A Small Mind At The Theatre

I did a little research unusually before seeing this version of The Pirates of Penzance from the Northampton Gilbert & Sullivan Group, and one thing I found was the over eight-minute Overture. Would we be presented with the full deal at the start of this production, I wondered? As it turned out, yes we were, thankfully I am not afraid of the dark. I did try to imagine though what the audience of Shrek , on next door this week, would have thought, being faced with this. How times have changed. The Pirates of Penzance is if you have ever seen a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta before, more of the same. They don't really vary, I have learnt from my previous three viewings, the scenery changes, but it all remains the whimsical story of abject silliness. This time featuring pirates, in Penzance, and the many daughters of a modern Major General. Pirates is perhaps the most well known of Gilbert & Sullivan's works, and on the evidence of this, by far the most acce...

There is the distinct possibility that Gilbert & Sullivan has the potential to become one of my more curious favourites. I have never been an immense fan of opera itself, although never having seen one live, the potential is perhaps still there. However G&S appears to be in a strange world between opera and musical that strangely appeals. It is perhaps the shear silliness of the stories they tell, and now having seen three, the perhaps familiarity of what you are going to get, that makes them interesting. It was abundantly clear on the evening I saw it, that I generally didn't fit the average viewer of G&S age wise, with it feeling more than ever like a pensioners night out, with just a small scattering of us under forties (of which I have the pleasure of writing for just two more months). It is a shame though because I am sure the younger populace would have enjoyed this little show a fair bit as well. Patience or Bunthorne's Bride tells the story of the rival...

My first and only encounter to date with a live Gilbert & Sullivan production came with last years The Mikado from the Northampton G&S Group and this year I was back for their 2016 production a little more aware of what to expect. I knew a small amount about The Mikado before seeing the show, however The Yeomen Of The Guard was utterly unknown territory to me, and this was much how I preferred to find my theatre. At the outset during a very long overture much of the cast gathers upon the stage and goes about their washing, spinning and bread making business while a couple of yeomen guard a prisoner, Colonel Fairfax (Phil Abbott), rather cleverly appears at both theatre boxes during the intro giving equal opportunity to the audience members to observe his exercising and flexing his muscles. Also being very observant of the Colonel is Phoebe (Georgia Grande), daughter of yeomen of the guard Sergeant Meryll (Mike Gray). The opening song When Maiden Loves  sung wonderfully by...

Never having seen a complete production of any Gilbert & Sullivan show before and with mostly my only experience of their music coming from The Two Ronnies, the Northampton Gilbert & Sullivan Group's production was always going to come as a surprise. Opera has also never been on my list and I listened in a certain amount of trepidation to the opening "If You Want To Know Who We Are" and remained unsure to its end despite its impressive quality. However with the arrival of "A Wand'ring Mistrel" in the form of Nanki-Poo (Tom Rushton), things all of a sudden became clearer and the comedy that I was expecting slowly began to emerge. It built from those opening few moments in my mind of not being sure if this was for me, to nearly three hours later my not wanting it to end. We are presented at the start with a simple oriental set, stylish and clean which remains unchanged throughout the entire production. Against this backdrop the performers, bedecked...