By Joe King
Well. Life is a drama, isn’t it? However, mundane you think your life is, or has been, it’s still a drama whether we’re talking about “The Archers” or William Shakespeare; “Emmerdale” or George Bernard Shaw; “Eastenders” or Oscar Wilde.
As for me, ever since I played Joseph in the nativity play at my primary school, drama has played a significant part in my life, already seven and a half decades long.
William Shakespeare [Wikipedia]
You’d have thought that after playing Jesus’ father, the only way would be down, but not so …..
School years
I wasn’t involved in drama activity in either of the two boys’ grammar schools I attended. I was too busy playing sport.
So life was drama-free. Or was it?
An adolescence spent with my parents' unhappy marriage as a backdrop was never going to be without its dramatic side. Mum hospitalised for a year; my younger brother and I raised by our gran during that time; my dad struggling to cope with the impending breakdown of a second marriage; a sudden and rushed move to another town 50 miles away; the trauma of settling into new schools; a fire; a second house move; a complicated love life; a flirtation with the Pentecostal Church.
A psychiatrist would have had a "field day".
Hele's School, Exeter as it was [Exeter Memories]
University came along at just the right time, or did it.....?
University
My first year at university was a complete and utter drama. I was still an evangelical Christian at that time which marked me out as a "bit of a freak" amongst my fellow students. I was so fervent that it affected my studies.
I dropped out at the end of that year and, aged 19, I was back home with mum, dad and younger brother (Mum was well again and had decided to stick with dad and keep the family together). As for me, I got myself a job in a small supermarket.
So, I was pretty "washed up" at 19! All the academic potential I had shown down the "swanny"!
Salford University main building [Media City]
Eventually I came to my senses, negotiated a return to university and in the summer before re-joining my course I went off to Germany to work and get my German back "up to scratch".
Back at uni in October 1970, I joined the drama society in order to meet some girls. There weren't too many members of the female species at my university (Salford - a new-ish technological university) and I knew that drama is more popular with girls than with young men.
That was true and my plan sort of worked, although I didn’t manage to “get my leg over.”
I had a part in “The Fireraisers” (“Biedermann und die Brandstifter”) by Swiss playwright Max Frisch and ended up having a short-lived relationship with a beautiful Welsh girl who used to do my make-up.
Then I went away on my year abroad, so that "petered out" naturally.
[Poster courtesy of Unrestricted View]
Eccles
Around the same time, an older friend, Dave, a music teacher, persuaded me to go along to the Eccles Drama Soc. I got a part in “A Christmas Carol” (Charles Dickens) and was terrible. I kept "drying" (forgetting my lines).
Salford (continued)
When I came back from six months in Spain and six months in Germany, I saw a young girl in a Shakespeare production at the new University Adelphi Theatre, which had been built while I was away.
Jeryl had come to my attention in the Student bar (she was a bit loud!) and I was intrigued.
Moving forward a few years, Jeryl, from Luton, became my wife!
But, once again, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Adelphi Theatre [University of Salford blog]
Teacher training college
At Sheffield City College, where I went to do a postgraduate teaching qualification, I joined the Drama Group, partly because I’d developed a taste for acting and because, as I'd found at university, more girls have amateur dramatics as a hobby than young men.
I played Teddy, Miss Brodie’s lover, in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” by Muriel Spark. I was also the male lead in a film we made of “Riders to the Sea”, by Irish playwright J M Synge.
After the “wrap” of “Jean Brodie”, ie the after-show party on the last night, I was seduced by a very sexy young teacher trainee who was in the cast. My first-ever “one night stand”.
Dame Maggie Smith as "Jean Brodie" [Rotten Tomatoes]
Schools I taught in
St Nicholas RC High School in Hartford, Northwich, Cheshire
St. Nick's was my first school as a qualified teacher.
I was only there for two years but performed in a couple of staff/student productions of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, “The Pirates of Penzance” and “HMS Pinafore”.
Great fun!
[Poster courtesy of Genius]
Cardinal Langley RC High School, Middleton, Greater Manchester
My over-riding memory of dramatic activity here was the number of “affairs” being conducted amongst members of staff.
On the real drama side I appeared in a staff play (I forget the name) and a staff/student musical where I ended up ad-libbing with the audience, getting them to join in the singing.
St Aelred’s Catholic High School, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside
Once again quite a bit of “’Ow’s your father” going on amongst the staff here.
I confess that I succumbed to the temptation for a while.
[Wikipedia]
Swinton & Pendlebury and Salford
When my girlfriend Jeryl and I moved in together in a flat in Salford, we joined an "am-dram" group in Swinton & Pendlebury. We ended up getting very involved. Apart from acting, I was chairman of the committee for a while and Jeryl was Hon Sec.
During that time the group was renamed SPADES – The Swinton & Pendlebury Amateur Dramatic and Entertainment Society.
A highlight was when we took our production of “Jock on the Go”, a musical play based on works by Arnold Bennett, to the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.
I got to sing in this fantastic theatre-in-the-round in the old Manchester Stock Exchange!
Royal Exchange Theatre [Photo: Loads To Do]
Stockton Heath and Warrington
When we moved to Thelwall near Warrington (Cheshire) we continued with SPADES for a while, but the travelling became too much, so we looked for drama opportunities which were more local.
We joined the Playmakers of Stockton Heath. The standard of acting was pretty high. Jeryl and I were now married, but still childless, so we had plenty of time to indulge our hobby.
Jeryl soon became one of the leading actresses and played the lead in a number of productions, including the matriarch Bernarda in “The House of Bernarda Alba” by Lorca.
She also directed some great successes. She was especially good with Alan Ayckbourn plays.
I also picked up some good roles, including Biff in Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons”; Donald in “Blue Remembered Hills” by Dennis Potter; Becket in "Becket" by Jean Anouilh; King Henry II in "The Lion in Winter"; and The Emcee in “Cabaret”, my favourite part ever.
Our whole family, ie Jeryl, me and children Amy and Tom, appeared in “Lark Rise to Candleford” by Flora Thompson in around 1990.
[Photo courtesy of Wikipedia]
Salford Players
Jeryl and I were occasionally “poached” by Salford Players, a semi-professional outfit just down the road.
I had some great roles there, eg in Terence Rattigan’s “Separate Tables”; “Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun” by John McGrath; and “Oh! What a Lovely War!” by Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop.
(Sir) Ben Kingsley was a member of Salford Players before he became famous.
[Poster courtesy of amazon.com]
Altrincham Garrick
We also appeared a couple of times at another semi-pro group in Altrincham, where many “resting” professionals ended up.
Many years later our son Tom Whitelock, who went on to become a professional actor, appeared at “The Garrick” a few times.
A highlight was his performance as Guy in “The Full Monty” by Simon Beaufoy.
[Poster courtesy of ATG Tickets]
First Marriage
My first marriage was a drama from start to finish, yet it lasted 30 years. There was never a dull moment!
North Wales
My first relationship after my divorce from Jeryl was a huge drama. The stage we performed on was a beautiful cottage in a stunning village in North Wales overlooking the island of Anglesey.
But it was never going to last …..
Second marriage
My second marriage, now in its 15th year, has also not been short of drama.
Wife number two is Rita, a feisty German, whom I met in Ronda (Málaga).
We still live just outside the "Ciudad Soñada" ("City of Dreams" - Rilke), and our relationship is so "dramatic" it would make a great “soap”!
Me and Rita at the beach [selfie]
London
Tom Whitelock, my son, studied at Rose Bruford Drama College where he appeared in a number of productions including Chekhov's "Three Sisters".
He started his professional acting career touring schools running drama workshops. He appeared in London fringe productions including "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess; "Yerma" by Lorca and several pantomimes.
He got a great gig at Shakespeare's refurbished Globe Theatre beside the River Thames, appearing in The Bard's "Romeo and Juliet".
Tom finally broke through into The West End when he won the part of Pete Quaife, bass guitarist of "The Kinks" in the musical "Sunny Afternoon". Eight live performances a week for 12 months!
Tom in "A Clockwork Orange" [Action to the Word] Tom as Pete Quaife in "Sunny Afternoon" [West End Theatres]
Since Covid-19, when Bojo The Clown (prime-minister-at-the-time Boris Johnson) shut theatres down, theatre work has been harder to come by.
Despite the fact that I live in Spain, I've managed to see Tom in all these productions.
Ronda
I joined a local drama group during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Proyecto Platea was great fun, but I found it too much of a challenge and too time-consuming.
Now I just go to watch their excellent productions, whenever I can.
Epilogue
So, my life has been a drama in more ways than one, but it's been great.
I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Later this week we're off to see our favourite local actors from Proyecto Platea (qv) in "Bodas de Sangre" by Federico Garcia Lorca at the Vicente Espinel Theatre in Ronda.
© Only Joe King
Links:
08 EU V24 B2 16x9 VO1 - An acoustic version of "Sunny Afternoon" by the show's West End cast
Photos and Images:
Action to the Word, ATG Tickets, Exeter Memories, Facebook, Genius, Loads To Do, Media City, Paul Whitelock, Proyecto Platea, Rotten Tomatoes, Royal Exchange Theatre, "Sunny Afternoon", University of Salford blog, Unrestricted View, West End Theatres, Wikipedia, www.amazon.com, YouTube
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"A Clockwork Orange", Action to the Word, Amy, ATG Tickets, "Bodas de Sangre", Bojo The Clown, Boris Johnson, Covid-19, “Eastenders”, “Emmerdale”, evangelical Christian, Exeter Memories, Facebook, Federico Garcia Lorca, Genius, George Bernard Shaw, Jeryl, Jesus, Joe King, Joseph, Kinks, Loads To Do, Media City, nativity play, Only Joe King, Oscar Wilde, Paul Whitelock, Pentecostal Church, Pete Quaife, Playmakers, Proyecto Platea, Rita, Ronda, Rotten Tomatoes, Royal Exchange Theatre, Salford Players, Salford University, "Sunny Afternoon", SPADES, “The Archers”, Tom, Tom Whitelock, University of Salford blog, Unrestricted View, Vicente Espinel Theatre, Warrington, West End Theatres, Wikipedia, William Shakespeare, www.amazon.com, YouTube,
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