PAULINE PROFILES
FOUNDING THE NATIONAL YOUTH THEATRE Michael Oliver (1946-47) shares his memories of its foundation.
M
y first memory of the connection between the theatre and youth is an event that took place at school when I was about seven years of age. It was a pre-prep school, West Croft on Cricklewood Lane, north west London. There were two headmistresses Miss Challen and Miss Biggs and they must have had some thoughtful pleasure from acting. We were allowed to create and act in front of the small audience what I can describe only as a scene that could have been in a pantomime. In the middle of the stage was one of us dressed like some sort of animal while the rest of us were also clad but in an inferior fashion. The principal made clear his superiority to his servants who circled him, kneeling to his regal position, thus showing our loyalty. I do not recall whether we ever performed in front of parents: I think the unusual theatricality was confined to the pupils, to Miss Challen and Miss Biggs. Memory moves on by 10 years, to St Paul’s School. It was a school in which acting and the appreciation of and respect for the theatre were inherent in its character and presumably had been so during the many hundreds of years since foundation. My memory as described in 2020’s Autumn/Winter Atrium is of a duo (Michael Codron (1946-48) and me) that took place with the consent and unlikely assistance of the English master. Not to dwell on it unduly but the piece may be regarded as an attempt by young teenagers of sophistication.
32
ATRIUM
SPRING / SUMMER 2021
