A Christmas tour of Churches
onDecember? 1972
This was a tour of four or five venues, including Totton Anglican Church and Romsey Abbey - can anyone remember the the others?
The rehearsals took place at Glen Eyre and were filmed by Southern TV/TVS for a local programme.
Note on Religious Drama as Entertainment
One surprising point about the Great Epic mystery cycles of Medieval Times is the amount of invented action they contain. The element of humour is applied to the most solemn incidents. That the executioners who nail Christ to the cross could be represented by clowns is a startling thought. Yet the anonymous early dramatists, primitive though much of their work is, at least had one idea that is dramatically effective. A harrowing or touching scene is heightened enormously if what has gone before is trivial or even comic, Thus in the Nativity episodes the rather foolish figure out by Joseph or the shepherds’ horseplay, is intentional. It brings us to a sudden awareness of the meaning of the events in the Stable at Bethlehem. Immediately the question springs to minds ‘What Child is This?’ and once in our minds that question insists on an answer whatever our personal philosophy.
This present adaption from the Four Existing Manuscripts extends the amount of invented action to give cohension to the fragments selected. The Production is based on many of the elements that might have been used in a Sixteenth Century Performance.
| The Players | |
| Philip De Grouchy | Myfanwy Bartlett |
| Ray Green | Sheila Cuitnis |
| David Jupp | Sheila Clark |
| David Pike | Betty Green |
| Ray Rumsby | Jenny Johnston |
| David Shevels | Ann Pennington-Legh |
| Robert Wilson | Judy Rake |
| Judith Shevels | |
| The Clerics | |
| Ken Hann | Becket Pennington-Legh |
| For the Maskers: | |
| Adapted and directed by | David Bartlett |
| Designed by | Jo Bartlett |
| Tour Organiser | Ken Spencer |
| Stage Manager | Keith Hooper |
| Wardrobe & Artwork | Jo Bartlett,Ray Green |
| Assisted by | Nicola Bartlett |
| Sound Technicians | Ron Tillyer, Geoff Grandy |
| Lighting | Ivan White |
| Properties | Serena Brown, Angela Stephens |
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