Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

"Relaxation" Sessions. Yeah Right. DNP admitted to me that these sessions were cunning covers for "I've got a hangover / I can't put up with twenty screaming thirteen year olds running around my theatre."

Just like Dr Dillow sticking on a Blackadder video P1 on a Saturday.

Ian Stannard wrote:the drama department have yet to replace him adequately (in my opinion)

easy now! other staff do read this stuff y'know!
and for the record, no way are you 35.....

Last time I was thinking of him was with Mark Thomas, who used a very loving send up of DN-P in his stage act when discussing "a certain type of liberal".

Can anyone who has his address mail it to be, I have to contact him and think him for alot of great advice and help, while at Ch and after I left

It's many years since I was last in contact with Duncan. As one of the early generation of Theatre "Techies" I've always been convinced that it was my A-level results that led to them employing a full time technician. This was a time when the theatre was shiny and new and we were allowed to push the hydraulic seating towers around unsupervised !

I'd love to get in touch with Duncan again so, please, if anyone has his e-mail address I would be very grateful to have it passed on to me.

It's nice to see that you all seem to have liked DNP, however, he wasn't universally popular and I found his insistance that everybody had to get involved with the bl**dy theatre when it opened a right pain in the *rse. Early 1974 when I was in the second form, the theatre company on which, I have no doubt, the 'League of Gentlemen's' Legz Akimbo was based came to visit, presumably paid for by the Arts Council Grant! The entire second form had to endure a workshop in which we did a version of 'Humpty Dumpty' all during the two periods before lunch on a Saturday when I should have been in 'double manual' doing metalwork with Mr Stratton. Over thirty years on it still rankles - but it taught me a useful lesson: never try and enthuse someone with something you enjoy whilst actively preventing them from doing 'their' thing. I also found his productions completely over the top and his directing and producing style put me off the theatre for years - even now I rarely go and I'm afraid this is all largely down to DNP. I don't doubt, however, that he was a nice enough chap in many ways and he is clearly well liked by many.

well, maybe he'd chilled out by the time I was at CH. I mean, I wasn't even BORN in 1974, heh. The theatrical productions of my time were not so much OTT, but they were good fun to be involved in, whether as a star or as a lowly extra (always the latter in my case!).

In fact I'd say it swung the other way, where there was a "clique" involved in theatrical productions, with the usual suspects appearing in the lead roles. However I reckon this is more a symptom of the best people being picked for the job - this happened too in music (and also in sports, obviously) - it's a kind of elitism of which I whole-heartedly approve!

Or perhaps it was because there were so many extra-curricular things you could do, that the same people ended up doing the same things, despite the best efforts of the curriculum to force you to do things you weren't keen on (e.g. that silly rugger game, in my case! I STILL have a gammy knee and a thrice-broken nose...).

Drama became a GCSE subject in my time, something that wasn't met with universal acclaim from the more academic parts of the school.

what happened to that flop of a production he tried to take to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? Bodyworks or something? He did it with someone rather famous as well, if I remember correctly.

I do remember his as favouring certain pupils and then using those ones ad nauseam. There was nothing wrong with his favourites (they were all good actors) but their skills grew stronger and stronger at the expense of the weaker actors. DNP was a great producer (albeit neoptism often played a part as well) but as a teacher, I'm not so sure.

I never really had him as a teacher beyond the compulsory drama lessons, but as a tutor he was great, really great. Especially for such an 'orrible little oik as I was!

What the hell are you doing in Borneo, anyway?? Out of interest?

living there

well, apart from the facetious comment, I work there in the oil industry, and it's a rather lovely place to live.

Bodyworks - written by Richard Stillgoe.

God it was awful.

Yep - I can still hear strains of 'Blackforest gateau is good for you...'.

BTaylor wrote:Bodyworks - written by Richard Stillgoe.

God it was awful.

Yep - I played a white blood cell and a sperm - type casting if ever there was

I had the misfortune to be in "The Bluebird" on my second form. All the characters were called Fire, Bread, Water etc (don't remember who was unlucky enough to get the part of 'Wind'). I had one line which went, "No, mine first, it carries all the secrets hidden in the moon," The shame! Oh the shame!!! Whoever wrote the stupid thing was clearly indulging in something stronger than Silk Cut - think "I am the walrus" meets Chaucer. DNP was always incredibly OTT during rehearsals. His favourite tactic was to pretend to be busy and stay quiet for a minute or two and then burst a gasket, screaming at everyone to 'just shut up and listen, OK!!!" I always found him amusing, but harmless and nice enough, even after he gave me that sh*tty line!!!

I was on my UF when the towers were put on air pads, and so could be used again... DNP decided to do 'The Children's Crusade' to celebrate, and I was the DSM. Before the first cut there were no less than 16 tower changes that had to be done with about 150 juniors on stage.... An interesting experience...