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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
6. Murder in the
   Cathedral
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1. Dracula
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1. A Respectable Family

There are some more photos of 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. »

A Man for all Seasons by Robert Bolt - The Common Man

- Rendcomb College senior play. Directed by David Sells.

Well, I lost out to Paul on the lead role of Sir Thomas More in this one, but the Common Man, which I ended up playing, is a great part too, acting as a sort of Brechtian chorus throughout the play, commenting on as well as being a part of the action. I'm pretty sure that, at the age of 16 or 17, I was wholly incapable of providing the depth of experience and complexity that Bolt had intended for the character (in the original 1960 production the part was played by Leo McKern), but I could at least play the comedy to an extent!

I also remember having a bit of a disagreement with the director over the wearing of a false pot-belly - he wanted it, I didn't. I won, I suspect through a major sulk or a childish display of temper! I think I was probably right, though - the comedy that comes from the character is more complex than the purely physical. The fake belly, on an otherwise rake-thin teenager, would have been distracting and unreal, and I think that's the point I was trying to make. So I was already becoming a 'difficult' actor! Hooray!

The play was also immeasurably improved by the introduction of real live girls playing the female parts - Rendcomb having gone co-ed in the sixth form the year before.

"Jonathan Dixon...added great humour to the play..."