The Yeomen of the Guard

Yeomen of the Guard is a sixteenth century romp through the Tower of London. The story is set within the walls of the Tower, in a society where cruelty and mockery are a part of everyday life. The Tower is inhabited, then as now by the much admired Yeoman of the Guard and, of course, the legendary ravens. It combines unrequited love, intrigue, manipulation and a carefully orchestrated escape from 'death row' with joyful, touching, and often farcical moments. Unusually in G&S it ends with a couple of unhappy matches and at least one broken heart - rather than the usual abundance of happy marriages. 

Girton Musical Theatre is well known for the imaginative take on their G&S productions by Helen Wilson and Jane Williams and you can always expect some little quirks starting with their traditional housekeeping instructions set to music and well handled in this instance by Jerry Harrison.   The costumes courtesy of Maggie Phillips were absolutely stunning and enhanced the production beautifully.  The curtains opened on Designer Helen Wilson’s absolutely splendid Tower of London set (seemingly on fire) and during the overture the residents of the Tower formed a water bucket chain to put the fire out.  No one lost their life although it was touch and go for one of the famous Ravens who was successfully revived by some clever CPR by one of the Yeomen.  The large orchestra under the baton of Musical Director Patricia Davies met the challenge of the Sullivan score which unusually has few recognisable tunes. Unless you are a G&S traditionalist of course. I think the score proved challenging for the cast too as volume from both the Yeomanry and the ladies of the chorus was slightly lacking much of the time.

The Ravens of the Tower who only we could hear but Tower residents could only see were super.  They acted as Narrators throughout the show and looked suitably Raven-like. The soldierly life of the Tower is shared by Phoebe Meryll (Maggie Phillips), their Sergeant (the aforementioned Jerry Harrison), Dame Carruthers (Glynis Ellis) and her niece Kate (Anne Morton). Phoebe is being courted by the unpleasant Wilfred Shadbolt (øistein Andersen), but her heart is set on the handsome Colonel Fairfax (Steven Aronson), a prisoner who is due to be executed on a false charge of sorcery. All in these principal roles were good. The minor role of Phoebe's brother Leonard was beautifully sung by Edward Green.  However, in two sterling performances the night belonged to the strolling players, Jack Point (Ariel Cahn) and Elsie Maynard (Vic Olphin).   Ms Olphin has a beautiful voice which was a joy to listen to and Ariel Cahn as Jack Point, the story’s ever-professional comedian, was exceptional and succeeded with great energy and charisma to bring Jack to life. When Cahn was on stage the show took on an extra dimension making him a favourite with the audience.

Congratulations to Helen Wilson, Jane Williams and all involved in this well staged and humorous production.

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