A Higher Education, Angela Pressland

A Higher Education by Angela Pressland is the worthy winner of the Bench’s 40th Anniversary Playwriting Competition. Directing it is a rare and welcome opportunity to work on a brand new play, with the added bonus of having the playwright on hand to offer comment, encouragement and insight. It is a different way of working; the play has no performance history, so all the decisions about interpretation are being made from scratch for the first time. In other productions, the director and cast can merrily launch into ‘an interpretation’ confident there is no one to contradict them. Here, there is another important voice – the playwright. She knows her script, knows what lay behind the characters and their words, knows why it is structured the way it is, knows what it is the play is trying to say. This becomes both a valuable resource and a challenge. What if we disagree? Which of course we do, sometimes. I read the text and come to a conclusion – Angela sees that moment differently. So far (we’re at the half way point at the time of writing) we always work it out. We discuss it, the cast contribute, and the words on the page slowly come to life. Of course also at this midpoint the cast’s biggest concern is getting on top of the lines; once that sticky point is over we can continue the enjoyable and rewarding process of bringing this new script to life for a new audience. I hope we do it justice.

Author's NotesAngela Pressland

A Higher Education – trust me, it really was!

My eldest son started university in 2007, and before he applied, we spent a great deal of time researching higher education. It was during this exercise that I came across an article in The Times about a survey conducted by Kingston University, which suggested an increasing number of students were turning to the sex industry in order to fund the rising cost of getting a degree. The playwright in me thought there was a script in there somewhere, and it was on my son's first day as a Warwick undergraduate that I finally sat down at my desk and started to write it.

I've been asked a lot recently – mostly by other writers who are doing as they were advised and writing about what they know – to be more specific about how I know so much about the world of this play. I'm very quick to point out that at the time of writing, although my knowledge of the education system was sound, I had absolutely no experience when it came to brothels and prostitution. Honest! I think – hope – I've managed to convince my enquirers that everything I learned was as a result of online research. When I think of the things I had to "Ask Jeeves"...

As for some of what this trusty cybervalet turned up... I read interviews with Cynthia Payne, details of the law relating to the oldest profession, and a brilliantly written article by Sebastian Horsley (who has over twenty-five years' experience sleeping with prostitutes – does he put that on his CV, I wondered? Furthermore, does he ever actually sleep?). I read comments from students who work in the sex industry, quotes from the English Collective of Prostitutes, and disturbing reports of racism towards black sex workers. And then there was student finances 101 (as if I needed reminding...), the most fascinating article by Greg Watson (University of Joensuu, Finland) concerning "love and lust in the lyrics of early female blues artists", and not forgetting the findings of a (particularly relevant) study by Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa. I also spoke to students and – regarding another of the play's issues – the parents of teenage daughters, and these teenage daughters themselves. All of which kept me out of mischief for a considerable time!

Everything I learned was documented and filed in a big folder – which, if it ever falls into the wrong hands, will leave me with a certain amount of explaining to do... Hopefully, the incredibly talented team I've had the pleasure of working with on this Bench production will come to my aid and confirm it was all in the name of art.

What does higher education mean to you?

PatrickRoger Wallsgrove

Debut production with Bench Theatre. Previously with Wheathampstead Dramatic Society, Barn Theatre (Welwyn), Company of Players (Hertford), and Shattered Windscreen (Minack and touring). Major roles include: Leontes in The Winter's Tale, Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Ray Say in Rise and Fall of Little Voice (all WDS), Old Mahon in Playboy of the Western World (Barn), Jim in Humble Boy (COPS), Mr Darling in Peter Pan (SW).

"What does Higher Education mean to me?" Well primarily it means my first production with the Bench (and with luck not my last ...)! An amazing opportunity to be involved in a fascinating and thought-provoking play, with perhaps the most words of any role I've yet undertaken. Working on a play with the author in attendance is also an interesting challenge ... I just hope Angela is happy with how we have interpreted her ideas, and brought her characters to life.

SummerCharmaine Barker

Precilla in "The Fiddler" (Faith Drama Productions), Nina in "The Seagull" , Jack in "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", Sheila in "Score", Helen in "Permanence" and Old Woman in "Resting Place" in "Mixed Doubles", Columbine in "Slap N Tickle at the Pig and Whistle" (Southdowns College), Frances in 'No Sex Please, We're British', Iris Kelly in "Fame", Mary Magdalene in “Jesus Christ Superstar” (Dynamo), TV Credit - Hollyoaks 'On The Pull' 2005.

"What does Higher Education mean to me?" At this moment in my life... an awful lot. I have just completed a degree in Media and Cultural Studies at The University Arts London. Whilst I can most definitely sympathise with Summer when she describes the education of 'life' being the real Higher Education - I cannot deny the impact that university has had on my life up until now. I have been able to have the freedom required to grow as an artist and have had the time to learn without distraction, about the things that will benefit me and sustain my career throughout the rest of my working life and beyond. I am not denying that the experience was not trying or difficult in places. Like Summer, we all suffer the pangs of eating little and affording cheap clobber; but isn't that part of the fun? My loan stead me well throughout the whole process and the lifestyle along with the social life makes up for the three years of poverty - it may well have been the best money I have ever spent. The real test is now that I have graduated - we are living through trying times and having a degree by no means secures you 'a better life'. Still 'a higher education' whether it be in life, at university, travelling, career, or starting a family is exactly what you make it, you just have to follow your own path.

CasioCallum West

I joined The Bench in February 2008 after seven years with Dynamo Youth Theatre. I made my Bench debut in "Attempts on Her Life" (Feb 2008) which was directed by my old drama teacher Nathan Chapman, so it made me feel right at home. As Branwell in "Bronte" (April 2008) I felt my acting moved to a new level, thanks to helpful direction from Ingrid Corrigan and support from an incredibly talented cast.

I took a year out of acting with The Bench to help backstage - set construction on a few plays, and lighting for "Closer" (April 2009) - and do other plays with other companies. But I was back on the stage for "Road" (July 2009) which was a wonderful production. Now I am delighted to have got a role in "A Higher Education" and I have really enjoyed it. It is so different to everything else I've done, and having the writer with us has just been a great experience... to be able to ask what her thoughts were has been an unexpected pleasure. I fell in love with the piece when I first read it, and my love for it has only grown during rehearsals, seeing the cast make it what it is.

"What does Higher Education mean to me?" Debt. A great big debt which is not exactly the way a struggling actor wants to start his career, nor any other student in any other profession. But it is also the start of my career. The start of my adult life. I shall never be an adult until I stand on my own feet, and without someone behind me showing me the way. I’ve always had a safety net and I like that feeling. Who doesn't? And yeah, it’s a scary thought that I might never get anything out of it. But it's an adventure, and I am a lover of adventure. I think that Higher Education is something that all young people want to go through, and should go through. I know it could be some of the greatest years of my life. I’ll miss the comfort of being here at home, without any worries. I'll miss the people, my friends. But I’ll take their lessons with me, and use them to take on anything life throws at me. And if I don’t land on my feet, then I guess I’ll just have to get up, dust myself down and try again...

EleanorMelanie Cole

I joined the Bench Theatre in the summer of 2008 having only previously done any acting at school. I immediately volunteered to be part of the stage management crew for the next two plays being produced by the company. My first acting roles were as a stoat and a hedgehog in Damon Wakelin’s Christmas production of Wind in the Willows. Even though I had only 6 lines in the whole play, it was the most fun I had had in ages and I was hooked.

Being part of the team at rehearsals is what it's all about for me. Learning lots of lines or actually being in charge of things adds a serious and responsible dimension to the pleasure of the process. So after that, I was happy to go back to being behind the scenes in the following show; joining in, helping out and generally having a fun time in rehearsals.

However this summer, Nathan Chapman's production of Road by Jim Cartwright offered the opportunity to have a go at some more acting in a manageable way. I loved playing the tragic-comedy tart role of Helen and again had fun throughout the rehearsal process. The fact that there weren’t a great deal of lines to learn was very reassuring particularly as my short-term memory is completely rubbish!

Although I seem to have found another role playing a woman of dubious moral standards in this play, playing Eleanor couldn't be more different from Helen. She’s no 'comedy slapper' and compared to the inherently vulnerable and rather sad Helen, she's hard as nails. She’s also completely different from me and nothing she does has come naturally to me. She’s inherently clever, sharp and socially intuitive (all the things I'm not) but not well-educated in the conventional sense. It’s been more challenging to find parts of her I can relate to so Jacquie has certainly had her work cut out moulding the performance in to something she’s happy with!

DirectorJacquie Penrose

Jacquie has been a member of the Bench since 1977. She is much happier off the stage than on it, preferring to be up a ladder or in the control box or telling actors what to do. She has directed a number of plays, including (personal favourites) Ghosts and A Doll's House by Ibsen, Habeas Corpus by Alan Bennett and Terry Johnson's Dead Funny.

"What does Higher Education mean to me?" It's tempting to get on a soap-box here, especially as it’s the season for the annual round of squabbles about exam results and access to Higher Education. So what does Higher Education mean to me? In an ideal world it should be where all kinds of minds can be stretched beyond the functional basics of literacy and numeracy, whatever their interests or aptitudes. It should be vocational, inspirational, academic, challenging, dangerous – fun. And free. Well I did say in an ideal world...

Stage ManagerTerry Smythe

1960 - 66 St Chad's College school plays. Chorus line in G&S operas: The Gondoliers, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance. St Chad's. 1965 Col. Barrington in 'Ross', by Terence Rattigan. St Chad's. 1966 Frank Warren in 'The Strange Case of Blondie White', by Merrivale and Dell. St Michael's Players, Penn. 1966 Peter Winter in 'The White Sheep of the Family', by L.du Garde Peach and Ian Hay. St Michael's Players, Penn. 1967 Director, and Don Carlos, in 'Don Alvaro, o La Fuerza del Sino', by Angel de Saavedra, Duque de Rivas. Hispanic Studies Department, U.Liverpool. 1970 El Comendador, in 'Fuenteovejuna', by Lope de Vega. Hispanic Studies Department, U.Liverpool. 1976 Silverio, in 'Hoy es Fiesta', by A Buero Vallejo, Spanish Studies, Portsmouth Polytechnic. 2006 Joined The Bench. 2007 Grimm Tales, Totton and Shaftesbury. Richard in 'Window Dressing' - Supernova 4. 2008 'A' in 'Crave'. 'Wind in the Willows'. 2009 Deeley in 'Old Times'. Seven Jewish Children'. (All Bench). 'The Taming of the Shrew'. Bare Bards.

"What does Higher Education mean to me?" Like many in my class and generation [b. 1948], I was the first in my family to go to university. I had six years of study, and then thirty years as a lecturer in the one institution - though it changed greatly in that time. In the late 60's and early 70's we students shared Summer's rosy view of the future value of our degrees - but we were right. I think most of us also shared her naiveté about the world of work: and with more excuse. Higher education for me was a poor training for the disciplines of preparation, marking, admin, research, deadlines. But it was assumed we would learn on the job, and in time I did. This was fortunate, because as numbers grew and funding shrank those disciplines became much harsher - while the pleasure of teaching and tutoring a single coherent group of interested students through a 3 or 4 year degree disappeared.

30 years on, you knew that most of your first year students would never be seen again, not because they had failed [failing more than the few most notorious was taken as a sign of staff incompetence, not of our desperate race towards the bottom of the A-level barrel for recruits] but because they were on other degrees entirely or else likely to go for other academic options. Personal tutoring or mentoring under those conditions was a joke, and valued accordingly.

Would I deny the current generation of students the chance I had? No, but the chance I had was based on grants, not debts, on small class sizes, on lecturers with the time to engage the interest of their students and look after them, and do research. We have created a mass higher education, without willing the means.

And we have the means. Trident. Iraq. Afghanistan. Bailing out the City. A Labour government should know better.

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Reviews

Review: Higher Education

The winner of Bench Theatre's 'state of the nation' play competition, held to mark its 40th anniversary, is a powerful and often entertaining work although not without flaws.

In two hours of real-time action played without interval, writer Angela Pressland shrewdly dribbles out her revelations in such a way as to make it difficult for the reviewer to say too much about the plot without spoiling it for later audiences. But it covers a lot of ground, including teacher/student relationships, fantasy and reality, racism, fashion and today's craving for instant gratification.

The setting is a brothel where a middle-aged man, on his nervous first visit, encounters a confident not-quite-20 woman trying to pay her way through university.

Director Jacquie Penrose and an outstanding cast negotiate some tricky waters with skill – without over-statement but with natural feeling for the big emotional sequences as well as comedy. Above all, Roger Wallsgrove and Charmaine Barker give the principal characters a fine mixture of anger and compassion – and it is arguably the sense of compassion that runs most potently through the play. Melanie Cole and Callum West complete the cast.

Mike Allen, Portsmouth News, 23 September 2009

Review: Explosive take on higher education

The 40th anniversary of Bench Theatre continues with their production of a new play representing the current decade. A Higher Education, under the banner 'State of the Nation' is the winner of their third playwriting competition. Angela Pressland is an exciting new playwright, who has already seen success with the broadcasting of a prize-winning story and performances of two of her short plays at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley. She began writing in 2005 and intends to study for a degree in Theatre Studies. Working alongside the Director, Jacquie Penrose, this world premiere has introduced us to an exciting duo.

The play is a marathon - almost 2 uninterrupted hours of explosive intense emotions ranging from guilt and frustration to racism and humiliation. Patrick, a teacher and valued member of staff, is experiencing problems and deep fears in his private life and as an antidote decides to seek female comfort! Summer, a university student, in order to fund her higher education, is supplementing her meagre resources by working at the brothel! Explosive exchanges ensue and the consequential outpouring of impassioned feelings are let loose.

This small cast of 4 really brought the piece to life. Melanie Cole (Eleanor) excelled as the 'Madame', as she reassured the inhibited teacher on his introduction to the 'boudoir'. Roger Wallsgrove (Patrick Jarvis), a newcomer to Bench Theatre, was outstanding. His sheer volume of dialogue and range of emotions was exceptional as he laid bare his frisson of desire! Equally impressive was the stunning Charmaine Barker (Summer). The comfortable ease with which she taunted and consoled the older man was remarkable.

This was a compelling piece of drama encompassing the worrying trend of students joining the sex industry to fund their degrees! Bench Theatre consistently produce challenging contemporary works and this was no exception. The performance was well supported, and is highly recommended.

Jill Laurie, RemoteGoat.co.uk, 23 September 2009

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