BUGSY MALONE by Alan Parker
In July 2010, the St Philip House boys performed in Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone. This exciting saga portrayed New York in 1929, where a deadly new weapon, the Splurge Gun had arrived. Firing deadly white cream, which killed on impact, Dandy Dan- performed with quiet menace by George Tyler-and his ruthless gang were terrorising the city! Fat Sam, Dandy Dan’s rival gangster was played with a rasping voice and a ‘tough guy’ stance by George Le Roy. Attended upon by his hapless attendents, most notably Knuckles – played by Adam Ridzuan-Allen – Fat Sam and his crew were played as essentially nice, but dumb gangsters. George Peggram, however, played Bugsy Malone as a smooth city slicker, who Fat Sam needed as an intelligent helper to save his empire from Dandy Dan’s terrorism. However, Bugsy was busy pursuing Jack Camilleri’s pleasant singer, Blousey Brown, whilst trying to avoid the amorous attentions of Cameron Maclean’s seductive Tallulah- Fat Sam’s girl. The two detectives, Smolskey and O’Dreary were played with glorious stupidity by Eoin Hartwright and Guy Barribal. Alex Morley played the boxer Leroy Smith as a strong, but nice henchman for Bugsy Malone and their hijacking of Dandy Dan’s Splurge Gun Factory and subsequent ‘show down’ between the rival gangsters at the end of the play was a thrill to watch. Fortunately, despite everyone dying at the end of the play, Mr Godfrey used his directorial powers, complete with Mr McNamara’s expert musical direction, to bring the cast back to life for one final song. Many thanks, not only to a great, enthusiastic cast, but to a brilliant technical team, led by Michael Mearns, Thomas Cheer, Stephen Blount, Jack Maple and Alex Knott. Many thanks also for all the staff who supported this production.

St Philip House Play, Treasure Island: Oliver Godfrey directed the boys of St Philip House who put on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale Treasure Island at the end of the summer term. The floor of the Theatre was used as the floor of the ship which made the audience feel as if they were actually going on the voyage themselves to the remote tropical Island. There were many great performances led by the three main characters: Oscar Pollock as Long John Silver, Matthew Maltese as the adult Jim Hawkins and Charles Blake as the young Jim Hawkins.

Middle School Production, The Wizard of Oz, in conjunction with our Lady’s, Abingdon and directed by Tony Stroker. An enjoyable and colourful production with a lively and imaginative group of actors. Ines Mulford played Dorothy Gale with great enthusiasm and sensitivity. Freddie Woodward played Uncle Henry with comic sincerity. Luke Frost, Ed Hiscox and Alex Lee played the Cowardly Lion, Tin Woodsman and Scarecrow with excellent physicality and Conor Jones played the Emerald City Guard with serious command. Alex Knott played The Wizard of Oz with a perfect mix of stern authority and good humour. The supporting cast were both hilarious and scary as the Munchkins, Ozians, Winkies, Flying Monkeys and Jitterbugs. Everyone sang beautifully!

Senior School Play: A Man For All Seasons: The Cardinal’s Men performed in Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons on Wednesday 2nd, Thursday 3rd & Friday 4th December 2009 in the Oratory School Theatre. The Cast worked very hard on this play, produced and directed by Oliver Godfrey, which they brought to life with complete professionalism. Even the smaller parts- such as the Royal Guards and members of the Jury-graced the stage with complete authenticity. The Musicians accompanied the play beautifully, with Chris Redfern on Harpsichord, Sylvester Ladanyi & Michael Fawcett Wood on Trumpets, Ade Olopade on drums and Ben Morrell on piano. The Stage Management team brought the play to life, thanks to Tim Folley and Albie Welch’s sound and lighting, assisted on by Michael Mearns. The Set was beautifully designed by Scott Bosher, Father Anthony Conlon, Seb Chbat and the Oratory School Maintenance Department. The Backstage team, who performed the scene changes very well, were Alex Knott, Christian Horn, Jack Maple, Chris Burgess and Charlie Dunn. The posters were designed by Jin-Ho Jeong, Katherine Warren, Marianne Lee, Hugo Lau and Tom Harris. Play photos were taken by Linda Coupland and Jim Keogh, with costumes and make up by Patricia and Leanne Frost. 

Hugo Lau played Sir Thomas More with wit and charm and, because of this, we were all the more moved by his downfall. Hugo’s physical and mental exhaustion in the Tower of London scenes and at his trial were played with deep and heartfelt anguish. His control over the play’s language was magnificent. Trevor McGeer, as King Henry Eighth, skipped into Sir Thomas More’s gardens with grace and jollity, but his charming demeanour soon converted to grief, then despair, then deadly anguish. Watching Trevor’s King Henry was like watching a character not quite of this world – a megalomaniac King from our most frightening Fairy Tales. The outcome of this meeting between King Henry and Sir Thomas More unleashed King Henry’s hunting dog, in the shape of Joe Thurston’s Thomas Cromwell, a Jackal secretary with sharp teeth, attended on by Richard Nelm’s Richard Rich, a nervous young academic- literally burned by Cromwell into becoming the smug young betrayer of Sir Thomas More. Thomas Edwards played Norfolk as an old friend and reluctant enemy to More, but ultimately more concerned with the preservation of his own power – and his water spaniels. 

Sir Thomas More’s family were represented beautifully by his wife, Lady Alice, played with headstrong assurance by Sanya Burgess, from the Abbey School in Reading. Sanya played Lady Alice as a woman clearly in love with her husband, yet flabbergasted by his unflinching faith. Emily Heath, from St Helens St Catherine played Margaret, More’s daughter with deep moral integrity. Her husband, Will Roper, was played by Peter Morrell with self righteous -albeit muddled- religeous fervour! Another key religious figure in the play was Cardinal Wolsey, portrayed by Oliver Wolf as a kind of dying Emperor of the old force, who won’t be drowned out without swamping the few boats around him. Will Davie played Thomas Cranmer as a snappy puppet Archbishop of King Henry. Nick Wirth played Signor Chapuys, the Spanish Ambassador as a cynical politician, disguising his quest for power under the mask of religion. He was attended on by Matthew Watkins’s wily apprentice, who doubled up as the nasty cow who blackmails More with a silver cup. 

Finally, Akumbuom Tihngang’s Common Man made observations throughout the play with an excellent tone of sarcasm, most memorably when quoting The Church of England as That finest flower of our Island!, before reminding us, with his staring eyes, that Imprisonment without trial, and even examination under torture were common practice. Akumbuom’s Common man began the play as a Time Traveller, whipped back into this play from the present day, morphing into different servants, from Thomas More’s Steward to Thomas More’s Executioner, justifying his actions throughout, finally asking us all to recognise ourselves in him. As he reminds us at the end of the play; We all need to make money and keep out of trouble, in order to survive in this tough world, don’t we? We can’t all be Thomas Mores -Can we?

Oliver Godfrey
Director of Drama