- Merchant Taylors News
- SNOW - Important School Access and Bus Information
- Doctors' Day Dinner made Head Girl proud
- OBA Crosby Dinner
- Red Nose Fun
- CBE for former Merchants' Governor
- Wooden Spoon Dinner
- Merchant Taylors' Annual Ball
- Merchants sponsor charity 1000 mile bike ride
- CCF Inspection Day
- Merchants becomes 'The School for Scandal'
- MTS celebrates record admissions to top medical schools
- Lost famous Delft Plaque found in Merchants' skip.
- MTS CCF Shooting Team wins more trophies
- 2009-10 Head Boys and Girls
- Merchants wins hat-trick of teaching awards
- GCSE Results Press Release
- After-school care a success
- Sixth Formers meet the Prime Minister
- Open Days' Photos
- Prize Giving and Speech Day Ceremonies - Celebrating Success
- My Fair Lady
- Economist enjoy 'Credit Brunch' with Old Boy and City high-flyer
- Introducing our new Bursar
- Sports Days show MTS has real competitive spirit
- Young Medics and Dentists set for bright future
- ICT disruption
- Staff visit Sierra Leone
- Swimming Pool Re-Opened
Merchants becomes 'The School for Scandal'
In total contrast to November's Grease, the Summer Term's Joint Schools' Production this year was Sheridan's satire ‘The School for Scandal'. The production was a real feast for the eyes as well as a pursuit for the mind as the Girls' School stage was transformed into a Georgian tableau of colour and costume. The production was brought brilliantly to life by the magnificent dresses of Mrs Barry and Mrs Bramhall and the ornate stage and scenery of Frank Meaney and Tim Seddon. The fabulous costumes and Mrs Barrington's work reupholstering the Chaise Longue, which took centre stage, were started as early as May last year.
The play, directed by Head of Drama Siân Tickle, centred on the rival cliques among London's chattering classes, this classic play was as relevant to the readers of Okay Magazine and the Daily Mail's gossip columns, as it would have been to Sheridan's Post Restoration audience.
The centre of unwanted attention was Lady Teazle, portrayed intelligently by the Nikki Boyd, who grew from charming naivety into a realisation that the club she aspired to join was not worth the membership fee.
Her husband Sir Peter played by the resolute Rob Branigan was the lynchpin of the production, neatly combining his frustration with his wife's frivolities with a genuine adoration for the woman he had fallen for.
The best lines, however, were reserved for the gossips whose innuendo and insinuation left audiences uncomfortable as they joined in with the jokes. Sarah Mallon as Lady Sneerwell, Bethany Hinton Lever as Mrs Candour, Tom Robb as Mr Crabtree and James Hinton Lever as the aptly named Sir Benjamin Backbite formed their own pernicious cell, cleverly drawing the audience into their web of rumour.
Heather Pitt as the tender heroine showed the fragility of young love, while her true paramour Nick Simpson became worthy of her affections, while the falseness of her dowry pursuing suitor Karl Rawsthorne slowly became chillingly self-evident.
Merchant Taylors' truly became 'The School for Scandal' and the production was complete with deceit, pride and gossip. The cast performed the acid comedy with the scorn and subtlety it so cleverly required to an enthusiastic and appreciative Centenary Hall.
