
3 minute read
The Masque of Charterhouse
The Masque of Charterhouse 1961

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“The Masque production staged in Founder’s Court presented the history of the School to a wide audience. It was a remarkable collective effort involving a large number of boys, members of Brooke Hall with their families, and the School orchestra. As I recall, other public schools staged outdoor plays and pageants at that time, but this was on a different scale altogether.


It was 60 years last summer since the Charterhouse Masque of 1961, in which I played a minor speaking part as one of Lovelace’s cavaliers in the Civil War. To celebrate, we arranged a Zoom reunion with some of those actors in my scene, where we also got to watch some of the original DVD.” Nick Cooke (V62) (B61) Richard: “It’s amazing how one forgets it… I remember striding out onto the stage, but I can’t remember much of what I said!” Nick C: “It was a long time ago!”


(P61)
(V62)

(R62)


Nick C: “So who actually was Lovelace?” Jeremy: “I was!” Nick: “Ah right!!” Jeremy: “I could hear my two lines as I went off to prison…”
Nick C: “Thomas Sutton was played by Tony White (BH46-70). He was Housemaster of Pageites I think...” Jeremy: “Yes, he was my Housemaster.” Nick C: “I seem to remember that it was the 1st XI football or cricket who acted as the guncarriage crew in the Mafeking scene.” Jeremy: “That rings a big bell, yes.”

Jeremy: “The opening of the Masque was the bringing out from Gownboys (understudying for Old Charterhouse) of some Carthusian monks on their way to execution. Sombre bells were rung to accompany their entrance and exit. The real monks were hung, drawn and quartered, and one historian said it was the cruellest thing Henry did in his whole reign. The opening to the celebration seemed odd and quite disturbing.”



Nick C: “I seem to remember it went on for weeks…” Richard: “It was a fairly fullterm summer activity as far as I was concerned.”


Nick C: “I’m amazed these DVDs still exist at all… extraordinary.” Richard: “Yes, it’s wonderful.”

Richard: “I remember the stage very well and… the famous speech of Sir Richard Lovelace… stone walls do not a prison make… because we sang that in Chapel, didn’t we? But if you ask me what Richard Lovelace actually did and why he was put in prison I couldn’t actually tell you!”


