explosives that were several sizes too large for the job, so that the resulting barrage of explosions resembled a war zone more than a street fight. I still don’t know how we got away without multiple heart-attacks in the audience or the police being called to see what was happening. Paul is now a leading light of the local amateur dramatic scene and recently directed Melissa Cox (who plays Nancy) in The Crucible at Oxted; Mark meanwhile has become a professional opera singer and has played leading roles at the English National Opera. Edward Applewhite, who also appeared in Sport, has gone on to professional acting and directing work, with many plays and TV appearances to his credit. Simon Finch, Stephen Jenkins (stage name Stephen Beckett: The Bill, Coronation Street), Paul Gerrard (stage name Paul Bridges, currently presenting Gems TV on Sky and Cable), Jonathan Howard and Justin Audibert are also among those who have chosen a life on the stage. Many of those involved in backstage work over the years have made a career of it as well: Rob Halliday is a freelance stage lighting expert whose work takes him all over the world, and Ian Hunter (who directed After Magritte and appeared in Frogs and The Injustice Done to Tou Ngo) has gone on to stage manage the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics in 2005, the Winter Olympics in Turin 2006 and the phenomenally successful Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace.
Twenty years have now flown by, with at least one production pretty well every school year; there was a slight hiatus in the late 90s when we were obliged to use the Secombe Theatre instead of our own Hall, where the original cheaply-acquired equipment had finally become unusable. That of course was also the time when the Shock Tactics name came about. We have the PTA to thank for their continuing support in replacing worn out and outdated lighting, sound and stage gear. In the 21st century, we now have a thriving music department adding energy and variety to the Wilson’s stage, and drama is finally finding its way into the school curriculum. The Performing Arts look set to make Wilson’s School their Mount Parnassus. Let us hope we can continue to find good people to keep taking it forward.
Jeff Shaw