Crypt Hall, youth activities
A new church hall
Opened in 1964, the large crypt hall [left] was used in a variety of ways, in accordance with the Rector's vision, which is spelt out in this retrospect. He wanted it first and foremost to become a centre for music and drama.
The playwright and poet Leo Aylen wrote two
plays for performance in
churches by
professional actors together with local young people: The Adoration of the Magi, written in Oxford, and George, which was
premiered here in 1966, with Timothy West leading the cast in the opening run.
See here for further details (provided by Leo), including Terry Coleman's review in The Guardian.
Rehearsal space
With its large stage, the hall was used by several West End
productions and major orchestras.The Royal Shakespeare Company
rehearsed here for a time; Peggy Ashcroft
allegedly said Why can't we
always rehearse here - the acoustic is
marvellous.
Dolly Goes East - the £100,000 show destined for WC2 gets off the mark in a blitzed church in E1, reported the Daily Mail on 18 November 1965, two weeks before the opening of the show Hello Dolly at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. With
two dancers from the Broadway musical, its star, Mary Martin, walked to
work through Stepney's dismal streets ... Yesterday it was in rehearsal
in the crypt fo the once-blitzed church of St George-in-the-East in
Cannon Street Road. Miss Martin, 51, reached the East End via New York
and Vietnam, where she has been entertaining US troops. She was last in
London 13 years ago for South Pacific. She
says, "I love all of London - it's a second home". Why the East End
rehearsals? A company official explained "It's very difficult to get a
rehearsal room with sufficient space. At St George's crypt there is
floor space for a large company".
Pop music events
The size of the hall also enabled occasional commercial events. In 1964, the East End Sound contest was held here. The final, won by The Walkers, attracted an
audience of 650.
Youth Club and trips
Christopher Bird,
curate from 1963-66, established a youth club (the 'One Under Club') in the crypt hall. A
particular focus of his work was getting young people to organise
events for the elderly. Under the title 'Young Good Samaritans of the East' the
Evening News of 29 January 1965 reported that the 25-strong youth club,
following a New Year concert for the elderly, was planning a visiting
rota, with the boys offering decorating and the girls spring-cleaning.
Fr Bird also organised summer holiday trips, including Teignmouth in 1965 (sharing the Strathearn Hotel for 8
days with young people from St James Purley, at a cost of £8 10s. a
head), Lyme Regis in 1966 (for boys under 15 who were members of church youth
groups - staying at a very low charge at St Gilda's School, with the sisters of the convent there - left - the tall boy in the picture is Peter Maurice, now Bishop of Taunton, whose parents helped to organise the trip), and in the same year a youth
weekend at Westgate-on-Sea (£2 10s. a head) - the duplicated leaflets show
how things were done in those days. 
Parish Socials
Parish pantomimes
1993 The Sleeping Beauty
1997 George Eastington and His CatBack
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