Danièle Gaillemin’s Drama Productions
When it was time for Danièle to leave Butler's Gate at the end of 2025 and move into a care home, Angela Davis (teacher at Michael Hall 1983 - 2012) and Danièle's children — Aloÿse, Josh and Olivier — came across the many bags and boxes of photographs, albums, CDs and programmes that François and Danièle had kept as a record of her remarkable drama career at Michael Hall. This spanned 40 or more years, during which Danièle and many other talented teachers put on professional-standard plays, enabling so many students to take to the stage, discover hidden talents, and form tight-knit class bonds.
What to do with them? Angela, together with a group of Old Scholars - Dawn Brend (class of 1965), Sarah Horsfall (class of 1977), Annabelle Davis (class of 1989), Daisy Davis (2020), Mary Samways (class of 1999) and Lorraine Jones (class of 1993) - decided to honour Danièle's work by mounting an exhibition to be displayed at the annual Midsummer Festival.
Each Monday, and then Thursdays too, we gathered at Angela's home for a few hours, going through all the photographs, working out which belonged to which production, programme or poster, and arranging them on large pieces of card. We also unearthed some incredible costumes from the costume room at Michael Hall, all ready to be displayed in the Great Hall at the Mansion.
Each production involved so many talented teachers, staff, students, parents and members of the local community - from costume design and making, set design, build and props, to music, voice tutors and so much more - all united by their dedication to staging such high-quality productions.
As Danièle wasn't able to attend on the day, we had a book for Old Scholars, teachers and friends to write down their memories and messages. This book has since been shared with Danièle.
Messages included:
"I'm here and surrounded by your work and therefore also all the memories of working with you. I loved the Midsummer plays, the chaos of a farce and the joy of soaking up your colour and vibrancy."
"Loved going through all these wonderful memories - what fun we had!"
"Remembering you with such fondness as I stand here in the Mansion - it's down to you that we still have it!"
"What gifts you gave us over the years!"
"We were so lucky to have you guide us with all your passion and gifts. Merci beaucoup. Bisous."
To read more about Danièle, click through to this blog post:
Michael Hall – Midsummer: Drama Exhibition
We've enjoyed the process so much that we're already thinking about what other exhibitions we could put on at next year's Midsummer Festival. Watch this space…
The costume drawings below were done by Vicky Dunleavy (parent); from these drawings as examples, Angela Davis would create the costumes.
