Dick Whittington 1940

Dick Whittington

ArtS Theatre Cambridge 1940-41

This play was Gillian’s first stage role, playing one of the children in the Christmas production of Dick Whittington at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.

Gillian, 14 years old at this time, was studying at the Cone Ripman School which had relocated from London to Loddington Hall in Leicestershire. The director and choreographer of Dick Whittington, which was due to open in nearby Cambridge, visited the school, held auditions, and eight children including Gillie were chosen to portray ‘London kiddies’ in the Christmas play.

The eight children were sent off in a bus along with the school matron as chaperone, plus dance shoes, practice and ordinary clothes and gas masks, to stay in local digs in Cambridge. Gillie rehearsed wholeheartedly, and loved this first opportunity of being in a real theatre, experiencing first-hand the whole process of being involved with a cast and creative team and seeing how a play goes through the process leading to first performance on stage.