THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD, Kingston O.S., Richmond Theatre, November 1977

The least said of this dreary effort the better - I left thankfully at the Interval, having seen what I came primarily to see - Roger Woodward's main scene as Leonard Meryll. For a baritone to tackle a role like that required courage, and Roger managed remarkably well - I came not expecting it to work, and was pleasantly surprised when it did. The best performances came from Phoebe and Shadbolt, whose scene together was really first-rate. The role of Phoebe, however, seemed to cramp the style of Barbara Kennedy, who had been so excellent in The Dubarry. Philip Otto was a gangling-legged, flat-voiced Fairfax, Liz Goodchild a hard-voiced Dame (this part convinced me that while Liz has considerable talent, she is not right for G & S.). Frank Bland and Laurence Cuckney underplayed Point & Meryll, respectively, to the point of non-existence. The scenery consisted of Georgian mullioned windows. The orchestra were brassy and raw. The performance crawled at snail's pace - it was a wonder I kept awake. MICHAEL WALTERS

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