The Sorcerer

I have watched this Society many times pre-covid but this is my first visit since  covid. I have noticed many changes of personnel on the stage. This was also the first time I have seen ‘The Sorcerer’ but I found that I did  know some of the songs. I had researched the story prior to my visit. The show opened with the usual overture played by the one-man orchestra that  is MD Richard Lennox. He is a phenomenal accompanist and the absence of an  orchestra was not missed! 

The set remained the same for the whole show – a projected view of a small  ‘Stately Home’ with some tables and benches as set dressing. It worked  perfectly well. 

The principal characters were all individually miked and so were clearly heard  in dialogue and songs, There were just one or two tuning errors – as a former  MD myself they are easily noticed – and in some of the songs, the singers  concentrated too much on the vowels to the detriment of clear diction, making  the words unintelligible at times. Exceptions to this were the ‘patter’ songs, so  beloved by Gilbert and Sullivan, that came over very well.  

The chorus had to rely on stand mikes at the front of the stage but these only  pick up what is fed into them. Unfortunately, the chorus singing lacked the  ‘oomph’ one expects in a G&S production. When they turned upstage or faced  the wings, they were completely inaudible. It is not that they were not trying.  As I myself am finding, when you reach a certain age the power of your voice  declines rapidly. 

When the whole company sang together, the sound was very good, with all the  harmony lines clearly heard. 

I suspect many of the cast are in the same age bracket as myself and find stage  movement to music quite difficult! I could fully understand the very limited  ‘choreography’. 

The costumes were quite satisfactory and right for the period, as were all the  ‘props’. The lighting and general sound was well done and contributed to a  successful show.

I was pleased to see a reasonable audience on the Friday night and they all  appeared to enjoy the show – as did I. Was it ‘perfect’? Probably not. Did it  matter ? Not a jot. Everyone enjoyed themselves both on and off the stage and  that is the main thing for amateur theatre. We all do our best to entertain our  audience and speaking personally, the audience were well entertained tonight. 

For me, the only real downside was being caught in a traffic jam on the M5 on  the way home! 

Well done to you all. 

Anthony Pomeroy (Deputy Regional Rep) 

Standing in for Mike Purnell NODA Regional Rep District 9

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