Soham GrammariansSOHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL,
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| Catherine Petkoff | Jenny Griffin |
| Raina, her daughter | Sharman Long |
| Louka, their maid | Teresa Fison |
| Captain Bluntschli | Peter Leonard |
| Officer | Andrew Murkin |
| Nicola, a manservant | Peter Jaggard |
| Major Petkoff | Duncan McFarlane |
| Major Sergius Saranoff | Laurie Pott |
Bulgaria, November - March 1885-6. The scene is set in the Petkoff's house, situated In a small town near the Dragoman Pass.
ACT I Raina's bedchamber
ACT II The Garden
ACT III The Library
There will be two intervals, during the second of which
coffee will be served.
SET DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Mr PJ Askem, Mr RGS Bozeat, Mr AJ
Mason, IE Cox, GE Cross, R Fletcher and members of the
Creative Studies Tutorial.
POSTERS AND PROGRAMMES PE Leonard
LIGHTING Mr RJH Makin, SB Thornhill, SD Bokor
STAGE MANAGER Mr RJ Humphry assisted by PD Griffiths, RJ
Hart, JW Carter, DP Fellows
PROPERTIES Miss PL O'Keeffe, Mrs JA Abbott, RG Street, RK
Vince
MAKE UP Mr AG Cornell, Miss AR Dunton, Mrs S Beeby, Mrs J
Peers
BUSINESS MANAGER Mr RJ Abbott
Grateful thanks are extended
to all the many people who have helped with furnishings and
properties.
The Head Master and the producer wish to thank most sincerely
the Head Mistress of Ely High School for her kind
co-operation in making the production of this play possible.
Produced by Mr DJ Kilvington
source: Mrs M Armitage
Cambridgeshire Times
March 11/12, 1971'Arms and the man'A rehearsal scene form George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" being presented this week by Soham Grammar School's Dramatic Society. As for past productions the boys have been joined by girls of Ely High School to make up the cast of eightwhich comprises Jenny Griffin, Sharman Long, Teresa Fison, Peter Leonard, Andrew Murkin, Peter Jaggard, Duncan McFarlane and Laurie Pott. |
 source: Mrs Armitage |
The play - set in Bulgaria in the mid 1880s - opened yesterday (Wednesday) and continues in the school hall throughout the week. Curtain is at 7.30 and tickets cast 25p (15p for schoolchildren). (Picture: Camfoto).
Soham Grammarian
Summer 1971Arms and the Manby George Bernard Shaw Some thoughts from ... The trouble with Shaw, you see, is his constant arguing. Certainly 'Arms and the Man' didn't contain the same gusto as Wilde's 'The Importance'; in some scenes it's positively turgid (while he hammers home his philosophical point) and at others nauseatingly sentimental. Thus while Raina the 'rich, young and beautiful' heroine must fall for Bluntschli the 'common Swiss soldier', Sergius the 'hero of the hour and idol of the regiment' marries Louka the common but ambitious maid. But the audience has to be entertained as well, and we found ourselves constantly relying less on the author's wit than on DJK's ingenuity - though both tended occasionally to border on farce? ... However, when the curtain went up for the first night the cast were invigorated, and our performance outpaced all the rehearsals, despite the fact that everything conceivable seemed to go wrong. A crucial fuse blew backstage, causing an unconscionable delay before Act II could start, and a door jammed at one of Nicola's entries - the scenery swayed alarmingly before he finally forced it open. |
 Photograph by courtesy of the Cambridge Evening News |
Nevertheless, spies in the audience gave their verdict - which reinforced our own feelings - that if we could keep it up for the next three nights we would count it a success
... Since then, it has even been compared favourably with ITV's televised performance from Chichester.
Do you have any recollections,
photos or reviews of this production? - please contact the editor
last update 9 Jan 2008