Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
directed by Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel had a fine CV as a director of popular films in the 50s (Make Me an Offer!, It’s Great to be Young) and TV series in the 60s (The Baron; Department S, The Avengers). I don’t know how much theatre he’d done. He was polite and charming; we got on well.
This was my one and only showcase production for final year students at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The title role was taken by Charlotte Harvey. I enjoyed working with her a lot. We never met again after the production closed but, nearly 40 years later, while working at Hampstead Theatre, I met someone on the admin staff who turned out to be her daughter.
My memories of the production are quite shaky. I think it used Eric Bentley’s translation, and that we performed the show in the New Vic, the BOV’s studio space. I remember being quite pleased with a couple of the song settings, but I seem to have lost the score. Maybe the theatre school has it somewhere. I was also the MD, playing piano in a three piece band. At least, I think it was three-piece.
