book, music and lyrics
Everyman Youth Theatre, Cheltenham
Among the staff at the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham was Sheila Mander. She ran the Everyman Youth Theatre, which attracted and inspired mainly teenagers, along with some slightly above and some slightly below the 13-19 bracket. I can’t remember how Sheila and I became acquainted. However it happened, within a short time I had agreed to writing book, music and lyrics for a youth theatre musical. I soon came to realise that Sheila was one of life’s wonder-workers. She and her husband Peter, both deeply compassionate and generous people, seemed to specialise in waifs and strays, recognising me as one even though I didn’t at the time think of myself as in that admittedly broad category. They enveloped me into their large family while I worked with Sheila and the youth theatre members to develop the piece. It was a very happy experience.
The songs and stories in Independence Day were built on improvisation sessions with the cast. After four performances, mainly to enthusiastic parents, the show disappeared. Another example of what my friend Rony Robinson called ‘disposable theatre,’ in contrast to the deadening effect of what we thought of as ‘masterpiece theatre.’ I wonder whether such a distinction still holds.
