A serious yeomanry

Press, 1 September 1980, Page 4

A serious yeomanry

By

Heath Lees

“The Yeoman of the Guard” is one of the more, stately expressions of the! Gilbert and Sullivan, partner-! ship. True there areytthe' usual comings and goings of; the starcrossed lovers',; some, jokes and the odd patter) song; but by and large the local colour is. rather slowmarch military, the story is often contrived, and the characters can be unbending, There is little of the sheer fun. of r “Gondoliers’.” the ex-' oticism of “Mikado.”- or the tr-’nc.hant" social satire of' “Pirates.” ' '. But ■ 'there -is colour and; p-’veahtry. The sumptuous J and gold of the. halberdiers-, at the Tower never fii'lsito charm the °ve. and the-,yfinale of the .first- act, ■with .'-its?; alamms and ex- : cursi.ofis--' about'-, they; sinister, figure of the exerutlpner is.’ paced dramatic.; SMtje.xa real onera’ic , ’ Christchurch Gilbert and; Sullivan .. and. Opera (Society presented the. first-- 1 night 6 f ' •« v •wo-vveet' segsomXQn..Saturday., i took' every opportunity 10

exploit the visual, colour and excitement in the opera. The ; set is impressive, though it. covers the whole length of.; the . James Hay Theatre’s!; stage and);sometimes seems;; a little too large for the per-) formers and the moves they -are required to make. No, doubt this was simply first- ;< night staginess, and the pro-;, duction -as a whole willy loosen up. . !' But one feels the company] has not quite got to grips with the problem of unity y and variety in’ the work. The stateliness can become mere- i lv stilted if -the . opera is ' played as it stands, yet there was not sufficient bounce or business about the > humourous -episodes -toyug-? gest. anything but a diversion. Rather .than inhabit a world where tragedy. and comedy coexist, the ) pro'duc-; tion swings uncomfortably between the two/ and finally K gives , the impression of diay-. t 1 ing’-y fallen -between'. ? two -, • V ■ This effect was-reinforced. m lth& pit-, where'the.-orches-; ’relied ’dfi-'the”-piano *actHhsl .‘W- ■ . . ).'

paniment. It was the lack of a real string section that prevented it from rising! above a collection of in-1 istruments. to a real orches-j jtral sound. Generally the ; musical numbers lacked a] constant. propulsion, though the softer, more atmospheric ones (“Strange Adventure,”! ■I have a Song to Sing-O” were pleasantly, sung, often i wistful. I It seemed a surprise that 'although the. band was reasonably small the singers •still found it difficult’ to make themselves, heard. Where f the words are brilliantly conceived and occasional gems appear - such; as “Phoebe, little Phoebe. .Who the deuce can she be?” their loss makes for a less than satisfying experience. ] ! ? Visually the opera works j [very- well. Indeed, in Christ-; I church there seems to be a| .tradition of stunningly cos- 1 turned shows. With the ac-| •quiring of a little-more relax-; xation, some fun in the right .places and a more incisive ‘musical approach the production will no doubt grow >tb'enjoy a successful run.