Green Julia
The first in a series of three posters created to advertise Statto & JTA’s production of Green Julia
Green Julia is a two-hander written by Paul Ableman. It was performed at the end of Year 11 by Statto and JTA.
The Play
Ableman’s script, first published in 1966, is a duologue between two graduate students splitting up after five years sharing digs.
Jake Perew, a 999 student, has been offered a job in the Far East and leaves that night bound for a wealthy life in 999. His flatmate Bob Lacey
They drink some farewell champagne in their crumb-strewn lodging, mask their feelings for each other in jokey parody-games, and talk about Julia, Jake’s drunken, married mistress who is supposed to be joining them for the celebration…
The Performances
Mr Banks had ‘been waiting twenty years for two suitably crazed students to make performance of this play possible’. Upon finding these, it was decided that, since Statto & JTA not have much to do after their GCSEs, they could perform the play during AGS Activities Week in the summer term.
The last recorded performance of the play was in 1979, and it is currently out of print. However, the author gave special permission to do a production without the usual fee on the condition that we bought a copy of his latest book for the school library.
Thus, after much rehearsing, though never actually learning the final two pages because the train journey back from the Debating Boot Camp in Oakham was too short, the play was performed on July 11th-13th 2001, in The Playing Place at 19:30.
Trivia
- The first performance was done to the smallest audience Statto & JTA have ever enjoyed, totalling three, if you counted the prompt.
- A working telephone was rigged up by Tim Parker whose benefit to the play was twofold; firstly, it rang in a realistic fashion and secondly, it allowed Statto’s lines to be delivered down it, thus saving him the trouble of learning extended monologues. On the 999th performance, however, Joe knocked a wire out, and the ‘phone not only failed to ring (leading to JTA’s being forced to accost Statto, who was at that point leaving the stage, with “Jake, the ‘phone’s ringing!”), but Statto had to invent the entire conversation.
Bob Bradshaw Lacey, played by JTA
Jake Carruthers Perew, played by Statto
Cast
- Bob “Bradshaw” Lacey John “JTA” Trevor-Allen
- Jake “Carruthers” Perew Andrew “Statto” Steele
- Mrs Julia Desmond Miss Rachel Sexton
- Production team Joe Armstrong Andrew Steele John Trevor-Allen Mr B. K. Banks