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1. Androcles & the Lion
2. From Pillar to Post
3. A Man For All Seasons
4. The Importance of Being Earnest
5. A Comedy of Errors
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1. A Respectable Family

There are more photos from this production below. Selecting any of the small thumbnail images will show a larger version of the picture in the main part of the page. »

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakepeare - Antipholus of Syracuse

- Rendcomb College senior play. Directed by Derek Bell.

Derek Bell, a newly-arrived member of staff at the school, was obviously wanting to make his mark with this hugely ambitious production of Shakespeare's comedy of mistaken identity - I think the cast numbered over eighty in the end. To stage such a large production required the building of a dedicated stage in the College gymnasium, as the usual school stage simply wasn't big enough. I was asked to design the set for the production, which had to incorporate the wrought-iron pillars and arches of the Gym (which had been the old conservatory when the school was a private house). Full marks to the carpentry department for taking my rough sketch and actually building it, with its multi-levels and staircases! It must have been quite a feat!

Paul Rose and I were the two twin Antipholuses and just about every other pupil in the school played something or other in the play - in fact I'm not entirely sure where the audience came from! There were tumblers and crowds and mime-shows and God knows what else - it must have lasted about four hours! For the first time ever, the play was reviewed in the local press rather than just by the school magazine, and all in all it was bit heady!

Looking back, though, I think it was probably a bit over-egged and director-heavy, with a reliance on cheap gags and spectacle rather than letting the comedic situation speak for itself. Derek Bell, who I believe went on to become a professional actor himself, was not the most sympathetic of directors, prone to being a bit overbearing and precious, and it was a bit of a relief to learn that David Sells was to direct the next (and for me, final) play the following year!