The Sorcerer

Firstly, I must congratulate the society on celebrating their 60th anniversary, a wonderful achievement.

The Sorcerer was written in collaboration between W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan, as their third opera and first produced on the 17 November 1877 at the Opera Comique London. The show opens on the village green where the villagers of Ploverleigh have congregated to celebrate the betrothal of Alexis Pointdextre to Aline Sangazure. All this rejoicing saddens Constance, daughter of Mrs Partlett, a pew-opener of Ploverleigh who has lost her heart to Dr Daly the vicar. All the main characters were well cast, and we were treated to some fine singing and acting.

Madeline Campbell made Mrs Partlett a lovely warm character with some good acting, and Constance her love struck daughter played by Angela Dixon had some good facial expressions, looked a treat and her singing was really beautiful. Catharine Perrin was a truly elegant Lady Sangazure, she was both dignified and autocratic, she just commands the stage and her singing was excellent. Graham Beevers as Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre was in fine form as the Baronet, the duet with Lady Sangazure was a delight.

A very enjoyable portrayal of Alexis Pointdextre was given by David Towers. Alexis believes that the whole village should be in love as he and Aline, the daughter of Lady Sangazure are, so he enlists the help of John Wellington Wells, a dealer in magic and spells who confirms his love potion is guaranteed to work within twelve hours and whoever drinks this will lose consciousness for that period, and on waking falls in love with the first person they see.

Simon Yaxley as Mr Wells was in fine form, how the audience loved every moment he was on stage, and his singing of the patter song, ‘My name is John Wellington Wells’ was terrific, he caused chaos and mischief through the village, this was a very polished and witty performance.

Another strong performance came from Nick Birbeck as Dr Daly. What can I say about Emma Barker as the delightful Aline, daughter of Lady Sangazure, except that this young lady has a great deal of talent, she looked lovely, has a beautiful singing voice with superb diction which I think is very important and she did full justice to the part – well done. All other principles and chorus contributed immensely to what I thought was a jolly good evening’s entertainment. The Quintet, ‘I rejoice that it’s decided’ was brilliant, as were all the musical numbers.

The orchestra was well balanced, but I wish they could have played a little quieter when Aline was singing. This was a very colourful production, a nice set, good costumes and props, I’m sure that the audience went home happy, I did. Thank you.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.