July 4th and 5th St John’s College presented its first play this year,
boldly charting, where no man …. a new direction in theatre for this school,
and the first play to be directed there by Adam Neil. The write up was up
beat, the use of the space, revealing and the publicity promised a riot of
an evening.

The play gave us 12 parts played by four sixth formers. It was
certainly material that asked a tour de force of the actors. Hinted at. Not
quite there, as the technical virtuosity required is yet to come: the skills
of playing to different directions, listening without being able to look at
co-actors, involving the audience without them seeing the face. But, hey, it
’s a school production and the most important part is that it shows a way
forward and has a relevant story to tell.

My favourite moment was when I realized that I was supposed to be
watching 4 young women in the hairdresser and not four gay young
men jawling at the unisex hairdresser. I settled back and fell in love
with Suzy, immediately.

The audience also bravely took on the challenge, and a leap of
understanding was made by the school. Congratulations to, Karen Alexander,
and the cast for their search for the female parts of themselves. The
adventure was well worth it. Chipo Chung’s, “Outside the System” took cross
over in the other direction, and it too, is a great play for High Schools.
At first I regretted taking my 13-year-old daughter to so bawdy a
production. I guess that St John’s won’t be the best place for her ‘A’
Levels. There was plenty of action in the “bathroom”, and appropriate
humour. But by the end of Lucky Eric’s speeches, I realized it was a gem
for this level. It allowed the top of the school to present to us all
something close to the ultimate high - the wealth of understanding to be
gained by looking at situations from different point of views. It allowed
us there in the hall, with our real live DJ Weeds mixing on stage, to admit
that the ultimate high has got to be more than getting completely legless,
trying to find understanding and love in our most unlovable states, with
whom but cynical, alienated hosts, the bouncers. This Lucky Eric managed to reveal to us with his three co-actors and director and for
that – well done!
(VH)

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