The Sorcerer

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Beginning of Act II

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Grimsby Telegraph
Compass FM

The fifth annual summer tour by the New London Opera Group was a great success, presenting The Sorcerer at the Riverhead Theatre, Louth on June 19th, 20th and 21st.

The new production of The Sorcerer, by Chris Cann, whilst faithfully representing Gilbert’s libretto, shifted the action of the opera from the mid-nineteenth century to the summer of 1940, in the period after Dunkirk and just at the very start of the Battle of Britain.  This allowed for a huge amount of period detail and all production departments had done a great deal of research to achieve the right look on stage. Of particular note was Tony Bannister’s marvellous set design, including the large Pointdextre mansion, complete with furnished room interiors glimpsed through the windows; and a large marquee, the whole ivy clad and decked with bunting. The costumes, co-ordinated by Eirian Walsh-Atkins were also full of period detail, both in the uniforms of the service personnel and the dresses and gowns of the ladies, most of which were specially made by Eirian and by Miriam Robertson. Similar attention to detail prevailed in the hair and make-up - the gentlemen of the cast having all taken the trouble to have “period” haircuts. Props, co-ordinated by Bob Vaughan, were also accurate for the period, and included gas mask cases, Home Guard pikes and other wartime impedimenta. Together, costumes, props and set helped in creating some memorable stage pictures, notably at the entrance of Aline with the ladies’ chorus and in the parade of the Ploverleigh Local Defence Volunteers (Home Guard) in the chorus “With heart and with voice”. They were assisted by Steve Greenwood’s subtle lighting plot which reflected the changing moods the opera with great care, whilst also allowing for much fun with effects and explosions during the Incantation scene.  

The cast, which included a number of company debuts, was of a uniformly high standard. The sorcerer John Wellington Wells was played by Alaric Barrie in a welcome return to the G&S patter repertoire. In the wartime setting, Wells became a cockney spiv, much along the lines of Private Walker in Dad’s Army. The portrayal was a great success, particularly during the fiendish patter song which was accompanied by rapid fire conjuring tricks, replete with magic canes, silks and obligato confetti cannon. The romantic leads were superbly played by Robert Felstead (Alexis) and debutante Rebekah Engeler (Aline). Rebekah’s Aline was a charming portrayal of a late 1930s “deb”, plunged into wartime and Alexis’s machinations. Feisty when needed, she also conveyed Aline’s vulnerability in the second act, where things start to go wrong with the scheme.  For Rob, Alexis marked a considerable triumph. Unlike many tenors, Rob was not afraid to bring out the unpleasant side of this selfish and rather unpleasant character. Sporting slicked back hair and pencil moustache, his RAF pilot edged toward the fascistic at times, especially when lecturing Aline on the details of his plot to drug the village with love potion. In the second act, when the plan starts to fall apart, the mental collapse of Alexis and particularly his cruelty towards Aline remains quite shocking if the Director chooses to bring this out and the performers are able to carry it off. The rounded portrayals of Aline and Alexis made their eventual understanding and reconciliation at the final curtain all the more touching.

It is a measure of the quality of the cast that all were able to match the three leads and there were some very fine performances, led by Jim Chadburn as the Reverend Doctor Daly. This is a gift of a role for a lyric baritone and Jim took advantage of all its opportunities to produce a performance of touching tenderness and heart-warming vulnerability. The entrance with cricket bat, complete with wistful recollections of past glories said much about the character’s nostalgia, and his appearance for the “so-and-so” song, toting a noose, raised an audible “Aah” from the audience.  He was well matched by Fay Carradine’s pretty-much definitive Constance. Fay managed to achieve what eludes many performers of this role, by getting the audience on her side, even during the difficult first aria. Her winsome portrayal of this downtrodden character was helped by thick glasses and slightly frumpy hairnet in Act I. This made her blossoming in Act II all the more effective, as without glasses and with hair down, Constance now seemed to have grown up, no longer her mother’s little girl. Her scene with Robin Avery’s gloriously seedy and lecherous Notary was a comic tour de force. The role of Constance’s mother, Mrs Partlet is often overlooked, but in the right hands, it can be a true show-stealer. Eirian Walsh Atkins grasped all the chances the role offers with a marvellous portrayal of a gauche and rather common char woman à la Mrs Mopp, complete with headscarf and wraparound pinny. Her interrogation of Dr. Daly left one sharing Constance’s cringing embarrassment and her outrageous “Knees up Mother Brown” routine in the Act II quintet brought forth much laughter from the appreciative Louth audience. As the aristocrats, Benjamin Gray and Nicole Oppler were well-matched. Benjamin’s military bearing suited the retired WWI general persona of Sir Marmaduke very well, and his brow-beating of Alexis was very well judged. Nicole’s Lady Sangazure was a great portrayal of a serenely calm and confidant battleaxe, quaking with repressed passion beneath the surface, which erupted in Act II when she meets Wells under the influence of the love potion. Mention should also be made of the cameos by Tony Bannister as the Alexis’s lecherous batman, Hercules, who doubled as Wells’ “lovely assistant” during his entrance speech (complete with chicken impression) and Sally Avery, doing her finest Marlene Dietrich impression as a slinky demonic Ahrimanes.

One of the great joys of The Sorcerer is the chance it gives each member of the chorus to create their own characters, rather than being just part of an amorphous crowd. During rehearsals, a great deal of work had been devoted to developing chorus roles and each member of the ensemble portrayed a fully rounded character. Many of these were clearly recognisable wartime figures. The Local Defence Volunteers included both Mainwaring the Bank Manager (Chris Cann) and Jones the Butcher (David Pim); Ian Stirling and Miriam Robertson re-created scenes from the classic wartime film Brief Encounter throughout the opera, playing Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson with great subtlety. Other cameos included the president of the Townswomen’s Guild (Rachel Stack), the  village gossip (Tanya Knowles), a landgirl (Iona Macdonald) and the staff of Pointdextre Hall: The Butler (Bob Vaughan as his umpteenth “gentleman’s gentleman), cook (Fiona Steel – hilarious in Act II when she failed to wake up from the potion and staggered off with a hangover) and maid (Fiona Nash), the latter being particularly funny in her constant fighting over men with Sally Avery’s blousy village trollop, Elsie.

The whole cast rose splendidly to the demands of the show and produced some really finely honed performances. The great set-pieces all looked and sounded wonderful, with particular praise for the opening chorus, set at the “Ploverleigh Spitfire Bazaar” and revolving entirely around character, rather than choreography. There were so many detailed touches that the scene must be watched several times to appreciate the depth of characterisation. The entrance of Aline and the parade of the LDV have already been mentioned, and the Act I finale was full of life and little vignettes. In Act II, the awakening of the sleepers and the subsequent pairing off and country dance was most effective, and the denouement was made particularly strong by the attention of the ensemble to the focal point of action and their reactions.

Musically, the show built on previous successes. Graham Rogers had carefully coached both principals and chorus in this opera, a work he cares passionately about. The standard of choral singing was very high, some highlights being the Act I finale, where the “Teacup Brindisi” went with a real swing and the complex closing ensemble always remained crisp and clear, despite all the stage activity that accompanied it. The orchestra of twelve players was slightly larger than previous bands and was recruited, apart from David “Douggie” Bignell (leader), from local Louth players. There were a few insecurities in the orchestral playing at first, but they did improve, and by the Saturday night were on good form.

The Sorcerer attracted good audiences, on a par with those of last year’s Patience.  This was particularly encouraging, as prior to the tour it appeared that no one in the Louth area had ever heard the opera before. This does suggest that people now trust the newLOG brand as a mark of quality and are happy to try the company in an unknown opera. The audiences once again impressed by their appreciation and enthusiastic applause. The Artistic Director of Louth Playgoers, John Lill, was full of praise for the show when he met the cast after the last night. After five successful years, the company can look forward to continuing its annual visits to Louth in the future.