#Trinity60
Mark Fleming
Reflections and thoughts of Mark Fleming (1984) on the early Mid-Summer Night’s Dream (MND) performances in 1980
I am by chance, as was said at a 'Fairy Dinner' in the 90s I think, "the oldest fairy"! (This was also mentioned in the local press at the time and of course, from the Big School stage, as I was conducting a Mitre Players pantomime - creative humour never dies!
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) performances in 1990, I remember for being gloriously low budget (I think the budgets for such things grew considerably for future productions). Were the fairy costumes white tracksuits? There is a possibility that I am confusing memories with the actual first Trinity School encounter with MND, which was our being in the play at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, with music by Ian Kellen (a friend of David Squibb (DS), I think).
In that show, Puck was played by the American from The Young Ones & Carol Cleveland (the female Python) was Tytania. Boys being boys, we tried to get a pre-show ‘Babycham,’ but DS was wise to us!
Back to RAM, the guy playing Oberon talked a lot about spirtualism but I have no real thoughts/memories on the show or anything!
The set design at Aldeburgh, however, was a brilliant pyramidic creation where the outer and inner sections could separate to create bowers and magic lands! Designer Robin Don was very clever.
I remember hearing Tytania (Marie McLaughlin) asking her Bottom (Roderick Kennedy) to help her rectify a ‘costume malfunction’- was it to protect her modesty or not to embarrass the boys – who knows the real reason!!
My memories will probably be in Wally Swan’s book (A Century of Dreams)... the amazing costumes, the strange desire of DS to have cakes in Burnham Market (I think), me telling the assembled dignitaries at a drinks reception that DS was really called Baldwin Poultry, my chucking fellow fairy, Simon Jackman & myself (accidentally) into a canoeing pool……many other memories are probably best unprinted.
The only definite memory I have of the show itself, was that my voice was suddenly ‘double de-clutching’ about 2/3rds through the run and I was very much finishing off the run in falsetto and not really treble! (Though I sang treble till Xmas, but also tenor at my church choir, which I found an excellent way to deal with my voice change!). Happy days...