Last week the death was announced of John Corvin. Our thoughts are with his wife Rosemary who is an active member of the Friends and his family. Tony has written this post for us to remember John.
Painting of Stratford upon Avon by John Corvin
John, who recently died, was not only a well known figure in Stratford but a member of the RSC for several seasons from 1962. He played the Officer in Clifford Williams’ celebrated production of The Comedy of Errors and was also a member of the ensemble which presented the company’s first staging of The Histories in 1963/1964 under the umbrella title of The Wars of the Roses. Perhaps his most notable appearance during these latter performances was as Lord Clifford fighting on the battlefield with Donald Sinden’s Duke of York. The fight (arranged by John Barton) involved two foot swords which were so heavy that they had to be held by two hands! This spectacular sequence became a highlight of the productions, and seeing them during the Quater centenary Year of 1964, it was only too obvious why it received such acclaim.
Both The Comedy of Errors and The Wars of The Roses were subsequently filmed by the BBC, and it is very good to think that these early successes for the company, not forgetting John’s performances -may be seen by arrangement with the archives department at the Shakespeare Centre.
John subsequently settled in Stratford and over the subsequent decades continued to attend RSC productions. He also became known as a prolific painter and his work included an impressive painting of The Courtyard taken from Southern Lane.
I had got to know John over the years and my last special memory of him was during the launch of Nick Asbury’s book, Exit Pursued by a Badger. During the proceedings, I was able to introduce him to Debbie Korley from our present ensemble. As Debbie was about to appear as Luciana in the Young Persons Shakespeare staging of The Comedy of Errors, it seemed appropriate she should meet a former member of the company who had appeared in the 1962/63 production of the same play. Chatting together, it was confirmation that the RSC ensemble tradition is once more firmly established, thanks to Michael Boyd, and that both generations represented by John and Debbie were a reminder of the forthcoming celebration in 2011 of the granting of the Royal Charter to the company in 1961.
by Tony Boyd-Williams
PS. The Scrapbooks section of my website … http://www.gordonhoneycombe.com … has some photos, programmes, reviews of the 1962 season.
Dipping into Yahoo and the Net and typing in names from times past, as one does, I came across the recent demise of John Corvin, with whom I shared a dressing-room in 1962 while acting with the RSC. There were seven of us in that dressing-room, 12A, and we were all minor players, spear-carriers, etc, in the RSC productions that year. Apart from John and myself, there was Peter Geddis, Paul Greenhalgh, Ian Hewitson, Ian Lindsay and Bryan Reed. John was about 12 years older than the rest of us, being then aged 37. I was 25. Geddis and Lindsay were married. Although we were a very mixed bag of types, physically and otherwise, some with eccentric habits, we got on well together, ever aware, I think, that we were appearing on stage with some of the best actors in the UK, in a premier theatrical company, in acclaimed productiions directed by some of the best directors of that time. It was also a well-integrated company, enjoying jokes and drinks together at the Dirty Duck. No one was paid that much. I began the season, unbelievably now, on 11 pounds a week; the leading actors received about 60. John had a loud, deep voice and was cast most notably as Jupiter in CYMBELINE, descending from the flies at the end of the play on the back of a golden eagle. He was also a Herald and an Officer. At the end of the season I transferred with KING LEAR to the Aldwych Theatre, while John remained at Stratford. Ah, memories …
A lovely piece, Tony.