No 41 -- Spring 1994 Edited by Michael Walters
The major problem was that the small stage appeared far too crowded when the chorus was on, and more imaginative blocking could have helped. But there is no doubt that this was a highly enjoyable production. There was, perhaps too much choreography. I have never quite seen the need for the modern fashion of staging a mime and dance during the overture, as was done here, and after the opening chorus the opera got off to a bad start because both Mrs. Partlett and Constance had weak voices. Constance (Sarah Tynan) sang her first song in a rather flat, expressionless voice, though her dialogue with her mother was rather more animated. Dr. Daly (Barry Cattermole) seemed to have been suffering from a severe throat infection, and sang in raucous tone, but competently. A crimp-faced performer, he was the typical rather "fey" vicar.
After this unpromising start, things improved. John Meredith was quite the best Alexis I have seen. A large, lumpish man with a big head, he played the part as gormless and rather naive. He sang with the bellow of a bull calf - the voice was not a thing of beauty, but this scarcely mattered in view of the humour of his acting. Yet it was not "played for laughs" - the actor seemed oblivious of the fact that he was amusing, and took himself very seriously. The ever reliable Vincent Daniels was polished, suave and sonorous as Sir Marmaduke. Jackie Gibbon (Aline) had charm and authority; after marriage she would certainly have been the one wearing the pants!
Isobel Manz was very low on volume as Lady Sangasure, but I was told that she had been suffering from a bad cold. However, she did not impress me. Alistair Rainey was brilliant as Wells - a sort of Sam Weller character, with thick accent and a Benny Green-like enthusiasm. I started immediately comparing him to ICOS's Peter Mills' performance (not the Peter Mills of British Telecom London Light Opera Group, see page 19) of some 20 years ago - something I don't often do - and found he was more abrasive, more modern, whereas Peter, though with a somewhat similar approach, was gentler, more Victorian in his respect for the upper classes. Cyril Foley was in the chorus.
By Act 2, Constance had become more animated and her song with the Notary was extremely good, her eyes, which had been expressionless in Act 1, now flushed with fun and innuendo. Similarly, Dr. Daly's raucousness semed less grating. David Heath (Notary) was quaint and starchy in Act 1 and delightfully lecherous in Act 2. When he had trouble hearing Constance, he fished inside his ear-trumpet and pulled out a dead mouse.
The Ahrimanes scene was included after a fashion. It had originally been intended to include Gilbert's words with specially written music. However, a member of the society committee happened to be a rather fanatic member of the Performing Rights Society and insisted that permission be obtained from the solicitor of the Royal General Theatrical Fund. Predictably, this was refused, and so it was decided to rewrite the words. In spite of this, the scene worked very well, with Vincent Daniels doubling as Ahrimanes, suitably disguised in a cloak and placed behind a gauze.
There were three child dancers in the overture, who doubled as sprites in the 2 incantation scenes. They danced very well, but they never for an moment convinced as creatures of evil, they were so very obviously pretty children dancing. Even when they dragged Wells away at the end, one had the feeling that they were taking him, not to Hell, but to a fancy dress party.
The programme included a photograph from the Society's first production of 1974 (The Pirates of Penzance) with the comment:
The "Very Model of a Modern Major General" was played by a young American named David Cantor who was encouraged by his G&S loving parents to tour England to appear in as many productions as possible. We like to think that he still remembers his time with C.E.S.P. with affection.
MICHAEL WALTERS
Web page created 4 August 1998