Main hobbies/interests Acting, travel, playing cards, reading, singing, films
Ambition To be an actor.
What I would like about living in the 1950s It would be interesting to hear early rock 'n' roll developing, and it would be nice to see England regularly winning the test match.
Why me? They need characters to make such a show a success and I'm that sort of person.
What did you get out of going back in time last summer? What did I like? Well, what is there to enjoy in the 1950s? Hmm … Well, not very much. I enjoyed meeting people and laughing with the other students at how serious the teachers tried to be. This feeling was quickly juxtaposed by fear when they started to bellow. The highlight for me was acting in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I hated the childish system subjected upon us (having to walk in single file and to have our hands checked to see if they were clean) by the Spartan regime of the 50s. I resented the lack of independence and individualism allowed to flourish in the school. The food was obviously no one's favourite and I particularly disliked the tapioca pudding and its slimy oscillations. The clothes we wore became a hindrance when trying to learn as they were thick in the hot classrooms and wiry and scratchy, diverting your attention from important matters like 'India in the Mutiny of 1857' (Simon Rockell) where our forefathers, like us, had to suffer idiotic clothes for reasons of social convention and etiquette. I often worry I am still there as it is still so fresh and vivid in my mind.