| Mike Tomlinson, who sent in this
programme, played the part of the Judge. He recalls how,
early on in the Court House scene, he had to mime to a
song which had been pre-recorded on an ancient tape
recorder. On the first night, as he started to mime, the
tape recorder remained silent; a terrifying experience
for a thirteen-year-old! After a couple of bars Mrs.
Grimes, who was playing the piano, signalled to him to
start again and sing, which he did, only for the tape
recorder to start up after he had sung the first two
lines. He then had no option but to start again, this
time miming to the tape. As a result of this ordeal Mike
has remembered those two lines ever since (and will
doubtless do so for the rest of his days!): "If an animal errs or a citizen sins,
whether rabbit or weasel or ferret he
is certain as soon as the trial begins to be stamp-ed
upon with celerity."
The problem on that first night was
that whoever was in charge of the tape recorder had
forgotten to turn it on and the delay was caused by
waiting for its many valves to warm up. Mike suggested
that the person responsible might have been me,
but, thankfully, I can honestly claim to have been absent
from the occasion, being in the middle of sitting my
"O" Levels at the time. Other suggested
culprits include Messrs. Russell or Nicholson. Anyone
want to own up?
|
