Web Page 1040


12th April 2012

I cannot believe it but today marks the 10th Anniversary of the Blogg !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top Picture: The Osiris Players load their Rolls Royce

Second Picture: The old school hall in 2010



The Osiris Players

The above picture from a newspaper several years ago of a group of women loading hampers into a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost and I have to thank Peter Westcott for dircting me to it. You may remember he asked some time ago if anyone else remembered a troupe of actresses coming to the school to give a performance of Macbeth. All Peter and I could remember was that they travelled in two Rolls Royces (one being an old hearse and both vehicles towed trailers with their props and costumes in them.

Peter suggested I look on the internet for the details of these women and here is what I found. These seven women were the Osiris Players - a troupe of semi-strolling players, led by a Miss Nancy Hewins, who travelled across Britain taking theatre to people who otherwise had no access to the arts at all or to schools and educational establishments. Between 1939 and 1945, the women travelled tens of thousands of miles, giving 1,500 performances from a repertoire of more than 35 plays - and playing every role, including the great male leads themselves. The company was founded in 1927 and was led, until the early 1960s, by an indomitable director, Nancy Hewins. Before and after the war, Osiris travelled in two Rolls-Royces, one cream and white, one sheer black (the ex hearse), because Hewins maintained they were the only vehicles that could carry the scenery and the costumes. During the war, Osiris battled on with horse and dray, when petrol was no longer available and on one occasion using a canoe. TheTheatre Museum luckily has retained the records of the company in five boxes of appointment books, programmes, photos, reviews, lighting plans - everything intact. And at the bottom was an unpublished autobiography of the indomitable force behind the whole enterprise: Nancy Hewins.

Nancy was a great pioneer when it came to theatre as education and from unpromising and often farcical beginnings, she developed a company that became a force to be reckoned with. She thought of herself as an "Awakener" - someone determined to stir people's faith in humanity.

Clearly, the themes of gender held no fears for them and their priority was to convey the immediate dramatic interest. Nancy Hewins looked on the arts as both our history and our heritage, and perhaps our horoscope, too. She felt that, through the power of storytelling, you could change society by touching people individually and harnessing the power of collective imagination.

She was lucky enough to witness the arrival in 1945 of the reforming government of Attlee and Bevan. She was there for the creation of the most enlightened welfare state, the NHS, the Arts Council and the expansion of the BBC.

They performed on improvised stages in village halls, schools and munitions workers' canteens. In fact, the Osiris Players, Britain's first all-female professional theatre company, appeared more or less everywhere in the country apart from the West End. The war was Hewins's finest hour. Osiris put on 1,534 performances of 33 plays, 16 of them Shakespeare. For reasons of economy, the company was never larger than seven women. Everybody did everything: acting, props, cooking, changing tyres. On stage, scenes were cut and transposed to make the doubling work. At school they performed Macbeth where Hewins played Lady Macbeth in a ferocious red wig, changing her make-up at top speed so that she could become the Porter within a few lines. By the time the company closed, in 1963, Hewins reckoned she had taken 129 parts herself, in 55 plays.

According to Jane Freeman, a former Osiris Player, the company created "theatre for the people". It certainly created a passion for theatre in innumerable young people, Judi Dench among them. Hewins and Osiris were in the direct line of descent from strolling players. But their reputation suffered from doing their main work in "the provinces". Hewins never featured in any official record. When she died in 1978, just before her 76th birthday, her death was barely noticed.

A small core of two or three actors stayed with Osiris for many years. But it was tough going, and few lasted long. The women slept where they could, in barns, on school floors, even in a park cafe. They worked without subsidy and pay was frugal. The out-of-town tours began in Wolverhampton, and they celebrated their 21st anniversary at a women's institute in Kent, with Twelfth Night in the morning, Everyman at lunchtime, Macbeth in the afternoon, Shaw's Captain Brassbound's Conversion after tea, topped off by Badger's Green, a comedy about village cricket, in the evening.

A truly unique group who we were privilaged to see , if only we knew it at the time!

Stay in touch,



Yours,



Peter



DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk



You Write:

Christine Writes:-

Hi Peter




Just to let you know, I love reading your old memories of school and vaguely remember the javelin incident. I think Robert Webster (who lived 2 doors down from me and was one of the "older" boys) told me it was John Mortimer who threw it............but it was a long time ago. I think Robert reads your blog so perhaps he can confirm these dastardly rumours!

Re the old jobs that no longer exist.........when we first moved to Kinross Crescent (around 1952/3) the vegetables were delivered by horse and cart (Madgwicks) and the co op bread was in a sort of pull along vehicle that the baker walked through the streets. I remember the old baker having a few too many sherries at Christmas courtesy of his customers one year and weaving all over the place with this strange vehicle. It sure was a long time ago!

News and Views:

Despite protests by some students and even the faculty who object to his right-wing Christian values, Pat Boone delivered the commencement address and received an honorary degree Adrian College, Michigan. Pat had offered to cancel his appearance but the college’s president declined the offer.

On this day 12th May 1960-1965



On 12/05/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.



On 12/05/1961 the number one single was Blue Moon - The Marcels and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.



On 12/05/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Film star Emilio Estevez born



On 12/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.



On 12/05/1964 the number one single was Don't Throw Your Love Away - Searchers and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.



On 12/05/1964 the number one single was Don't Throw Your Love Away - Searchers and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.



On 12/05/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.