Gryphon Gallery: Act One – The Early Days of Drama at GNS

After building the first gymnasium at Norfolk House School in 1933, drama flourished under Mrs. Cheetham’s enthusiasm and directing skills, and by the middle of the decade house plays were firmly established.

Earlier on at Glenlyon, Allen Upward took on the role of producing many dramatic productions for the Christmas Concerts while Florence Simpson played an important part too, writing plays or poems and helping with costumes. Most of the plays called for some degree of ingenuity and improvisation. The first invitation to participate in the Victoria Schools Drama Festival happened in 1940, unfortunately the two leads both went down with measles and the opportunity was missed. In 1949 an entry called Clipper Ships was chosen for the Honour Performance and from that point on regular entries were made under the directorship of Sandy McNeel-Caird, Colin Skinner and student, Atom Egoyan.

At NHS in 1961, thirty feet was added to the length of the gym to accommodate an excellent stage and during the 1960’s, Pat Fairweather, Gr. 6 teacher, sponsored a very successful Drama Club. Drama was not a formal course, and held after school but there was always a considerable number of girls from across the senior grades who were enthusiastic members. In addition, Mrs. Fairweather directed the Christmas pageant which involved members of the Junior School. Mrs. Fairweather had long been an active member of the local drama community. When she felt the school was ready, students took part in the annual Victoria Drama Festival and her work laid the foundation on a very solid footing for the continual development of Drama at NHS. 

Upon the arrival of Mrs. Mieiklejohn drama became a part of the curriculum. There was a good share of successes in the Drama Festivals, winning a number of awards, with both junior and senior plays as Mrs. Fairweather carried on her directing with the lower grades while Mrs. Meiklejohn looked after the seniors.

During the early 1970’s, Colin Skinner, well known thespian in the Victoria community, directed several major Glenlyon productions in the Gilbert & Sullivan genre and handed over the drama role to Dougal Fraser, a former student who became senior English & Drama teacher at the school. His biggest triumph was to direct the students in H.M.S. Pinafore and the staff in Happiest Days of Your Life in the same year, 1977.

At the Norfolk campus in 1971 the Henderson Building was completed which included a “big room” for a back-up gym, music classes and Drama. Much later this big room became the starting point for the Performing Arts Centre, built for performances and assemblies for GNS soon after the 1986 amalgamation.

During the early 80’s, Drama gave impetus to joint social activities between Glenlyon and Norfolk House. Directed by Mrs. Judy Bradshaw, later Treloar, NHS’s production of Web of Murder in 1980 included three Glenlyon boys for the first time. The girls reciprocated the following term by being part of Thieves Carnival, directed by Alistair Glegg. From then on the majority of productions involved representatives from both schools, the most ambitious being the Glenlyon production of Oliver in 1982. Director Jake Humphries brought together 24 boys, 14 girls and 4 Glenlyon staff. Other plays of that time with joint casts and former student Val Chatterton getting involved in directing, included Our Town, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Tomb With a View, Arsenic & Old Lace, The Wizard of Oz, and The Miracle Worker.At this point, the curtain closes on Act One. Act Two – The GNS Years – will follow at a later date.