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by Liz Harman
(article originally published in St Peter's Church Newlyn Magazine under the heading "Memories are made of this...")
For me Saturday night was 'Pavilion' night, Friday was the 'pictures', usually the Gaiety. The resident repertory company at the Pavilion in 1950 was The English Ring Actors, let by a husband and wife team Frank Barnes and Elizabeth Gilbert. The first husband of Elizabeth Gilbert was Jon Pertwee of 'Navy Lark' fame, later to be an early Dr Who on television. Also, for a time, a talented your actor named Frank Middlemass was a member of the company. He went on to become famous for his portrayal of Algie Herries, the headmaster in the delightful BBC TV dramatization of R.F. Delder field's 'To Serve Them All My Days'. He also played Judi Dench's father in law in ' As Time Goes By'. I was very sorry when the English Ring Actors left the Pavilion as no other company achieved the same standard of excellence.
As for the Cornish Shakespearean Festival I must confess to a vested interest. In 1948 it was decided to revive this festival, under the auspices of Penzance Town Council, at Penlee Park. Before the war it had been held at Nancealverne, the home of Judge Scobell-Armstrong. The first two plays in 1948 were 'Twelfth Night' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', having studied drama with the director, Ernest Pierce, at the Penzance School of Art I was asked to join the group and played Puck in 'The Dream'. That first year the stage was constructed out of wooden beer crates borrowed from Messrs Pool Wine Merchants in the Greenmarket, covered by imitation grass borrowed from one of the local greengrocers. As a stage it was not very stable and tended to move and wobble as you walked or ran over it, it also made strange cracking noises!
One particular performance sticks in my mind. It started raining during the performance, not too badly, and the audience were asked if we should carry on, getting out their macs and umbrellas they said 'yes' and so we did; then the heavens opened. The brown body make-up applied to my arms and legs started to wash off' running down my limbs in nasty brown streaks.
Oberon's green tights were sodden up to his thighs and Titania, whose next entrance required her to lie down in her bower, weighed up the situation and walked on bearing a mac, which she proceeded to lay over the soggy mass before lying down. The audience loved this and gave her a round of applause!
Harry Welshman, the 1920s matinee idol who had created the role of the Red Shadow in the musical ' The Desert Song' on the London Stage, played Malvolio in Twelfth Night. To my seventeen year old eyes he seemed very old. This was to be his first Shakespearean role and his only one as an amateur, looking back at his performance I think it was better suited to a large indoor stage than a small open air theatre, a bit OTT.
On Ernest Pierce's sudden death in 1950, th festival was discontinued until 1953 when we were asked to perform "Merry Wives of Windsor' to celebrate the Coronation. I had a great fun as Mistress Page, one of the merry wife's.
Who can forget too, the beautiful sprung maple floor at the Winter Gardens, it was a dream to dance on, especially with Russell Pengelly (Audrey Thomas's brother) on the piano. He was a master of the romantic, smoochie slow waltz! HOw many romances started at ' The Wints' dancing to Russell playing ''l'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time' or ' When I Grow Too Old To Dream'?. Ah yes, as the song says... Memories are made of this...
Liz Harman
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