The seventeenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office"
Recap: Over the years, I have kept just about every theatre programme for every play, dance, performance. The bankers’ box full of programs had grown over the years into two boxes and travelled with me from home to home. The vinyl collection mostly went in 2015 as part of a downsize, the theatre programs were next on the list. I looked at selling them on eBay, as many other people have done, but the effort involved and the prices they would fetch meant it just was not worth the effort. So what I did was scan them, mostly just cover page and cast list. Then off they went to the recycling bin. Exceptions were programs where I knew one of the performers or they were particularly significant productions.
Scanning old theatre programmes is like watching your life flash before your eyes but v-e-r-y slowly.
Oxford years.
In the four years at Oxford my attendance at the arts was eclectic as is only right and proper at university with everything from Gregorian Chant to Karlheinz Stockhausen with a fair number of theatrical productions thrown in. As I am missing a number of ticket stubs and programmes I am indebted to the geeks and fans of the internet for supplementing my memory.
Oxford University Film Society (1971/1972) My introduction to many classic films including Throne of Blood, Metropolis, Casablanca and the overlong, pretentiously arty Chelsea Girls by Warhol.
Oxford University Orchestra at Oxford Town Hall (01-December-1971). Mozart, Beethoven and Walton. I do remember that one of the percussionists was a red haired biochemist called Arabella who I also saw in another, undocumented concert, playing a brass instrument - versatile lady.
Clerks of Oxenford at Magdalen College Chapel (04-March-1972). Thomas Tallis and a load of 13th century music.
Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Oxford Union (May 1972). I saw Stockhausen when he gave a talk at the Oxford Union [Part 1, Part 2 Part 3]. We were up in the balcony which is where the cheap seats were because we were on a student budget. Stockhausen looked at the almost empty stalls and invited all of us seated upstairs to come on down. So we got excellent top price seats for next to nothing.
Conduct Unbecoming at the Belgrade Theatre (16-May-1972). Well I had the programme so I must have seen it.
Hawkwind at Oxford Polythechnic (10-June-1972). We went as a group to see them and hear their new single "Silver Machine". Two things I remember from the gig were:
- The roadie doing the sound check didn't bother with "One, Two, Testing". He just went "One, One, One, ...".
- They had a large, naked lady dancing on the stage who Google informs me was Stacia.
Julius Caesar at RSC Stratford (Summer 1972). My first time seeing a young Patrick Stewart (the next was nearly 40 years later in Waiting For Godot with Sir Ian McKellen). Given the venue it would have been a family outing organised by my parents during the summer holidays. Of course back then the cast names meant nothing to me (Corin Redgrave, Margaret Tyzak, etc.) such is the wisdom of hindsight.s
BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (26-July-1972). This was my first ever Proms with a programme of Mozart, Stravinsky and Bruckner.
- Mozart Symphony No. 38, in D major (Prague)
- Stravinsky Capriccio for piano and orchestra
- Bruckner Symphony No.3, in D minor.
Hertford College Music Society (05-November-1972). My first encounter with the lovely and ever popular "Lark Ascending" conducted by a very young Simon Rattle.
King Crimson at New Theatre (25-November-1972). We were into prog rock and bands like Yes, Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers, The Bonzos. One of our group had the classic album In the Court of the Crimson King. I remember little of the actual gig but a bootleg recording is available at DMG.
Fellow student from my primary school. Catherine Bott in As You Like It at the Talisman Theatre (1972) and again in Venus and Adonis at King's College, London (1974).
Fellow student from my secondary school. Jane Broughton Perry in
Androcles and the Lion (1972).
... and Saksoon at Teddy Hall (1973).
Schola Cantorum Oxoniensis at St Edmund Hall (17-February-1973). Renaissance music, mostly 16th century.
Jesus Midsummer Ball (1973). A Commemoration ball is a formal ball held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in the 9th week of Trinity Term. They start late and go on to the wee small hours. I felt I could not miss out on going to one of these so I asked my friend Jane to be my guest. We saw Steeleye Span and I remember watching Magical Mystery Tour through a slightly alcoholic haze.
Plan and timetable.
Plays at Various colleges (Summer 1973). Many of the colleges had amateur dramatic groups who put on plays during the summer term when I could easily see three performances per week. There were no exams at the end of the second year so it felt like I was a liberty to study less and enjoy more.
- Androcles And The Lion - Regents Park College
- Dom Juan - Brasenose
- Hadrian VII - Keble Collge
- Mandrogola - Magdalen
- Pericles - University College
- Volpone - Lady Margaret Hall
- Saksoon - St Edwards
- Caravaggio Buddy - ?
- Hay Fever - Keble College
- Peer Gynt - Merton College
- Richard III - Brasenose College
- Six Characters - Jesus LMH
- The Cocktail Party - Oriel St Annes
- The Fall And Redemption Of Man - Teddy Hall
- The Flies - St Catz
- The Mad Islands - Wadham College
- The Seventh Seal - Magdalen
- Toad Of Toad Hall - Oriel College
- Venus And Adonis - Kings College
Gregorian Chant (venue and date unknown). One of the more esoteric concerts. Strange to hear Latin spoken with a pronounced American accent.
Ballet Rambert at Oxford Town Hall (date unknown). All I remember is one dance where the dancer wore a brightly coloured cloak which was repeated whipped away to reveal another colour underneath. Or I may have just imagined that.
Mayfly Festival (01-May-1974). It was a small two or three day concert in Oxpens Meadows in Oxford. I have no memorabilia but I believe I must have attended in 1974 because one of my college mates was a huge fan of Gong, Hatfield & the North and Henry Cow. and one of the acts was the Virgin All Stars comprised of members from all three bands.
It was a lovely sunny day is about all I can remember. I also remember one of the performers saying that he rehearsed and rehearsed so that what you heard when you saw him live was as close as he could make it to the studio album. I am convinced that it was Kevin Ayers but I can find no evidence on the internet of his performing there so perhaps I imagined it was him. Or it may have been some other artist.
Kevin Ayers et al. at The Rainbow (01-June-1974). I do not have the programme but I do have the vinyl as the concert was released as an LP. It was with Pete from college plus Pete’s friend Graham. Graham lived in Greenwich where he ran GAS ((Greenwich Audio Services). He had an amphibious car and a Messerschmitt bubble car that he gave me a lift in to the concert. You whizz along with your bum just inches from the tarmac - scary!
"The album is officially attributed to all principal performers Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, although other well-known musicians, including Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt, and Ollie Halsall, also contributed to the concert." [Wikipedia]
That is a fair old mix.
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