Editing Michael Hordern (section)

====Bristol repertory theatre====
[[File:070522 ukbris ch01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Colston Hall]], Bristol, the former home of the Rapier Players]]

In mid-1937 the theatre proprietor Ronald Russell offered Hordern a part in his [[repertory]] company, the Rapier Players, who were then based at [[Colston Hall]] in Bristol.<ref name="TELEOBIT" /><ref>Hordern, p. 50.</ref> Hordern's first acting role within the company was as Uncle Harry<ref name="HORDERN52-53">Hordern, pp. 52–53.</ref> in the play ''[[Someone at the Door (play)|Someone at the Door]]''.<ref>"New Players in Company", ''Western Daily Press'', 22 July 1937, p. 8.</ref> Because of the play's success, Russell [[Typecasting (acting)|employed him in the same type of role]], the monotony of which frustrated the actor who longed to play the [[leading man]]. It was whilst with the Rapier Players that Hordern fell in love with Eve Mortimer, a [[Minor (law)|juvenile]] actress who appeared in minor roles in many of Russell's productions.<ref name="HORDERN52-53" /> Hordern considered his experience with the Rapier Players to be invaluable; it taught him how a professional theatre company worked under a strict time frame and how it operated with an even stricter budget. He was allowed two minutes to study each page of the script, but because of the frequent mistakes and many stalled lines, rehearsals became long and laborious. Hordern described the company's [[Theatrical property|props]] as being made to a very high standard, despite being bought on a shoe-string budget.<ref>Hordern, p. 54.</ref>

After a brief holiday with Eve in Scotland in 1938,<ref name="HORDERN57">Hordern, p. 57.</ref> Hordern returned to London, where he appeared in ''Quinneys'', a radio play broadcast by the [[BBC]] in June of that year.<ref>"Broadcast of Quinneys", ''Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette'', 10 June 1939, p. 8.</ref> The main part went to [[Henry Ainley]] whom Hordern described as "a great actor, who, sadly, was past his best".<ref name="HORDERN57" />
Hordern then made a return to Bristol to prepare for the following season with the Rapier Players.<ref name="HORDERN57" /> One production singled out in the ''[[Western Daily Press]]'' as particularly good was ''Love in Idleness'', in which Hordern played the lead character. A reporter for the paper thought that the play "had been noticed" among theatrical critics and that the players "filled their respective roles excellently".<ref>"Author Takes Lead In His Own Play", ''Western Daily Press'', 19 October 1938, p. 11.</ref>

By the end of 1938 Hordern's father had sold the family home and had bought a cottage in [[Holt, Wiltshire|Holt]], near [[Bath, Somerset]]. The arrangement was convenient for the young actor, who used the premises as a base while he appeared in shows with the Rapier Players. One such piece was an adaption of [[Stella Gibbons]]'s ''[[Cold Comfort Farm]]'', which starred [[Mabel Constanduros]], who had adapted the book with Gibbons's permission. Hordern was cast in the supporting role of Seth, a part he described as being fun to perform. The modernised script was "adored" by the cast, according to Hordern, but loathed by the audience who expected it to be exactly like the book.<ref name="HORDERN57" />{{refn| Writing in his autobiography, Hordern explained the reason why the play was so unsuccessful: "''Cold Comfort Farm'' horrified Bristol audiences, who imagined they would be in for an evening of pastoral idyll. Instead they were treated to a complete send-up of all pastoral idylls and they left in droves."<ref name="HORDERN57" />| group= n}}