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Trisk says, ‘The sad time was always the day after the final performance, having to go into school at the weekend and take down the set. What had taken weeks to construct usually took just hours to dismantle’. Life in Hell continues to this day. Much of the backstage work is now undertaken by Savio Gimmi, our drama technician, but pupils are encouraged to take control of the lighting and sound desks, stage management and organisation of the backstage crew. Indeed, the Drama Technical Club, run by the drama department, received funding from the Clubs and Societies Fund in 2022, enabling more boys to participate backstage and to use wireless communications. As the audience of this year’s production of West Side Story will have witnessed, musical theatre is alive and well at Merchant Taylors’ School and, as in Julian Slator’s time in the SCR, ambition is not held back by facilities. However, in the words of Julian himself, ‘So what of the future? Is it now time for a Theatre, or even a Performing Arts Centre, to be planned and built at the school?’ Julian Slator’s production notes and a longer version of this article may be found on the website.

members would cut their teeth on less technical tasks before graduating to more responsible areas, such as electrical screwdrivers! But it is the teamwork that helped to pull off these ambitious productions and that is what is universally remembered. David Adams comments that ‘Working collaboratively with teachers and fellow-pupils on stage shows was a real eye-opener for me, and something I loved during my time at MTS’. Similarly, Simon Hempel says ‘It really gave me a form of identity that maybe I was missing. Dave and I became joint stage-managers and threw ourselves into it. We didn’t know what we didn’t know and virtually everything was new to us. Some of the most rewarding times were spent in the wings during rehearsals and the shows themselves. There was so much to juggle, from set movement to actors getting in the way! What with props and doing everything in the dark, it is amazing that we pulled off all the productions. Most of all, I remember the camaraderie and the huge sense of achievement. I’m not sure I had any idea of what to expect when I started working on the set for Oliver with Nick Axford (1978–1984), but four years later, with multiple productions behind us, it is something I look back on with great pride and affection’. But as Ben

Mr Gough retrofitted a safety switch after that. One trick I learnt was how to make dry ice, which we needed for the witches' cauldron. It is as simple as getting a canister of CO2 and releasing the gas through a sock: the dry ice forms on the inside.’ Being in the backstage crew gave many of the Spanner Men access to areas of the school that were usually off limits, such as the fencing Salle above the Great Hall, and also gave them certain privileges. Ben Trisk recalls: ‘In the Studio Theatre there was the “crew room” where, during break times, the stage crew would, or could, hang out. As a junior member of the school my presence there was tolerated rather than welcomed by the more established members of the crew. The crew room was also equipped with a kettle, toaster and television — a huge perk!’. Howard Sefton (1994–2001) also remembers the crew room, ‘a small dumping-ground at the back of the Studio Theatre, which was made into our private common room using props and old staging. I brought my Nintendo and in the Sixth Form we spent almost every lunchtime there’. All these experiences provided not only great opportunities for the crew but also created bonds and camaraderie across the different ages. More junior

Concordia Winter 2024

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Sound desk in the Great Hall in the late 1990s

Drama Technical Club using equipment donated by the Clubs and Societies Fund.