There is Nothing like a Dame A novel by Bronwen Welsh Copyright© 2017 & 2018 Bronwen Welsh A sequel to 'The Might-Have-Been Girl' and 'All the World's a Stage'

Chapter 35   The Youth Theatre

At this point, I must reintroduce Madge Browning, Dame Emily's close friend, who was once again her understudy, as the 'Nurse' in 'Romeo and Juliet'. I first met Madge during the ISC production of 'Hamlet' in which I was playing 'Ophelia' and Dame Emily played 'Queen Gertrude' with Madge as her understudy. You may recall that both Dame Emily and Madge simultaneously suffered severe food poisoning during the season and as a result, I took over the rôle of 'Queen Gertrude' for a few performances, while my understudy took over 'Ophelia'. This certainly did my career no harm as everyone seemed quite impressed that I could perform a different rôle at very short notice. Thank goodness for my memory! I'm sure I wasn't the only actress who could have stepped in, in similar circumstances; I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Madge is one member of that incredible stable of British character actors who take part in so many stage, film and television productions that their faces become quite well known to the general public, even if their names are not familiar. Madge was quite content with this as it meant she had a steady income and didn't have the burden of knowing that the production depended on her. Once again she was acting as understudy for Dame Emily and shared a dressing room with her. For most of the season she was quite content to sit there knitting during each performance.

On just one occasion, a matinée, she was asked to perform, as Dame Emily had to return to London on urgent business. Performing when you are an understudy is difficult, especially if you are replacing someone famous whom the audience wishes to see. They feel they are being short-changed and so develop a certain antipathy to the replacement.

This was the first time, apart from rehearsals, that I had performed with Madge and I was very impressed with the standard of her acting. I couldn't help thinking that if she had wanted to, she could probably have starred in some productions, but it seemed she was quite content with what she was doing. At the curtain call, I was pleased to see that the applause for her was prolonged and generous.

One day, Dame Emily told me that she and Madge wanted to have coffee with me and discuss a project they had in mind. I was intrigued, and we arranged to meet the next day that we all had a morning free. Sitting down with these two senior actresses, I wondered what on earth I could do to assist them.

“Harriet, you know that Madge lives in Stratford,” began Dame Emily. Actually I didn't know that; I thought that she might rent a flat like I did previously, or maybe stay in a hotel while she was performing. “This is largely her idea. We were in London a while back and attended a performance by the Youth Theatre group which performs at the Globe Theatre. Madge said to me what a pity it was that we couldn't do something similar in Stratford. I spoke to Duncan and he is very supportive about it.”

“I'm starting to wind down my acting career, so have some free time, and I thought what a great thing it would be if we could form a youth group in Stratford for talented young actors,” said Madge. “We thought that you might be interested in joining us and that's why we asked you to speak with us today. You would be much closer to the age of the students and that would be an advantage. You don't need to answer right away. Why not discuss it with your husband and then let us know what you think?”

I thought it was a great idea but knew that it was only fair that I talk to Reggie first.

“Where would you get the students from? Would you check out the local schools? I know that acting is very attractive to many young people who don't know how much hard work is involved,” I said.

Dame Emily laughed: “Yes, all they see is the red carpets and glamorous gowns, not the unsociable hours and other negative aspects. Of course the stage has one advantage over film and tv; no-one gets you to stand up to your neck in freezing cold water for hours on end while they adjust the lights!”

“Maybe that should be the first thing we get any budding students to do?” I suggested, and we all laughed.

Reggie of course was supportive, as he always is: “All I ask is that you don't overdo things. You're very busy as it is, but I know that's how you like to live,” he said.

I haven't mentioned my singing lessons, which I had resumed now I was back in Stratford. Madame Mussorgsky was very supportive, but I think she wondered what I was going to do with my developing skills. I wasn't sure myself.

The following week, Madge started touring the local schools to assess the interest in the new drama school, and it seemed very positive. She tried to emphasise that its aim was to provide tuition to students that were exceptionally talented and seriously considering a career in theatre, film or television. She also had a small advertisement put in the 'Stratford Herald' which stated that Dame Emily Good, Miss Margaret Browning and Miss Harriet Stow of the Imperial Shakespeare Company were planning to open a Youth Theatre Group in Stratford and would be holding an information session in the main theatre in Stratford the following Saturday morning for young people between the ages of fourteen and twenty, who should bring at least one parent or guardian with them. I wondered how many people would turn up.

I turned up to the theatre on the date advertised and was met by Madge.

“I'm sorry, but Emily has been called to London urgently, so we'll have to manage without her. I'm afraid that the young people will be very disappointed.”

“Will she be back for the performance this evening?” I asked.

“Oh yes. Well if she isn't, I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with me,” she replied.

“That won't be a problem,” I replied, smiling. It seemed strange for me to be boosting the confidence of someone about three times my age. “So how many are arriving?”

“There's at least a hundred already,” she replied. “It seems every young person in Stratford wants to be an actor!”

I was afraid of that. Well it would be my job to persuade them otherwise.

At the appointed hour I walked onto the stage of the theatre and faced the people sitting in the stalls. At a guess there were about two hundred there, including parents and guardians.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen; thank you for coming to this information session today. I would like to introduce you to Miss Margaret Browning, a member of the Imperial Shakespeare Company who is in the cast of the current production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Please welcome her.”

Madge walked onto the stage to some applause and thanked me for the introduction. I retreated to the wings. Madge welcomed everyone and explained how she and her associates were planning to start a youth theatre group similar to the one at the Globe Theatre In London. She apologised for the absence of Dame Emily but said that the venture had her full support.

“I would now like to introduce you to Harriet Stow, who is currently starring in 'Romeo and Juliet', and she will tell you a little about an actor's life from a younger person's point of view.”

I stepped forward onto the stage and said: “Thank you Miss Browning. I will start by saying that in my opinion, acting is the best career in the world. We may not be rocket scientists or brain surgeons, but what we do brings joy into people's lives, if only for a few hours, and not everyone can say that about their job. In addition, besides getting paid, we get applauded too!

“Many of you are taking part in drama classes at your schools. So what are we offering you that you don't get there? It's the chance to receive tuition from and work with professional actors, people who make their living on the stage or film and television, sometimes all three. It's also the chance that you may be able to perform on stage with these actors, if you are good enough.

“That said, like every job it has its requirements and its ups and downs. To start with, you must be able to speak publicly. I've been to weddings which were ruined for the father of the bride because he was dreading making a speech at the reception. In fact some people would rather have root canal surgery than stand up and give a speech in front of twenty people, most of whom they already know. On this stage you have to stand before up to fifteen hundred people, none of whom you know.”

There was a ripple of laughter at this comment.

“Please don't think I am making fun of these people since we all have our fears. If you made me stand on a small platform one hundred feet in the air, you'd quickly see how much I hate heights.

“Another thing an actor needs is a good memory. The rest of the cast is relying on you to get your lines right, at least most of the time. There is only so much they can do to cover up for the fact that your mind has gone blank. In Romeo and Juliet, the two leads probably have about five hundred lines each, but of course in your first parts you will only have a few lines, so you work up to the larger rôles.

“Next, you have to be able to speak so that someone sitting in the very back row can hear you.” I gestured behind me. “You will see that the scenery behind me is Juliet's balcony and garden, one of the most famous scenes in all of Shakespeare. Every night I stand on that balcony in the moonlight and cry out (and here I switched to my 'acting voice')

'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.'

They actually clapped me again! I switched back to my normal voice and said: “Thank you. That's just a small sample of what you must do, and don't forget, we don't use microphones. It's reminded me of another reason why we are starting this youth group. Juliet is not quite fourteen, although I don't think anyone who plays her is that young. Nevertheless, it means that there comes a time in the career of every actress when she is too old for certain parts and must hand them over to someone younger.

"Another thing, you must be punctual. I'm sure you've heard stories of famous actors or actresses who were notoriously late. That's a classic way to make yourself unpopular with directors and other cast members and you'll soon find that the work dries up.

“Finally, do you mind applying for jobs? Even the best actors may be applying for a job several times a year – they're called auditions. You may feel you are the best applicant for the job and you may be right, but if the director has his heart set on a particular interpretation which someone else can give him better than you can, then you won't get the part. Sometimes actors go for many months without performing – we call that 'resting', but if you are short of money it can be a real problem.

“Don't get me wrong; I love what I do, but if you have any doubts that you can take the negatives of acting, then consider doing it as an amateur while working at another job. There are plenty of amateur dramatic groups that would love good actors to join them.

“Are there any questions?” I asked. It seems I must have shocked them because nobody spoke.

“Now, if I haven't put you off completely, you can come down to the front of the stalls and sign a form to indicate that you are still interested. There will be some cost involved of course, but we are giving our time for free. We will be in touch to tell you when the first group sessions will take place, and we will do our very best to give you a good introduction to the theatre. You may still want to apply to some of the drama schools in the future, but we hope to give you a head start.”

Everyone applauded me again and then they started to troop down to the front to sign up, well most of them did. A few of the young people were in deep discussion with their parents and left without bothering to sign up. I was glad that by laying it on the line, they had realised that the professional stage probably wasn't for them.

We ended up with forty-eight youngsters signing up. One of the theatre's secretaries kindly typed them up, thanks to Duncan Morgan. Dame Emily arrived at the theatre about six o'clock and was keen to know how it had gone.

“Quite well we think,” said Madge. “A few went home without signing up, but we expected that. We will have the first session in the rehearsal room next Saturday morning and then let them walk on the stage to get an idea of what it feels like. I'm sure some will drop out, but we may get some some stars of the future, who knows?”

“Excellent!” said Dame Emily. “Well, I'd better start getting ready. I managed to sleep on the train which was good. I don't want to nod off during the performance.”

To be continued.

Many thanks once again to Louise Ann and Julia Phillips for spotting my 'typos', thus allowing me to correct them before publishing.