From the Bradfield Archive…

Bringing together former member of staff David Raeburn (SCR 1955-58) at the final performance of the Greek Play Persae back in June 2017 and Bradfieldian Charles Harrison-Wallace (E 50-55) who shared the photographs below, led Karen Ward to the Archive to discover the following about Oedipus at Colonus in 1955.

Rave reviews in the summer of 1955 for the performance of Oedipus at Colonus in the Greek Theatre at Bradfield and an unusual invitation, led to a venture for the Greek Play cast in that year to Europe.

Amongst the many fine reviews of the play was one by Roy Walker who wrote in The Times “among the actors there was not a weak spot; all moved finely, all spoke their lines with clear enunciation and a true sense of the melody of Greek verse.”

Below you will find a whole party photograph taken in 1955 where we have also tried to add possible names to faces.

It was no surprise that after its successful run at Bradfield with the new producer at the time, Mr David Raeburn as Teacher of Classics at Bradfield, the Oedipus group took the unusual step of taking their performance to Saarbrucken in Germany to perform at the 4th International Delphiad at the end of August 1955.

The festival founded by Professor Wilhelm Leyhausen after the war, was for European university students to meet each other on a shared artistic and cultural venture. They continued until 1965. Sir John T. Sheppard, eminent classicist who later become Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, can be seen in the centre of the photograph above with Frau Anne-Marie Leyhausen, both from the Delphiad establishment and David Raeburn.

Charles Harrison-Wallace remembers that the party stayed in accommodation likened to a barracks, but by all accounts a comfortable one! The theatre was a converted gymnasium and each night one of six different plays were performed in six different languages. David Raeburn remembers that their production broke the normal rule, that groups performed ancient or medieval plays in their own languages and Oedipus was the first and David believes only one, ever to be offered in ancient Greek.

Playing in this unusual venue was not without its challenges. The difficulties of fitting Oedipus to a wide stage with less depth than at Bradfield was managed skilfully and the artists made a fine job of the sacred grove of Colonus.  One of the most striking features of the production were the costumes designed by David’s mother Dora Raeburn in a colour scheme of black and terracotta superbly translated from Greek vases into life. Another feature were the extraordinary wigs and make-up by a leading professional called “Bert”. He worked on the Bradfield plays since well before the war and managed to transform boys into really convincing bearded old men. Bert, pictured at the back of the photograph above, was also credited in the Persae programme of 1982, so continued working at Bradfield in this capacity for a very long time.

 The Bradfield College Chronicle at the time noted: “the entry of Creon through the middle of the audience was as impressive as ever and so was the final exit of Oedipus” but also “Theseus touched the heights in a masterful performance and was duly presented with a bottle of champagne by an admiring Swede!” Estimations of the number of curtain calls ranged from 9 to 13 and Bradfield on the strength of this triumph were elected to the Delphic Institute. David Raeburn’s inspiration and enthusiasm as producer was credited for this expedition, without which this trip could not have taken place. We thank David for his commitment to Bradfield and to this unique adventure for all those involved in the Greek Play of 1955.