Oedipus wrecked

Structural worries have put a stop to Bradfield College’s tradition of outdoor Greek theatre. Will Gore implores the gods (and benefactors) to be kind

 Bradfield College is one of the most attractive boarding schools in the country, and the jewel in its crown is — or was — its open-air Greek theatre.

Greeker, as it is known, was built in 1890. For more than a hundred years, pupils performed plays on its stage. The most admired of these productions were the Greek plays, latterly presented every three years in the original texts of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.

These performances have given the school an identity and a good reputation among scholarly types. Today, if people have heard of Bradfield, chances are that it is because of the Greek play.

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Since 2009, however, the theatre has been closed.