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1949 The Junior Dramatic Society.
"The Kings Warrant"
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L - R.
Mike Riley, Peter Ferrer, Mike Bannister, Bill Turner, Charles Carne, Brian Wallace, Frank Freedman,
Geoff Wilson, Frank Mottram.
The following appeared in the July 1949, "Salfordian".
In April 1949, the newly-formed Junior Dramatic Society presented its first productions with remarkable
success. These were two one act plays, "The King's Warrant," by Ronald Gow and "Clipper Ships," by L. du Garde Peach, all the actors and stage-staff being boys of the Lower School. The plays were performed three times, twice to boys of the school and once to the parents.
The first play, "The King's Warrant," was extremely suitable for junior performance. Set in the room of
an inn on the Nottingham Road, it has as its subject the rivalry of Robin Hood and the High Sheriff of Nottingham. The part of Robin Hood, disguised as a pedlar, was well played by William Turner, and Peter Ferrer as the sheriff was suitably irate and over-bearing throughout the play. Michael Riley as the inoffensive landlord, Brian Wallace as Will Scarlet and Geoffrey Wilson, Frank Mottram and Charles Carne as the yeomen all gave good performances, but especially praiseworthy were the efforts of Frank Freedman as the romantic stranger who incurs the Sheriff's wrath, and Michael Bannister as the innocent boy who inadvertantly reveals Robin's identity to the sheriff. Phillip Holt and
Michael MacKinnell were the stage managers and the sound effects were by Stanly Andrews.
"The King's Warrant" was produced by Mr. D. Anavi.
The second play, "Clipper Ships," had a uniformly good cast, although several of the parts were rather
difficult for boys to play. The difficulties were so successfully surmounted, however, that they were not noticeable. The play, the action of which tales place in the year 1860, has three scenes, and is about the efforts of a young runaway boy to become a sailor on one of the old "clipper ships," sailing from Liverpool. Tony Casson as the boy gave a convincing and eager performance, and a notable success was scored by Ronald Skinner as the ferocious and bullying mate of the Lightning. Albert Finney did well in the difficult part of the old dock watchman, and a good portrayal of a dockside seaman was given by Harold Singer. Peter Travis as the sailor and Cifford Evans as the captain of the Lightning were competent and satisfying in their respective roles. The stage manager for "Clipper Ships" was
Maurice Levine, and the play was produced by Mr. B.Simon and B.Riley. The scenery for the play was
constructed in the school and painted by Roy Mewha.
This first experiment in junior drama proved extremely successful, especially as the plays were
produced in the short space of three weeks. It revealed that there is a wealth of acting talent in the Lower School and it is hoped that there will now be a regular production each term.
E.G.
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