"The Barbican"

No. 25 - 1949

"GALLOWS GLORIOUS"
By Ronald Gow

CHARACTERS
(in order of appearance)

The cast list is from the official program - courtesy of Phil Ray

HONESTY impels the confession - a little reluctant - of almost total ignorance of the details of John Brown's life. What happened after his death is well known; this play shows, by its presentation of the last events in his struggle against slavery, the conditions in the United States which resulted in the Civil War.

It shows more than this in its portrait of a man who thought more of social justice (or as we say now; human rights) than of his own safety, and who was prepared to make, and did make, every sacrifice to bring about what he believed that justice to be. I think it is especially this which makes " Gallows Glorious." such a good play for a school to stage. It is easy to forget in our time, when new forms of slavery have been invented and when nearly everybody is either actually or potentially a member of some group, movement, party or class, that oppression has often in the past been defeated by the integrity, the courage and the example of individuals. It was easy for them to define human rights; it is equally easy to-day in spite of the statesmen who get themselves and us bewildered in conferences attempting the task, and it is well to be reminded of it.

Mr. Silk, Mr.Ollerenshaw and their cast deserve our gratitude, therefore, for presenting a play which, in addition to the qualities mentioned, has the additional one of being well written. They deserve it also for the skill with which they inspired 26 boys, nearly all of them inexperienced, to give such a credible and, frequently, moving performance. "Gallows Glorious" was not written for school production and it contains characters and situations completely outside a boy's normal experience but not, evidently, always beyond his imagination.

Two players stand out in my memory - John Brown (Brian Woods) and Annie (Jerome Abbo). Both of these gave remarkable performances, the former for his authority and dignity, the latter for the authenticity of his representation of a female character. I found them almost always completely convincing, and admired particularly the way in which Annie showed the changes of mood which the progress of the play required. Other notable performances were Owen Brown (David Wilkinson), John Kagi (Cedric Andrews), Salmon Brown (John Fletcher), Ellen Brown (Lawrence Taylor), Shields Green (Paul Bishop) and Mrs. Brown (Donald Burgess). Points of criticism were, in Owen Brown, occasional insufficient clarity of speech, in John Kagi, an exaggerated awkwardness of movement and gesture particularly in his scenes with Annie; in Mrs. Brown, a monotony of delivery which sometimes prevented the player from conveying to the audience all the qualities of what was, however, a difficult part. But these are small faults in young actors, and very few would do better.

Of the scenes in the play the weakest, I thought, was the Telegraph Office (Act III, scene 2), where the rapid change from comedy to tragedy and back to comedy, seemed to prevent the audience from getting the full effect of either. The fault, if it is one, is the author's, who might, I feel, have done better than raise a hearty laugh just after John Brown had been taken off to prison and ultimate execution. The most impressive scenes were the second in Act II and the first in Act III. For these, and for the others, a great deal of credit is due to those responsible for sets, lighting and realistic outbursts of gunfire, lightning and thunder.
S. E. PENNEY.