The Wykehamist The Wykemamist Common Time 2017 No. 1474 | Page 11

playing original music composed by
Christopher Cheng (Coll) with the help of
others. An excellent session in the theatre,
coincidentally 80 minutes long, left all who
attended with heightened spirits for the rest of
the evening.
On the 8th, 10th, and 11th of February, Toye’s
presented the hilarious wartime comedy ‘Allo
‘Allo! Huge crowds flocked to QEII for what
promised to be three fun-filled nights full of
light-hearted relief and quality acting. Directed
by Guy Brabbins, Samuel Morley and Mrs
Godfreys, ‘Allo ‘Allo! is set in German-
occupied France in the Second World War.
Adapted from the 1980’s BBC sitcom, it tells
the story of Rene, a cafe owner whose
business becomes a hive for comedic chaos,
secrecy and scandal. The Frenchman is forced
into a variety of ridiculous situations as he
attempts to hide two British airmen, conceal a
priceless painting hidden in a sausage, and
conceal his many affairs from his wife, while
also keeping business rolling as usual. Adam
Giles led the cast, playing Rene with vigour
and bravado. He overcame the large quantity
of lines to put on a stellar performance.
Meanwhile Felix Turner, in his first major
acting performance at the school, put on a
perfect German accent to play Flick, a Gestapo
officer. The star of the show was undoubtedly
Luke Williams who played Gruber, a feminine
German man. He had the whole audience in
hysterics every time he opened his mouth.
Other worthy mentions include Tomas
Sergeant who bravely played the female role
of Edith, Rene’s wife, while Jude Smithers
played LeClerc, whose perfectly timed
comedic interjections ensured the production
flowed from one scene to the next. The set
designed by the CS team did a wonderful job,
especially considering that it changed
throughout the production, a rarity for house
plays. Live music added a brilliant backing
while also not clouding out the acting. The
props, which included an inflatable Hitler and
a giant Edam cheese, completed the fantastic
staging. There is no doubting that ‘Allo ‘Allo!
was one of the best house plays so far this
year. Guy Brabbins and Samuel Morley
deserve huge credit, for turning what could
have been a joke, to the perfect end to the
week. I look forward to returning to QEII,
eager to see if this can be topped.
║ART & EXHIBITIONS
Omar Lingemann (A) & Ned Whitley (D)
The term has seen several successful
exhibitions. Two years ago, Winchester
Cathedral commissioned Toby Saville to
create an exhibition of works to celebrate the
history of the cathedral alongside its current
renovation. His exhibition was called
‘Marking Time’, and Saville made four large-
scale abstract paintings. In November Saville
displayed some of his new works in the
Angelus Gallery. These included two of the
original large-scale paintings, and ‘chopped
up’ pieces of his other two large-scale
paintings. The works were stimulating in their
use of colour, though enigmatic. Saville also
gave a thoughtful presentation to the Pre-U art
pupils, and there was lots of critical dialogue
between the pupils and the artist.
The work of Christopher Twigg, on show in
the Angelus Gallery in January, was a striking
contrast to last term’s Pop Art exhibition by
the top year. The artist combined an interesting
blend of poetry and abstract, ill-defined
shapes, set across a darker yet still highly
energised background to create an eerie and
almost discomforting environment for the
viewer. The way in which the colours bled into
one another in some of his pieces and the
maintenance of a similar style throughout the
exhibition helped create a sense that all the
pieces on show at the exhibition were
connected.
The annual exhibition in Art School of
watercolours from the Treasury collection
was this year curated by Dr Harden’s VI:1 div.
The 30 pictures were chosen to illustrate the
various ways in which artists have approached
the subject of landscape. The exhibition
included works as various as a drawing by
Gainsborough and a woodblock print by
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