Princess Ida

Princess Ida tells the story of a Princess who, as an infant, was betrothed to Prince Hilarion the son of King Hildebrand from a neighbouring kingdom. Prince Hilarion has been waiting for his wedding day for twenty years and Hildebrand’s court is awaiting the arrival of King Gama and his daughter, the Princess. However, King Gama arrives with his three warrior sons to inform the court that Ida has formed a women’s university at Castle Adamant and will not be honouring her commitment. Hildebrand holds Gama and his sons as hostages but to prevent going to war over this slight, the Prince endeavours to woo the Princess by infiltrating the university and along with his faithful companions disguise themselves as women, to gain entry. However, the men are soon discovered and are arrested by Ida. Hildegard and his men storm the castle and he warns Ida that she must release Hilarion and become his bride or her father and her brothers will be killed. Ida finally relinquishes and agrees to marry Hilarion. The Princess was superbly played by Rhia Fingerhut. Her beautiful singing was heavenly, none more so than in ‘I built upon a rock’ which was so movingly and powerfully delivered. She portrayed the determination and regal poise of the character to perfection – a truly wonderful performance. Hilarion was well played by Mike Tebbutt. He has a fine tenor voice and his diction was perfect. His friends Cyril (Melvyn Edwards) and Florian (Mike McGhee) were of great support to Hilarion and the antics of the three of them, especially when dressed as women, were hilarious. Mike McGhee’s powerful voice was evident in ‘Search throughout the panorama’ and Melvyn Edwards was an absolute hoot as Cyril. His exuberance, comedic expertise and facial expressions were sublime and when drunk in the ‘Would you know the kind of maid’ number he was outstanding. Gordon Fletcher was strong and imposing as King Hildebrand and his soldiers, resplendent in their red and white uniforms, were in fine voice. James Davies was ideally suited to the role of King Gama. He has great stage presence, superb comic timing and his ‘patter singing’ was remarkable. His three sons Arac (Paul Blackmore), Guron (Mick Cooper), and Scynthius (Vaughan Saxby) were ominously powerful in both singing and acting. Margaret Askam was splendid as Lady Blanche, the pedantic Professor of Abstract Sciences, her enunciation in the singing of the involved and perplexing enigmas was so accomplished. Helen Blatch put in a good performance as Lady Psyche as did Margaret Blackmore as Melissa and Jean Edwards as Sacharissa. The chorus of Graduates and Courtiers gave good, solid support. The costumes throughout were first-rate, the sets were simple but effective and were very well lit. David Henshaw, as Musical Director, had put together a  terrific orchestra of twelve ladies and just one man (I do hope he didn’t feel too overwhelmed) and the sound produced by the orchestra was truly magnificent. I haven’t seen this company perform before as they are not in my District and I was deputising for the District 1 Rep. I was very impressed by their enthusiasm, the commitment shown and the overall high standard of the performance. Well done to everyone involved and many thanks for the hospitality that I received.

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