The Amateur

Garden furniture and oh yes there was a desk in Mother Superior’s study. And there was a make-believe hill which Maria started off on for “Hills are Alive” I don’t know what happened to that. It may have reappeared at the end for Climb Every Mountain. Much of the wings were used for storing stuff rather than allowing people to stand and watch. There was a bedroom scene where the desks had to be shifted. Then there was a party. In the second act I don’t think we featured in anything until the Edelweiss concert. Amateur shows then – you hired the costume from a famous place in Leeds – you also hired the set. There were so many scene changes in each show. You hired backdrops. They dropped down at different times. They all had to be bundled out. The get out on Saturday. Where furniture was required that was shunted on. The seats and things I suppose. Seats in the house scenes. It may have been a central staircase. We had to construct the bed and then deconstruct it to store it away. We’re talking November 1970. I think when this was happening which is only 37 years ago. I can remember bits of each of the shows. The performance was a fortnight and if you imagine all the rehearsals you had to commit.