"MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING'* Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" is not perhaps one of the easiest of plays to produce in its somewhat awkward blending of comedy and near tragedy. Yet an excellent effort was made by the school dramatic society when the play was produced in the School Hall on the evenings of 8th-11th December, 1965. Continuity was good and there were no pauses or hold-ups between the scenes as so often occurs in amateur productions of this kind. Characters moved on and off stage with well-timed accuracy. This was helped because there were no major scene changes: one set was cleverly adapted to represent a garden, a street and so on. The acting of the entire cast deserves praise also. Diction was clear and the voices were audible in all parts of the hall. As Beatrice and Benedick, Lesley Broadley and E. Leeson gave good performances and made the most of their comic and witty exchanges. Claudio was convincingly presented by P- Sampson and so was the hapless Hero by Barbara Phillips, although rather over-consciously acted at times. Undoubtedly the audience most enjoyed the farcical scenes that involved the Watch. The ridiculous Dogberry was acted with great zest and a fine sense of the comic by C. Ley; he was well supported by M. Barry as Verges and the Watch played by V. Coleman, E. Hughes, M. Linane and S. Polgreen, who all carried out their duties with amusing incompetence and whose very appearance set the audience laughing even before they spoke. J.T. CAST: Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon G. Adams Don John, his bastard brother - - - R. Ashworth Claudio, young lord......R. Sampson Benedick, young lord......E. Leeson Leonato, Governor of Messina - - - - J. Davis Antonio, his brother.....C. Houghton Borachio, follower of Don John J. Hanson Conrade, follower of Don John - - - D. Kingsman A Lord........S. Baddeley Dogberry, a Contable......C. Ley Verges, his assistant......M. Barry The Watch - V. Coleman, E. Hughes, M. Linane, S. Polgreen Friar........I. MacDermott Abbess........Judith Lester Sexton........B. Bender Hero, Leonato's daughter - Barbara Phillips Beatrice, Leonato's neice .... Lesley Broadley Margaret, gentlewoman attending on Hero - Gillian Richardson Ursula, gentlewoman attending on Hero - - Joanne Harris Play Produced by - K. I. Jardine, J. J. Alderman, A. R. Keenan Scenery Construction.....C. S. Sutcliffe Scenery Design......Miss P. Newton Scenery Painting......Senior Girls 12 Stage Management - - - >. J. Wells and Senior Boys Lighting.......J. C. T. Thornton Make-up ... - Mrs. M. Baggs, Miss L. Garden Make-up - Mrs. M. Baggs, Miss L. Garden and Senior Girls Costumes........Mrs. B. Rees Sound Effects - A. R. Keenan, assisted by D. Page, P. Taylor Advice on Music......Mrs. A. Locke House Management.....Mrs. D. Pntchard Business Management.....J. B. Allatt Photographs......K. B. Simpson Catering........Miss M. Coe Set Dressing - Miss M. Coe and Senior Girls SCHOOL CONCERT The concert on March 26th was given by the Ealing Youth Orchestra and School Choral Society, who performed three works. The first item on the programme was Britten's Psalm 150. In the second work, Purcell's "Te Deum Laudamus", the solo parts were sung by Toni Sue Burley (soprano), Marjorie Somerville (contralto) and Anthony Davey (bass). The concert ended with a lively performance of C. V. Stanford's "Songs of the Sea", which are settings of poems by Henry Newbolt. The songs were performed in the arrangement for four-part chorus, orchestra and solo bass, sung by Anthony Davey. Another item in the programme was an organ solo played by Michael Neville, an old pupil of this school. In the second half of the programme Michele Bartlett and Jane Pearce played the third movement from Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K-414 as arranged for two pianos. Miss Knowles, the violin teacher at this school, kindly agreed at very short notice to play instead of P. Kegg, who was indisposed. Many thanks are due to all who worked so hard to make the concert a success. V.S. PROGRAMME CHORAL SOCIETY Psalm 150 (for Voices and Instruments) - - B. Britten (b. 1913) ORGAN SOLO Ciacona in D Minor - D. Buxtehude (1637-1707) Soloist: Michael Neville CHORAL SOCIETY Te Deum Laudamus.....H. Purcell (1659-95) Soloists: Toni Sue Burley (Soprano), Marjorie Somerville (Contralto), Anthony Davey (Bass) TWO PIANOS Piano Concerto in A Major, K.414 (Third Movement) W. A. Mozart (1756-91) Michele Bartlett, Jane Pearce 'CELLO SOLO E. J. Knowles CHORAL SOCIETY Songs of the Sea - - - - C. V. Stanford (1852-1924) Drake's Drum, Outward Bound, Devon O Devon, The Old Superb Soloist: Anthony Davey (Bass) 13