'All Change' Final Script Act 1 (1977).
The Act 1 scene descriptions are adapted from the script notes in the ‘All Change’ booklet as created from original documents by Roy Nevitt, assisted by Margaret Broadhurst and members of the Stantonbury Campus Drama Group.
This version of the play was first performed at Stantonbury Campus Theatre in 1977.
Creator
Nevitt, Roy. Broadhurst, Margaret and Members of Stantonbury Campus Drama Group.
Extent
32 typed pages
Reference number
ALC/026
Records in this Group
Scene 1 : The Rich Man in his Castle.
The Duke of Buckingham was the biggest local landowner at this time of agricultural depression. The story is that his opposition to the railway prevented it passing near Stowe and diverted it through Wolverton. Searches in the Board’s minutes show that early surveys preferred the ...
Scene 2 : Poor Man at the Gate.
Mechanisation during the agricultural revolution and the effects of the Poor Law led to an acute deterioration in the condition of the labouring class. Discontent took the form of acts of violence and riots which spread over the country and this so-called Captain Swing rebellion had many local ...
Scene 3 : The Bucks Yeomanry are Called Out
In a documentary, it can come as an unexpected surprise to discover an unknown event in a familiar place. The idea of rioting at Wavendon (home of the Development Corporation) was going to fetch a laugh anyway. So the script rounded off the prelude to the story ...
Scene 4 : A Landowner Opposes the Proposed Railway.
Drawn from letters, Robert Stephenson’s submissions, and newspaper reports, this scene came to life when Peter Cheeseman, looking in on a rehearsal, suggested we establish a different tone and level in the acting. It had to be ‘conversational, candid, with no straining after irrelevant characterization coming between ...
Scene 5 : The Railway Bill Before the Lords.
This scene is built on extracts from verbatim transcripts of the House of Lords Committee Hearings of evidence in support of the proposed railway. The Lords considered masses of evidence of which this is a fair sample, and in spite of the overwhelming weight in favour of ...
Scene 6 : Robert Stephenson Catches a Cold.
A letter from Robert Stephenson to the L & BR Committee complaining of the intolerable weather in the Wolverton area and his being laid up in the Cock Inn, Stony Stratford, provided us with a “here and now” which sustained a whole sequence.
The detailed contracts for ...
Scene 7 : A Contractor in Difficulties
...
Scene 8 : Railway Servants and Railway Passengers
For a while, the railway line terminated at Denbigh Hall from the south and Rugby from the north. The intermediate gap was covered by a variety of horse-drawn conveyances.
A major thread of this scene derives from two Northampton newspapers of the time. The Mercury, a Whig paper, supported ...
Act 1 Scene 9 : A treat for the men.
Crossley puts to Stephenson that now the line is complete the men should receive a gratuity. Stephenson does not agree and suggests a ‘beer and beef’ plan adding that something to eat and drink would be more of a gift to the men than money.
Crossley informs ...
Scene 10 : Training the Signalmen at Wolverton
The line to the north and south of Wolverton encompassed most of the signalling techniques of the time. Signalmen were trained at Wolverton by Superintendent Bedford, who kept a copy of all the instructions he received from headquarters. Hence some insights into the development of early railway ...
Scene 11 : Hell’s Kitchen.
A contemporary account by the traveller, Hugh Miller, vividly evoked not just Hell’s Kitchen, the notoriety of which is well-documented, but Hell’s Kitchen the night before a prize-fight.
In rehearsals we were somewhat carried away by the richness of material culled from Bell’s Sporting Life, which detailed blow by blow, round ...
Scene 12 : Trouble in Stony Stratford.
There was often conflict between old residents in the area and the new stationmen. The people of Stony Stratford particularly resented the passing of the coaching days.
The court proceedings were transcribed from a contemporary Aylesbury newspaper.
Superintendent Bury, predecessor to James McConnell, saw the importance of a stable and ...
Scene 13 : The Men are Joined by their Families.
The details of John Todd’s family history were taken from the 1851 census.
(Descriptions adapted from the script notes in ‘All Change’ booklet – 1977)
Scene 14 : The Wolverton Refreshment Room.
The group felt that this was one of the most successful scenes. They used a vivid contemporary account of the refreshment room in ‘Stokers and Pokers’ by Sir Francis Bond Head that provided ample material for the scene’s title song.
The discovery of the 1845 Punch with its ...
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