Cal McCrystal, Director; takis, designer; Les Dennis, Sir Joseph Porter; Elgan Llŷr Thomas, Ralph; Alexandra Oomens, Josephine; Hilary Summers, Buttercup; Chris Hopkins, conductor.
It constantly amazes me that anyone in this age should want to go and see Gilbert and Sullivan. The satire for the most part is feeble, the send-up of opera now wearing very thin after nearly 150 years, the class assumptions only really of historical interest, daft plots and attitudes to women which are often completely at odds with the modern age (though this production managed to trump that by making a running joke about dementia….). Yet the theatre seemed decently full (particularly after a long run) and there were lots of youngish people, not just the G&S addicts mouthing all the words remembered from amateur dramatics in their youth in Dorking – people seemed to be enjoying it. I didn’t, but perhaps I’m in a minority. Yet surely there are better funnier examples of light music worth staging to be unearthed from somewhere…….
This production was slick, clever, with lots of gags, some relatively crude double-entendres, plenty of colour and some good dance routines. All the singers were never less than competent, though some of their West Country accents came and went a bit. Les Dennis, without operatic training, did his famous patter song well but his lack of ability to really project his voice showed – some of the verbal exchanges sounded a bit strained, I thought. The ENO Chorus was outstanding in joining in with the various dance and movement routines – there was also some excellent tap-dancing!
So – a good show but personally one I could have done without
John's musical journey 