The Abingdonian 2019

21 www.abingdon.org.uk Michaelmas Term Abingdon and the Great War As students at Abingdon school, we’re surrounded by a sense of history and reminders of our heritage. However, it’s rare to have an opportunity to explore this heritage and share it with a wider audience. I was therefore excited to be involved in the Abingdon and The Great War presentation in the Amey Theatre on the evening of Thursday 8 November. After a short but enthusiastic rehearsal period involving six senior drama students directed by Mr Taylor, we took to the stage. Finding out how best to approach the topic of The Great War theatrically is always a challenge. The principle of appreciating those who gave their lives in order for us to live in a free world is rightly upheld. Yet as performers, we are not only tasked with honouring and educating, but also entertaining. The material for the presentation was drawn from the 1913-1919 editions of The Abingdonian . From my perspective, reading about the familiar rituals of school life from over a century ago – such as the end-of-term services at St Helen’s Church, or prizegivings attended by the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University – created an immediate connection for me between the school’s past and present. However, I was not there purely to remind our audience of the sun-blessed cricket season of 1913. My fellow-readers and I also had to tell of the hardships faced by serving OAs, and of the impact on the school of the letters they sent from the front. Back at Abingdon, the realities of war seemed remote and unreal until news of casualty figures began to arrive. Re-reading the stories of Abingdon men such as Trooper Bury and Lieutenant Meredith as they told of furious artillery assaults and the injuries they inflicted, gave all of the performers a transparent understanding of our predecessors’ history. Another revelation for me was reading of the creation of an Old Boys’ Corps. This 12,000- strong force featured an array of disparate characters drawn from different professions who were nevertheless united in their enthusiasm for defending their country and serving to the best of their ability. It seemed to me this element of the Abingdon mentality can still be seen today in the principle of cohesion and community. For the Old Boys’ Corp in 1913, this meant a readiness to be called upon when needed. As actors, we relished the opportunity provided by The Story of the Zeppelin , one of the many original poems contributed by pupils that featured in the pages of The Abingdonian during the War. Using our hands to beat out a rhythm gave a sense of both the power and menace of the Zeppelin airship, but also its abrupt end when it crashed in flames. Throughout the performance, photos provided by Abingdon’s archivist, Sarah Wearne, helped to bring the extracts to life as they were projected onto a large screen behind us. One of the most powerful moments came at the end, when images of Abingdon’s Roll of Honour were displayed, showing the names of more than 370 Abingdonians who served, accompanied by George Butterworth’s poignant musical setting of A. E. Housman’s poem Is My Team Ploughing ? Music of the period was used throughout the presentation to underscore and amplify the emotions embedded in the texts. The impact of the readings was also enhanced by other elements of design, such as the lighting by Nick Lloyd and George Killick. At one point, red pools of light splashed across the stage floor, calling to mind not only the bloodshed of the War, but also its timeless poppy emblem. As our story reached its conclusion, we read the magazine’s simultaneously gleeful and gruesome report of the town’s celebrations when at last victory was announced. That night, a burning effigy of the Kaiser was paraded in the market square, as it was in towns throughout the land. But now, The Abingdonian correspondent’s words served only to remind us that we must always be wary of divided and hate- ridden times, whether we read about them in history books, or catch glimpses of them on the horizon. Samuel King, 5VP