Princess Ida

As this is one of the few Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas that I haven’t seen before I was unfamiliar with the story or the music, and so I’m afraid that Duncan Hamilton’s fairy tale slant on it didn’t help me very much. For those who knew the story it wouldn’t have mattered and of course the story itself was in the programme, but I did find it confusing. The second act was easier.

The scenery was good and the use of the gauze created a suitable ‘pantomime’ opening. The costumes were wonderfully colourful and appropriate for the many fairy story characters involved.

Liam Geoghegan’s diction was excellent and as Florian both his acting and singing were commendable. His friend Cyril was played strongly by Jack Whiting and the two men brought out the comedy very well, particularly when they posed as young women in order to enter the Castle Adamant.

The third person in the trio of friends is a male role but in your production it became a female ‘principal boy’ one, and whilst I appreciate the innovativeness of the concept the vocals didn’t suit a female range. Barbara McGuiness has a soprano voice and a clear one, but it was almost impossible to hear the words in some of her songs. I think it was too high for her to enunciate as clearly as I know she is usually able to do and looking back to previous reports I see that I enjoyed her vocals very much in ‘70 Girls 70’. She certainly looked the part though and her acting was good.

As Princes Ida, Helen Clutterbuck sang beautifully and, in the role of a confident young woman standing against the men, was quite a formidable leader of the female students. Rachel Jones made a scary Wicked Queen (aka. Lady Blanche) and gave a good performance, playing the part regally. That particular role crossed over very nicely into pantomime. Playing her daughter Melissa, Sam Johnson gave a confident performance. Her tights weren’t white as the other ladies were and it looked rather odd. I enjoyed Amanda Buchan’s contralto voice and her portrayal of Lady Psyche.

The lion’s share of the singing in the opening number fell to Andy Few and what a wonderful voice he has. He made an imposing King Hildebrand. King Gama’s role in this version required him to be in a wheelchair and Stuart Box clearly enjoyed his on stage manoeuvres but there was a short spell when he was at the back of the cast coming around in a circle to the front when it was difficult to hear him.

Geoff Vivian, Richard Batchelor and Kevin Hanlon, played his sons Arac, Guron and Scynthius and they gave good performances. Their ‘This Helmet I Suppose’ provided plenty of amusement and they did it brilliantly.

Selina Greenland and Jasmine Eade acquitted themselves well as the girl graduates Sacharissa and Chloe. The other members of the cast added much to the production with their variety of characters, and they supported the principals soundly.

Choreography throughout was good and the routine for the three men pretending to be women was very entertaining. The use of video projection for the Jack and the Beanstalk moment was a great idea and I did like the mix of old and new methods of staging within the operetta.

The vocal ability of the principals and chorus was high, but in one song in Act one, scene two, there was a song around the table in the University and I had absolutely no idea what they were singing about. I asked my guest in case the fault was mine but she hadn’t been able to hear the words either. Apart from that, diction was mostly good, sometimes exceptionally so, as it needs to be in order to put across the story.

Diana Vivian conducted her well balanced orchestra securely and the volume was never too loud for the performers. Camberley Theatre’s lighting and sound crew worked well together and the back stage crew worked efficiently. Hair and makeup were good.

Your programme cover is eye-catching and quite charming, suiting the pantomime theme beautifully and the content is set out for ease of reading.

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