Gerry Almond was a new teacher at Queens who decided to put on a production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in the winter of 1966.He asked Grammar for some boys to join the cast, but Mr Dart needed the school's senior actors from Matric for Grammar's annual production.
Instead, boys from the Leaving year were asked to volunteer for Oedipus.
What Gerry Almond got was a rag-tag bunch of slightly younger lads who had no experience in acting but were up for a bit of a lark around the lake at the girls' school. No auditions: everyone who turned up scored a role.
What the audience got was a stunning production that, entered in the Melbourne Sun's school theatre competition, won Best Production and - for Ernie Gray as Oedipus - Actor of the Year.
The scene where Oedipus puts out his own eyes was not for the squeamish: I don't think anyone in the audience actually fainted, but it was shocking and realistic, with bright red blood. (Rumour had it that it was real blood obtained from the hospital, but Ernie Gray tells me he doubts that story: he believes they used sachets of stage blood.)
Ernie Gray went on to study at NIDA, and became a professional actor and playwright. He has worked mainly on the stage, but has also been seen in many Australian films, TV shows and commercials, most recently in ABC-TV's The Librarians: see his filmography at IMDb. He now teaches drama at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne.
Top, middle: Ernie Gray as Oedipus.
Bottom: Two later recruits to the cast for non-speaking roles: Alan Hickman (l.) and Stephen Renwick.
See also: Program for Oedipus Rex, 1966
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