The Sorcerer

The Sorcerer was written in 1877 and was the third collaboration of WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan and is far less familiar to modern audiences than some of their later works like The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance or HMS Pinafore , which Maidenhead Operatic Society staged successfully in 2022. Yet as you listen to the characters and the musical refrains and melodies you can hear their distinctive style which developed into some wonderful comic operettas. The thin plot borrowed, it feels from Midsummers Night’s Dream, of love potions causing some unlikely couplings, provides some good comic moments in the interactions between the stock characters. But it remains a title for G & S aficionados who want to add the title to their experience of full canon.  

It was not clear why, to celebrate his betrothal to Aline, Alexis should desire to make everybody in the village fall in love with somebody and think that hiring a Sorcerer to make the potion was a good idea, but it sets up plenty of unlikely couplings including for their parents Sir Marmaduke and Lady Sangazure . It also sets up for the local vicar, Dr Daly, to find all the “maidens, middle aged and elderly distinctly comely” which does have a slightly seedy sound to it!

The Production works because the fine singers are accompanied by an excellent seven-piece band that does full justice to the G & S sound and as a result of the delightful comic touches sprinkled throughout the show by the Director which give it a fresh zany comic feel so appropriate for this unique genre of musical theatre.The production honours and keeps alive the traditions of G&S and is a welcome addition to the London District 14 theatrical scene.

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