Vera "Fox" Draffin: Memories of The First Titania

These are some of my own abiding memories.

You may wonder why we, up on the hill, were asked to join the Players. In those days our little colony was within the Shoreham Parish Boundary and to Shoreham Parish Church – the family came to christenings and weddings etc.

My Father was a very entertaining Irishman and to be asked to play the dour Egeus was calamitous for him. And myself Titania! In the village then there were no fairies (I say this in the most delicate way).

Well, we entered this Midsummer Night’s Dream in our new bull-nosed Morris Cowley, which carried us faithfully and constantly up and down our hills, often in the fog, my father on foot showing the way with a torch, after having battled with his journeys from the city trying to reach rehearsals on time.

The work was tremendous and with so many wanting to play – how to fit them in and the coercing of the ones who didn’t want to act and the dragging of the reluctant ones from their local inns – this really could only be done by Mr Barbor himself! Who could blame him if he also lingered over a pint for a while, for after all it was there that he originally found them: the publican, the butcher, the carpenters, the builders and the signal man. Mr Bell, the grocer, had to be in different casts to keep the shop open.

You can imagine the nightmare that rehearsals could be and how easily he could have given up.

There was no electricity in Shoreham, they devised something with acetelene gas, a sad substitute. I hear they did blue for night and yellow for day.

How had he found Puck? A most unlikely stringy little girl of 14, who was a miracle. A grasshopper and a dragon fly, you just knew she could put a girdle round the earth in 40 minutes.

And now Oberon, John, son of the George Inn, coming from Sevenoaks School. His school cap with a button on top.

He had a splendid physique and a lovely voice in his golden crown and golden tunic, quite perfect.

I rather fancied my own silver dress, with blue chiffon, shot with green and gauzy wings and was quite upset to hear Mr Copping who was normally a kindly man, say to Mr Barbor: “She would look slimmer if the draperies were criss-crossed over her teenage frontage.” This was a mode adopted by such fine women as Dame Nellie Melba an opera singer of the day.

Mr Copping then presented his own daughter, Joyce, as the second Titania, rather tall, and went her own way, by painting her rather large face very green, quite an astonishing thing to me at the time.

Hermia, was Olga Harte, Mrs Franklyn White, the artist and scenic designer’s wife, was also independent and wore a black dress dotted with silver stars, her tresses around her shoulders just as black and sparkling.

Fairies were found, six little girls covered from head to sturdy calves in misty green butter muslin. You could just see their small faces peeing through. Pease Blossom, Cobwebb, Moth and Mustard Seed I wonder where you are today?

The school master was rehearsing – Mendelsohn on piano and violin, his wife was mistress of the robes and made the costumes with many helpers, whilst the carpenters sawed away.

The Barbors had many eminent people as friends, people from another world, writers and artists – musicians such as Warlock and Moeran – I was often there listening to their music. He was at the time writing his book on Wagner.

I must just add a little post script. The excitement for me, a newley fledged driver, taking Edith Evans to the station after a later play, my mother accompanied the songs in our review Hops for which Warlock and Moeran composed a song and hand something to do with the whole revue, in this my sister designed the costumes and scenery for the deluge – my family trumpet well blown I’ll say give me your hands if we be friends and Robin will restore amends.