The Oxford Gilbert & Sullivan's recent production of Iolanthe was in short great fun. The show ran along merrily with few real reasons for major criticism.
The story basically concerns the problems that occur when a group of fairies enter a protégé into parliament, much to the dismay of the House of Lords.
The OFS is not the easiest space in which to perform anything, but i thought on the whole the group coped well. There were, however, a few occasions (especially during the finale to the first act) where the performers seemed crowded and unsure of their exact placing on the stage. Numerous bumps did occur on this particular evening.
My one major criticism was in the weakness of the orchestra. The OFS's limited space dictates tat the orchestra are cramped on a balcony on one side of the theatre - giving a rather odd one sided sound effect. the orchestra, under the baton of Tom Atkins, frankly struggled with the score and in places seemed unsure of the tempi - which occasionally caused problems with the obviously better rehearsed singers.
The singing throughout was good, although the male chorus seemed strained in the tenor line in some of the numbers. David Whitley (Strephon) was likable in his performance - although at times his voice drifted somewhat. The two lead lords, Robbie Cowan and Philip Corbett were amusing, though at one point they did descend into slapstick. Their scene together was funny and performed with a good deal of feeling in the text. Other notable performances were from Kate Wilkins in the title role, whose song in the second act was performed with great sensitivity. Ben Raynor as Private Willis seemed to struggle with some of the more elaborate vocal lines but one must feel for him as he was made to stand at the rear of the stage throughout the entire second act. Sophie Perks was perfectly cast as the rather naive Phyllis, although again her vocal clarity seemed to suffer for her act of absolute 'dappiness'!!
However the show was stolen by the Lord Chancellor, played by Chris Milton. He seemed absolutely comfotable with the part and his incredible vocal dexterity was on full display in his nightmare song in the second half, where he dashed around the stage amid a whirl of words - all clearly articulated. He was hilarious throughout!
In all this was a successful and accomplished production that maybe would have benefitted from a better set and a few more tenors.
Great fun!
The story basically concerns the problems that occur when a group of fairies enter a protégé into parliament, much to the dismay of the House of Lords.
The OFS is not the easiest space in which to perform anything, but i thought on the whole the group coped well. There were, however, a few occasions (especially during the finale to the first act) where the performers seemed crowded and unsure of their exact placing on the stage. Numerous bumps did occur on this particular evening.
My one major criticism was in the weakness of the orchestra. The OFS's limited space dictates tat the orchestra are cramped on a balcony on one side of the theatre - giving a rather odd one sided sound effect. the orchestra, under the baton of Tom Atkins, frankly struggled with the score and in places seemed unsure of the tempi - which occasionally caused problems with the obviously better rehearsed singers.
The singing throughout was good, although the male chorus seemed strained in the tenor line in some of the numbers. David Whitley (Strephon) was likable in his performance - although at times his voice drifted somewhat. The two lead lords, Robbie Cowan and Philip Corbett were amusing, though at one point they did descend into slapstick. Their scene together was funny and performed with a good deal of feeling in the text. Other notable performances were from Kate Wilkins in the title role, whose song in the second act was performed with great sensitivity. Ben Raynor as Private Willis seemed to struggle with some of the more elaborate vocal lines but one must feel for him as he was made to stand at the rear of the stage throughout the entire second act. Sophie Perks was perfectly cast as the rather naive Phyllis, although again her vocal clarity seemed to suffer for her act of absolute 'dappiness'!!
However the show was stolen by the Lord Chancellor, played by Chris Milton. He seemed absolutely comfotable with the part and his incredible vocal dexterity was on full display in his nightmare song in the second half, where he dashed around the stage amid a whirl of words - all clearly articulated. He was hilarious throughout!
In all this was a successful and accomplished production that maybe would have benefitted from a better set and a few more tenors.
Great fun!