South Yorkshire Times, April 28th, 1939.
Those who read Thurnscoe notes last week will remember that the reference to the keynote of central hall Methodist “pageant of Spring” was the courage of sentiment. Failing that I would rank among those few townsfolk who have not yet seen the production, I saw it in its entirety on Monday night and have no hesitation in withdrawing my previous statement and substituting conviction and artleness. The latter was as unrestrained as Shakespearean mercy for the audience simply didn’t exist for those curly headed young children who leapt and gambolled about the stage within abandon so necessary to the theme.
Some of them forgotten online or two, two had a bout of thumb sucking, the majority of the performers under the age of four took a breath between every two words but they had the time of their life; and what is more important, so had the audience.
The downright fun I can commend you to the site of two little boys positively glowing after well plied carbolic entering the stage into pairs of whacking great boots person if I in the influence of spring, orbits direct apothesis, ssome dozen girls “sprig muslin dressed” or whatever those dainty little facts were made of, singing in chorus, sitting at the feet of their Sunday school teacher listening to a Bible reading or picking flowers from the floor of the stage.
It would be churlish to review the scenery without the warmest praise. The proscenium was axed by a trellis frame work of hundreds of flowers, interpersed in the latticework and hanging down in festoons, falling down into the wings and intruding into the hall. Numerous bowls of spring flowers made a welcome relief from footlights. After asking he was responsible for The sequence, dancing, music, rehearsals and all those necessary but obscurities have to be done before the first night, I was told that it was a church effort and so after licking my pencil in anticipation of a healthy list of those who served by waiting, I must generalise.
Mrs J. Matthewman was “largely responsible” for the work behind the scenes and she will be the 1st to want me to say that a host of other workers took an active interest in the show without actually appearing on the stage.
The Rev. J. Matthewman, the superintendent minister was prolocutor. The production opened with some atmosphere at lower courts on the organ as incidental music to the storm scoured winter. “Finlandia” emerged from the extemporisation at a town poem to spring and the leit-motif gradually died away as the Piper made her appearance and though still struggled against the strong winds, joyously trilled away.
The Piper was the central figure of the whole production and it was my opinion that without Miss Annie Smith there would have been no production either. He had an exceedingly pleasant voice; a perfect understanding of her part in carried himself well.
After more warbling on the pipes, the rivers and trees and birds responded to the call. Then occurred one of the finest if most simple incidents in the pageant. The pipe attacked on the ground with her knuckles – no response; she listened – no response; and then with the unexpectedness of the pantomime Demon King coming up through the stage, two little boys (very little boys) hopped onto the stage dressed as rabbits. Two large bouquets to those little chaps. They had got onto the stage and they were going to make The best of their opportunities. They skipped and gambolled, frolicked and cavorted and refused to be suppressed. One of them, not as high as a table leg, tweaked the Pipers ribbons and went into gurgles of laughter every time he was reprimanded. It was an action that was only rivalled by a cherubic not yet two-year-old Raymond Owen, in a later scene who distinguished himself as a leader of the irrepressible. This includes with various little boys and girl singing solos and duets.
Miss Ruth Barber, who has an extremely pleasant voice, dominated the second scene when the various Christian character stood round her, and recited monologues.
The last scene showed the response that had been evoked by the Piper. Children were shown round the Sunday school teacher listening to stories from the Bible and others were grouped around a crib, and here again the majority of the performers were only in the toddling stage and had to be lifted up to the platform. At the end a miner, fishermen, parents, mate, sailor, domestic, artist, milkmaid, doctor, sportsman, and Carpenter entered, gave an affirmation of the response to the Piper and repeated parts of Oxenham’s “Te Deum of the commonplace” in a tired phalanx. A deeply religious clothes into a fine performance.
The chair was taken by a well-known and well loved visitor to central hall, Miss Coulton, of Doncaster who gave a very apt address. Mrs. Matthewman thanked all who had so freely given their services, Mr G. S. Mann was organist, Mr E. A. Smith was choirmaster and the performers came from the officers, Teachers and scholars, members of the church, sisterhood and girl sleek of Central Hall Methodist Church.
