The Sorcerer

I have long thought that ‘The Sorcerer’ is something of an underappreciated work from those masters of the musical stage, Gilbert and Sullivan. True, as something of an apprentice piece, it suffers from some flaws in construction which the later comic operas from the pairing would iron out (Act One takes an age to get going, there is a preponderance of aimless recitative and a few inconsistencies in the plot amongst other things) but it is a show which has a great central idea and addresses some interesting themes along the way. More than that, it has some great music, interesting characters, plenty of humour and a few of the best set-pieces in the G&S canon: the incantation scene, where Sullivan sends up Der Freischutz quite brilliantly; the tea party with its pastiche of the operatic brindisi; the Act Two opening with its comically mismatched pairings... With an interesting and thoughtful approach, any society tackling ‘The Sorcerer’ can really put its own individual stamp on a production and with a show such as this, fresh thinking is needed to help in smoothing out some of the unfortunate creases mentioned earlier. Preston G&S set its production in the 1960s - to reflect the society’s 60th anniversary - and I therefore approached the evening’s entertainment with keen anticipation!

After an unfortunately rather uneven overture, the ensemble got the show off to a fine start with some excellent vocal work in the opening number and there was choral singing of the highest order to follow throughout the evening. Mrs Partlet and her lovelorn daughter Constance (Ann Cooper and Amy Hardy respectively) made a comical pairing - Constance in particular adding some deftly humorous touches to her characterization which the audience much appreciated. Unfortunately, the opening section of Act One of ‘The Sorcerer’ has many longueurs which can affect the narrative thrust of the show and the ponderous recits which are piled up one after the other in this beginning section can outstay their welcome very quickly: fortunately, it didn’t take G&S long to get the hang of how to put across characters’ thoughts and intentions - and narrative development - with a well turned phrase and more economical or humorous musical means in the comic operas which followed.The object of Constance’s hopelessly misguided affection is the local vicar Dr Daly, here portrayed in a very appealing performance by Andrew Lyons: a strong and pleasant vocal tone combined with deft characterization made Dr Daly perhaps the best drawn character on stage in the production, his easy confidence helping to prevent the stately pace of the opening half of Act One grinding to a halt altogether.

As the fast approaching wedding of Alexis and Aline draws ever nearer, we meet the happy couple and their parents, Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre and Lady Sangazure. Nicely played by Martin Cassell, Sir Marmaduke did indeed exude the old courtly ways appropriate to the character and sang well too; his son Alexis was given an equally appropriately enthusiastic breezy charm by Chris Dodd, giving a nice contrast to the two very different characters and their differing views of ‘Love’ and its place in society. Although Margot Wright’s performance as Lady Sangazure was certainly assured and confidently brought off, playing the character as increasingly tipsy - and eventually more than slightly inebriated - rather undermined both the upright nature of her character and the humour that should come from the change she undergoes, having sampled the love potion. Surely Lady S should be a lady of unquestionable public dignity in Act One, or the volte face when hurling herself at JW Wells in Act Two loses a lot of its impact? Nevertheless, Margot made merry with her attempts at seduction and her ‘Christine Keeler’ chair antics were a high point with the audience and also, provided the show with just about the only moment where the 1960s setting was made anything of. There was an unfortunate tendency for some principal players to swap lines at each other on occasion, rather than act them out with feeling, which meant that the few flashes of humour which can be found in sections of dialogue in Act One were sometimes missed or raced over: that said, Dr Daly really made the most of his stately compliments and the comically fevered asides between Sir Marmaduke and Lady Sangazure in their gavotte were well done too.

Aline was in the capable hands of society stalwart Sally Shaw and between them, Chris and Sally provided the musical highlight of the show for me with a very affecting rendering of the duet which makes up part of the Act One finale: in fact, musically speaking, the company numbers were very strong and the chorus is to be congratulated, with ensemble numbers, quintets and quartets sounding rich and precise, with a good deal of excellent vocal work throughout the show. The titular Sorcerer, John Wellington Wells, was played by Robert Feeley, who gave a lively and enthusiastic account of the role. Interestingly, some engagingly old fashioned body language and movement contrasted nicely with JW Wells’ 1960s costume and hairstyle, perhaps hinting at his timeless and magical personality. A few indistinct or inaudible moments resulted from the choice of vocal delivery but these were more than made up for by the sheer force of Wellington Wells’ personality as he glided around the stage. David H Hughes made sterling work of the Notary and had great fun with the role, bringing out all the comedy of the character in the second act as Constance switches her affections from Doctor Daly under the influence of the love potion and Robin Stopford impressed as a comically put-upon Hercules.

The decision to set the show within the confines of the wedding marquee was a good one and the society had obviously worked hard to craft a homely and generally effective set: I did wonder why several flats had been painted to look like marquee material when surely hanging some material would have been cheaper, easier and more effective - just a thought! The incantation scene was well done, with an enchanted tea urn standing in for the usual fizzing teapot, which was a nice touch. Perhaps a little more could have been done with the general ambient stage lighting in this scene - and in others throughout the show - but the colourfully glowing tea urn with smoke billowing forth as the Sorcerer summoned up his demonic assistants was a great piece of stage business.

Both the Act One finale and the opening of Act Two are among the most entertaining, engaging and dramatically pleasing in the whole G&S canon and both were handled well in this production. It did prove a little tricky to spot exactly who had paired up with whom - and therefore why their couplings should be humorously inappropriate - but the refreshingly energetic way the whole cast threw themselves into proceedings was great to see and even better to hear. Intelligent thought had gone into tweaking the lyrics of Mr Wells’ and Lady Sangazure’s duet and Act Two bounded along with one comical moment after the other: even the deus ex machina ending didn’t disappoint. It was unfortunate that the 1960s setting wasn’t really made much of and didn’t seem to extend beyond a handful of different costumes: it would have been much more interesting to have tied the 1960s setting in with some of the thematic material which comes out of the narrative. 1960s or not, it certainly didn’t excuse Alexis not making much of a sartorial effort for his own wedding!

For all-round entertainment of the highest order, an evening of Gilbert and Sullivan is very hard to beat and Preston Gilbert and Sullivan Society have clocked up 60 years proving the fact. This production of ‘The Sorcerer’ was another feather in their cap and long may they continue to bring the works of the greatest purveyors of music and drama to the stage, hopefully for another 60 years - or more!

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