Spectrum - 1965 - Southgate County School

eproduce the choric metres, as far as possible, of the
original. In these aspirations Mr. Day has had a large
measure of success. In the course of producing a dramatic
version, however, Mr. Day felt he had to bow to the
realism of the modern stage in attempting a visual
presentation of the Kithaeron scenes, conveyed verbally
in the original by the Messenger's Speech. But even
realistic representations have their limitations. The peep
at what promised to be a fair semblance of a human
knacker's yard had in fact to be terminated by a wholly
unrealistic blackout. One may jump out of an imaginative
frying-pan into a realistic fire. An example of this
may be seen in the substitution of a vine as Pentheus's
perch for a pine in the original. A pine would be a tall
story indeed for the school stage, but who would trust
his royal avoirdupois to "tendrils" to climb a vine (of all
plants) to be three or four feet higher than the Southgate
Bacchanals whose disgusting orgies he wished to view.
Mr. Day's self-refutation (and his triumph) was to be
heard in the superb monologue of the herdsman, to
which the audience listened with rapt attention—a noble
vindication of the spoken word.
To make the play more modern, there appeared to
be an over emphasis on the sexual aspect and the "lifeforce"
motif of Dionysiac ritual. Yet the Chorus acted
with an energy and an abandon, sufficient to give a
convincing display of that divine exaltation that is the
very essence of the word "enthusiasm." They squealed,
writhed and clawed in a manner reminiscent of the
Opening Day of the Sales in a West End Store. The
experiment in Choric metres was very interesting and
highly successful. Not only did it give the feeling of
poetry and rhythm but was invaluable in ensuring
simultaneous utterance without those ragged edges that
so often spoil choral speaking.
With this by-no-means easy play the cast nevertheless
scored heavily with acting and elocution. Peter
Hardcastle, who did well as Dionysus, began a shade too
raucously, and was better as the slender, effeminate
mocker he was later to become. Neither Teiresias,
Kenneth Taylor (who did not seem to be blind) nor
Kadmos, Michael Birnbaum, although they had evidently
given thought to their roles, quite managed to extract the
full comedy from fumbling senility striving desperately
to be "with it". This marred the contrast that Kadmos's
final appearance should bring out. David Barnes, as
Pentheus, who lost some height with his hunched-up
stance and some dignity by his restlessness on the stage,
portrayed convincingly enough his transformation to the
creeping lustful parody of manhood that Dionysus made
him.
THE BACCH/E
Philip Sandell, as the herdsman, by his economy of
gesture and delivery held his audience, and was in some
senses luckier than Geoffrey Hill who chased the light on
to several levels before he was interrupted by the mimings
of the Chorus. Agave had a difficult part, and gave a
splendid performance. It needs a rare skill to survive a
part which trembles on the verge of the ridiculous, when
one has to appear like the lady of the music hall who sang
"With my head tucked underneath my arm I walk the
Bloody Tower!" Perhaps one needs a real head, like the
one that Crassus is said to have furnished, to bs impressed
with the seriousness of the occasion. Nevertheless
Christine Ward by her ability overcame these difficulties
and was triumphantly successful in that horrifying
recognition scene.
All in all this was a brave venture and full marks
should go to all those who had any hand in this production
for a performance which on all counts thoroughly
justified itself. The expenditure of time and energy in
school performance can only be genuinely vindicated in
terms of the value of what has been learnt. Pieces of
trivial or ephemeral character, while possibly easier to
act, are harder to justify. The Dace/we has a lesson for
the modern world, and as serious theatre showed itself
eminently worth while.
Parting Comment
T. W. MELLUISH,
Deputy Headmaster, The Bee School.
"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas Euripide":
that thought I herded in my breast all evening long. The
presentation was superb, the transconventioning justified;
but the play's whole message was perverted. Pentheus,
to the unpuritanical fifth century before Christ, is an
infatuate that deserves his downfall, and there is no
condemnation of Dionysus: surrendered to he brings
contentment; witness the early choruses, fearful-furious
at school, joyous and beautiful in the Greek; witness
Dionysus' speech to Cadmus and Agave, omitted in the
version. Nor have Messrs. Castro, Hitler and Freud,
anything to do with it.
L. A. HoLFORD-SrREVENS.