Structural worries have put a stop to Bradfield College’s tradition of outdoor Greek theatre. Will Gore implores the gods (and benefactors) to be kind
Bradfield College is one of the most attractive boarding schools in the country, and the jewel in its crown is — or was — its open-air Greek theatre.
Greeker, as it is known, was built in 1890. For more than a hundred years, pupils performed plays on its stage. The most admired of these productions were the Greek plays, latterly presented every three years in the original texts of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
These performances have given the school an identity and a good reputation among scholarly types. Today, if people have heard of Bradfield, chances are that it is because of the Greek play.
Since 2009, however, the theatre has been closed. It is now a sorry sight: the old stage is desolate and the stone seat-rows covered in moss.
Why has this happened? Health and Safety, of course. A survey discovered that the timber structure of the temple was unsound and the seating unsafe, while the exits didn’t comply with fire regulations. The cost of restoring the site was beyond what the school’s budget could allow. The Greek plays could not continue in Greeker, by government edict.
What a pity. The Greek play, performed in Greeker, was a classicist’s fantasy come true: boys and girls obliged to spend weeks learning by heart — parrot fashion — the original Greek, so that their peers and parents could pass three or four hours sitting outside, often in the rain, wondering what the Delphic Oracle was saying or why Oedipus seemed so upset.
Yet this seemingly crazy notion produced wonderful and deeply engaging performances, kindling in even the most unlikely pupils an enthusiasm for ancient drama. In the 1990s, the Greek play helped nurture the talents of Claudia Harrison and Isabella Calthorpe, two girls who have gone on to have successful careers on both stage and screen.
The tradition has been continued in the school’s indoor theatre, but the atmosphere of the outdoor productions was immeasurably more dramatic and impressive. It would be a great shame to lose the magnificent old setting, which made the Greek play so special, just because of some construction issues.
The situation is not, however, hopeless. The Bradfield Foundation, a registered charity set up in 1990 to help fund school projects, has launched an appeal to raise £1.3 million to renovate the site to the required standard. More than £600,000 has been raised, thanks to the generosity of old Bradfieldians and others. The proposed restoration would bring Greeker back to life: the idea is to convert the site into a fully functional — and impeccably safe — modern auditorium, with new steps, lighting and a grand temple.
But Patrick Burrows, the foundation’s chairman, says that time is running out.
‘A seminal point has been reached in the life of the college,’ he says. ‘Greeker must either be saved (and saved quickly, for the rate of deterioration is alarmingly rapid), or consigned to being a part of the history and archive of Bradfield.’
Will the Foundation hit its target in time? The answer, as the Greeks would tell you, is in the lap of the gods.
If you would like to donate to the Greeker Appeal, get in touch with The Bradfield Foundation by calling 0118 964 4840 or by emailing: development@bradfieldcollege.org.uk
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