a look back at 1986

Eric Ashley’s arts review of 1986
for the Essex Chronicle

[the gimmick here was to use the sub's headlines from the stories in the pick-of-the-year shortlist]

Year of successes

It’s not just narcissism that makes me turn to the Arts Page first over my Friday morning fruit juice.

I like to see what my colleagues have made of the shows I missed, and what has succumbed to the sub-editor’s pen.

The headlines hit you first, of course. (We don’t write those, by the way.)

As we look back over the year just past let’s remember what made the Arts Page headlines in I 986. from Busy Year Ahead in the first issue to Sad It's Over in the last. 

It was a year of successes at the box office, with Syd Lawrence Packed Again and Sell-out Fun for Young Gcn‘s Follow The Star. 

Geoff Sowden's music blew Hot and Strong in February. and the Junior Schools in July caused the usual Heatwave at The Civic. The Chelmsford Operatic and Dramatic Society's South Pacific was Action Packed. Latchingdon, always enterprising and inventive, worked miracles with Fiddler on the Roof, the World of Rock Music Socicty Engagingly Revived the 20s musical Mr Cinders,  and the dependable Moulsham Lodge played Key for Two At Spanking Pace while another review of the same farce was headlined Laughing Stock.

ln May there was a clash of G and S, when I took the unusual liberty of 'comparing' two productions at Witham and lngatestone in Road Testing the Yeomen.

84 Charing Cross Road had two local productions too - Impressive at Witham and a Model Of Accuracy at Little Baddow.

All The Leading Figures in Chelmsford music circles turned out in February to hear the superb Bochmann Quartet. They appeared again in Great Waltham last month as part of Andrew Fardell‘s Benjamin Britten concert, which also blended singers, soloists, orchestra and audience into Stirring Synthesis in the cantata Saint Nicolas. 

Troupe‘s Home was One of The Best in 20 Years, at the Mercury studio, and Red Shift's The Double was a Unique Experience at the Fold, Billericay. The Cream Of Societies previewed Robert and Elizabeth at the Civic before taking it to the Waterford Festival.

John Jordan made a rare public appearance in a Celebrity Recital in Chelmsford Cathedral, just after a week of inspired work At the Festival. including many nationally and internationally famous figures. Christopher Fry was commissioned to write a new play for the autumn Drama Festival. The result was Caedmon, which provided some truly Memorable Moments in the Cathedral.

Welcome Visit referred to a performance in the Cramphorn by The Twins and I, but it could equally well have introduced any one of a number of small-scale tours which came to the Civic’s studio auditorium — the controversial Joy Riders, Charlie Brown from the Mercury, and Snap's Far From The Madding Crowd which showed how successful an adaptation of a classic novel can he. 

Chelmsford Theatre Workshop had a Challenging Year - surely one of their most successful ever, culminating in the Rapturously Received Amadeus, preceded by The Glass Menagerie, Ghosts , and Present Laughter, not to mention Lark Rise, which allowed us to Eavesdrop on a Tiny Hamlet in July.

ERIC ASHLEY

CHELMSFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL SENIOR CITIZENS' SHOW 1986
Civic Theatre

The Civic crammed with senior citizens, the Chelmsford Silver Band on stage - it must be the Chelmsford Borough Council's annual command performance, always one of the friendliest occasions in the theatre.
The entertainment this year was as generous as ever, with some of the finest variety artistes in the area giving up their Sunday to entertain this most appreciative of audiences.
Compering the show was Frank Western, better known in Christmases past as Johnny Pedlar, the Norfolk comedian. Arthur Hull, Chelmsford's Cheeky Chappie, wheeled out some veteran gags, mostly pale blue, and three young musicians from King Edward VI School busked through a sprightly set of Dixieland numbers.
Chelmsford Ballet Company's Company B tapped their way through Happy Feet; one of their new numbers this year had a troupe of Mrs Mopps dancing to Hooked-on Mozart.
Springers transferred their Cabaret Spectacular with considerable success from the Cramphorn to the Civic - big brassy numbers like Rhythm of Life and Follow the Band had added breadth and lost nothing of their attack.
CAODS did a very polished sequence of American numbers from the Black Hills of Dakota to Oklahoma, and Young Gen, not for the first time the hit of the show, included this year two dance routines as well as a [?final] look back at Annie, and the Happy Wanderer from their new production of Hansel and Gretel, now running in the Cramphorn.

One Thing More - Caedmon Construed

Memorable moments at the Cathedral
Caedmon
14 November 1986

Christopher Fry’s new play – jointly commissioned by Radio 4 and Chelmsford Cathedral – is One Thing More … Caedmon Construed.



The Venerable Bede tells the story – a speculation, he confesses – of the stranger, a stuttering stableman, who seems reluctant to be part of the community, to be close to God.
The drama treats the miracle of inspiration, “ a nightingale in a thornbush”, as Caedmon finds his voice to sing the beginnings of created beings.
Bernard Hepton, as Bede, lent authority to the story, though his performance was somewhat book-bound. The device of his continued presence, ex cathedra, was very effective.
Terrance Hardiman gave a quietly powerful performance as Caedmon, and the cast also included Barbara Leigh Hunt as Hilda, and superb support from Norman Jones as the Overman and Geraldine Alexander as the Novice.
The huge screen could have been better used, but there were many memorable moents, such of the sound of the choir [an excellent recording of Graham Elliott’s music] and the sea with the night sky.
And despite some sightline problems, the Cathedral building itself added a further dimension to the drama.
The play was directed by Michael Bakewell and Jane Morgan; you can hear the radio version, with the same cast, this Sunday, November 16.

Full of sparkle

Die Fledermaus 
Chelmsford Opera Group
Civic Theatre

Nicolette Molnar’s Die Fledermaus, like the best champagne, kept its sparkle right to the end. Sponsored by Lloyd’s Bank, Chelmsford Opera Group’s production at the Civic last week had a predominantly youthful cast who made the most of the lively humour and the frothy plot.
Martin Spencer was an elegantly effete Eisenstein, flirting expertly at the masked ball with his own wife [Patricia Cameron, who sang beautifully as the fun-loving Rosalinde].
It was a real pleasure to be able to take the excellence of the singing for granted, and sit back and enjoy the performances, such as David Flint’s, as the shameless tenor Alfred. He didn’t look much like a ladykiller, but he was ideally suited to the gentle comedy the part demands.
Familiar faces in some of the crucial smaller roles – Michael Bagnall as the tongue-tied lawyer Blind, Ken Rolf as Frank, the prison governor, and Bernard White, successfully following Fulton Mackay and a long line of jolly gaolers. 
Unfairly upstaged by a pair of pampered bitches, Ann Davey wore the dress-trousers as young Prince Orlofsky, whose bal masqué gave the Opera Group chorus to shine in some nicely libidinous goings-on.
Birgitta Angsmyr gave a delightful performance as Adele, the real parlour maid, and Peter Crowe cut a dapper figure as Falke, the false friend whose Bat’s revenge gives the piece its title and its plot-line.
The Chelmsford Sinfonietta, organised by Brian Brown, made up in authentic Viennese sound what it lacked in body – the celebrated overture was enjoyed in rapt silence by the first night audience. The conductor was Anthony Trodd.

An enterprising Nutcracker

The Nutcracker
Chelmsford Ballet Company at the Civic Theatre
May 30 1986

An impressively lavish production of The Nutcracker at the Civic last week. The enterprising Chelmsford Ballet Company – unique of its kind – has built an enviable reputation for full-scale shows, and this was a worthy successor to Tales of Beatrix Potter and last year’s Coppelia.
I saw the matinée, at which Clara was danced by Rosina Baker [Gemma Beesley danced at other performances]. Rosina cleverly caught the innocent delight of the child whose party ends in a colourful dream. Caroline Clark made an impact, too, in the smaller role of Franz, her brother.
The Nutcracker soldier himself was Jason Wild, who also danced the Grandfather and the Arabian. John Richardson, sporting a raffish eye-patch, was excellent as the ever-present Drosselmeyer, and David Slade made an imposing King Rat.
Stephen Ayres danced the Prince, and guest artiste Amanda Graham gave a delightful Sugar Plum Fairy.
The ensemble work was imaginative and polished, especially the Snowflakes [led by Rachel Ashcroft as the Snow Queen] and the national dances. This ballet makes good use of the talented Junior Company, particularly good in the Battle and in the sequence with Mere Gigogne [Kathleen Mardell].
The scenery was mostly rented cloths, but the furniture was splendid, and costumes – even the removal men’s – exquisite.
The Nutcracker was choreographed by Rose Kinsey and the Company’s director, Elisabeth Swan.