BP News

John Gardiner Remembered

I wanted to add my own tribute to John and his legacy to our theatre. John Gardiner was the artistic Director of the Queen Mother Theatre from the time it opened until he left to found the Hertfordshire Theatre School with Kirk Foster. He has variously been described as charismatic, a force of nature, and a unique man of theatre and he was, without doubt, all of these things. For those who never knew John when he was based at the QMT, this may all sound rather far-fetched and sentimental, however, it is just a plain statement of truth. Meeting John Gardiner was always an event – he was a great raconteur amongst other things, and always had something important to share often wrapped up in story that had you in stitches. Yes - he was not only a marvellous director, writer and educator but a damn fine stand-up too, and long before that term had become popular, would give talks and presentations that presaged post-modern comedy by decades.

It was as my English and Drama teacher that I first met John way back in the mid-1960s. He was an instant inspiration and took drama from being something slightly embarrassing and suspect to the forefront of the school curriculum. I was never any good at sports but as an actor at Hitchin Boys Grammar School, as it then was, I enjoyed a reputation that made me feel like a celebrity – and I wasn’t even the best actor! He bulldozed the formality of that old school and offered warm friendships to students in a way that made all of us feel that we could really achieve anything. He was dead keen on tight discipline too but with him it was always with your enthusiastic agreement – you wanted to behave and work hard because you were desperate for the lessons and the fun to continue.

I suppose I knew John best as a playwright and as a director. If you have never been in a John Gardiner production all I can say is – you missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If there is one thing I learned from the man is that theatre is an event so you should make it a big ‘un! He loved physical comedy and was the master of lazzi, the sort of comic business that has audiences rolling in the aisles. He also loved language and some of the wordplay he wrote for us was priceless. Who can forget the vicar in one of his productions intoning ‘and now we shall sing hymn four-four-four, What waft ye winds, what waft ye’ or the timeless ‘Finger Benjamin’ from RockaSocka? Yet he knew how to write superb tragedy too and a play he crafted for Kirk based on book called Private Tucker’s Diary, was simply the best one-man piece I have ever seen. It was heartrending and very simple and where a lesser author may have resorted to theatrical tricks, John knew the value of allowing the text to work its magic without any device. Just Kirk as Tucker telling his story was enough.

Well I could write a book and perhaps someone should about the effect of John on the Bancroft Players and the lives of all that he touched with his God-given talent. Suffice it to say that when you see a play at the QMT that looks professional, works slickly and leaves you breathless, that’s him. That’s what he did for us. He taught us all how to produce better than we thought possible and to set that as our standard.