Soham Grammarians - The Second Shepherds' Play Christmas 1961

Soham Grammarian Spring 1961

THE CHRISTMAS PLAY AND OPERA

Since it is usually difficult enough to find sufficient talent for one successful school production at a time, the school can indeed take pride in having been able to offer both "The Second Shepherds' Play" from the Wakefield cycle and Menotti's opera, "Amahl and the Night Visitors", for its Christmas productions. These two works neatly balanced one another, treating as they both did, in their very different and original ways, the theme of the Nativity. Our congratulations must go to both Mr. Hemmings and Mr. Hammond on their excellent choice.

The Shepherds' Play was a most delightful blend of the comic and serious, the false and true nativity, the forgiving of Alak, the sheep stealer, and the birth of Christ come to show mercy on all men. In a production that was remarkable for its general level of competence, the more so that all the performers were in the first or second forms, it is more than usually difficult to single out some for special praises. R.J. Brown in the role of the First Shepherd made us feel the cold night in the open fields and played with notable confidence throughout.

R. J. Constable as Mal: and G. Barber as his wife, Gyll, gave convincing performances of as good a pair of rascals as one could desire to find. Mr. Hammond deserves our sincere thanks and praise for his adaptation and production, and for the vigorous and clear manner in which the verse was spoken by all the actors.

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page last updated 8 Nov 2007