At King James’s School, Knaresborough [North Yorkshire], in the 1980s, performing in the sixth-form play was a rite of passage for those of us doing English A level.

For the traditional two-night run in December, the S1 assembly hall would invariably be packed out with parents, relatives and rubbernecking peers hoping for an amusing pratfall. The proximity to Christmas helped lend the event a festive glamour, which the quality of acting seldom lived up to. But generous bonhomie reigned in a space where, that summer, we would take our final exams.