02. Journey's End (1958-59)

The performances of R. C. Sheriff's "Journey's End", given on March 12th, 13th and 14th, were so outstandingly successful as to make it difficult to convey adequately the deep impression upon the large audiences, without perhaps appearing too fulsome. The play was a most happy choice, well-suited to performance by boys, and while the theme is serious and even solemn, it is yet presented by means of very human and often humorous action. The producer's note in the programme set us clearly within the viewpoint of the author; and the problem of the unfamiliarity, to a modern audience, of the play's historical situation was overcame by ingenious production. As the curtains parted, we saw, painted with intense effect onto a gauze 'drop', the image of a desolate battlefield, and we heard men's voices. strangely remote, in a song which powerfully evoked that period of the past. Gently this tableau melted into the action of the play, but as the curtains finally closed it reappeared, and our glimpse, as it were, of forty years ago was over.

Casting was everywhere most successful, in spite of there having been some early setbacks. Goodwin's performance was superlative; the part of Osborne demands that he should be the stabilizing pivot of the whole cast, and Goodwin' with his assured and mature stagemanner, admirably fulfilled that demand. At the same time he gave a most convincing and sympathetic study of Osborne, and excelled in a task that called for extremely careful, but highly imaginative, control, especially from an actor of his age.

In contrast, Saunders, as Stanhope, gave us fine acting of the more immediately impressive kind. His was, as it should be, the dominant personality, the nervous tension was powerfully expressed and on the whole nicely judged. The part is a tremendous test for any actor, and it is an eloquent proof of Saunders' achievement that we could accept so wholly, and with but a very occasional hesitation, his portrayal of a character who, though well advanced in nervous degeneration, still enjoys the loyalty and even the affection of his men.

Sargeant combined bewilderment and youthful idealism into a sensitive portrayal of Raleigh. Snook did not always reconcile audibility with the introspectiveness of Hibbert, but in his crucial scene with Stanhope he conveyed an acute impression of a man broken by terror. Woodham's Trotter, an amusingly sincere and well-pointed contrast to the others, at times suffered from a tendency to declaim lines and to pick up cues too slowly and at too uniform an interval, whereby an unlifelike effect was produced.

Burnham, as the irrepressible Mason, struck a skilful balance of respect and familiarity, developing the character well and seizing effectively the opportunities for a display of shrewd, native tact. Rooke tackled his difficult assignment very ably and with relish: but there was a shade too much burlesque (excellent though it was) for unqualified success in this context. Gubbay was a suitably nonchalant Hardy (though a certain fussiness in his gestures sometimes marred the characterization), Grove every inch the C.S.M., whether standing on ceremony or not; and Withers made a brief, but ably panicstricken, appearance in the guise of a 'Bosch' prisoner.

The cast received excellent support from the many technical and backstage assistants; particular tribute is due to those who designed and built the magnificent set, and to the patience with which the ravages of war upon it were repaired in time for each next performance. As audiences we greatly appreciated the work of those who attended to our comfort, in business management, in providing refreshments, and in producing the attractive programme. Above all we are grateful to the producers, to whose skilful and imaginative direction we owe it, that the outstanding recollection from this production is of its most satisfying and moving wholeness—so much so that it has seemed almost irrelevant to consider details. How very rarely can this be truly said of a play presented at any school!

H. W. Winter