A Park Supreme - a play about Sir Robert Ropner, Victorian philanthropist

In 1857, a young man, aged almost 20, his head full of romantic dreams of a life on the high seas, wangles himself a job on board a freighter in Hamburg. The ship is bound for England. After an horrendous crossing of the North Sea the young man is thrown off the ship in Hartlepool, and he vows never to go near the sea again. He does not speak a word of English, and probably finds refuge in the Seaman's Mission. By 1875, he had formed the shipping company Robert Ropner & Co. which became one of the biggest and most successful shipbuilding and trading companies in England. He was knighted in 1902 and made a baronet in 1904.

Having become a rich and successful businessman, Sir Robert bought a parcel of land in Stockton-on-Tees which he gave to the Council."I think that a Park for a town like ours is most desirable, if not absolutely necessary, and I have, therefore, much pleasure in offering to pay the cost of the ground now under consideration, provided the Council will undertake to lay it out tastefully and keep it up forever."

A Park Supreme tells of the astonishing but entirely true story of Sir Robert Ropner (1838 - 1924). It is a remarkable historical tale of endeavour, enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit with echoes and repercussions in the present day. Ropner Park fell into decline, but recently Stockton Borough Council's Parks Department have applied successfully to the Lottery Commission to restore the Park to its Victorian splendour. So Sir Robert's dream of a place for the population of his town to play and relax is assured.

This play was commissioned by Hartburn Primary school in Stockton-on-Tees. It has 4 excellent songs to illustrate and underscore the action on stage. It was first performed in April 2005.

Although this play is of local interest to schools and drama clubs in the North East of England, reading and performing this play will help to fulfil the following National Curriculum Programmes of Study for History in Key Stage 2: -

Chronological understanding

Pupils should be taught to: place events, people and changes into correct periods of time,

Knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past

2) Pupils should be taught:

about characteristic features of the periods and societies studied, including the ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children in the past
about the social, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of the societies studied, in Britain and the wider world
to identify and describe reasons for, and results of, historical events, situations, and changes in the periods studied
to describe and make links between the main events, situations and changes within and across the different periods and societies studied.

British history

8) In their study of British history, pupils should be taught about:

the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings; Britain and the wider world in Tudor times; and either Victorian Britain or Britain since 1930

Age Range: 9 - 11 years

Duration: 1 hour

Cast: 30-70

Number of Songs: 4

Prices:

£25.00 Copy of the script
£7.50 CD of songs
£10.00 Piano score

Samples:

Build more ships
Mr Ropner, faced with losses on the high seas, decides to be bold!

Scene sample

Images
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