WHAT Sir William and Sir Arthur might have made of the
eponymous Patience (she is a dairymaid) clutching an oversize ice-cream cone and the two warring poets, Reginald Bunthorne and Archibald Grosvenor, respectively wearing motorcycle leathers and Cuban heels; white trilby and shades, is difficult to imagine.
But these innovative touches, together with the black and white dresses of the ladies recreating Aubrey Beardsley's contemporary drawings, a chess-board patterned stage with no set except for sensitively lit drapes, and the enthusiastic chorus visible on stage throughout, combined to present a visually stunning production.
Credit must go to stage director, Richard Osborne, and assistant Alison King, who together with musical director Nicola Brazier, conceived and realized their vision but without compromising the original music and words.
Like many G&S operettas, Patience pokes gentle fun at Victorian pretentiousness. This time a group of love-sick maidens, hitherto engaged to a posse of Dragoon Guards (although their seniority here suggested they might be members of the regiment's Old Comrades Association), are more attracted by the foppish culture of the 'aesthetic movement' which they see
embodied in the two poets, to whom they immediately switch their affections.
Paul Eccles (Bunthorne) and Neil Horstcraft (Grosvenor) sang and acted their roles flawlessly. As Patience, Louise King's soprano contrasted with the modulated contralto of Karen McInally (Lady Jane), whose solo, "Sad is that woman's lot", was a gem.
Peter Tucknott (Colonel); Bill Coulson (Major) and Adrian Samuel (Lieut. The Duke of Dunstable) gave spot-on interpretations as the Dragoon's officers and combined memorably with Lynne Scholes (Lady Angela) and Jane Tingley (Lady Saphir) in "If Saphir I choose to marry". The duet, "So go to him", with Lady Jane and Bunthorne, was a show-stopper.
The Society proudly boasts "Keeping Gilbert & Sullivan alive". This ebullient 40th anniversary production proved these words correct.