Of all Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas, Patience (1881) has worn the least well. The over promoted politicians of The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and Iolanthe and the like are timeless as are jibes about assinine laws. The Aesthetic Movement, the target of Patience, is much harder for modern audiences to understand and relate to. It was topical at the time but doesn’t make much sense now. Nonetheless in this revival a talented company of nine, under John Savourin’s direction, squeeze it for every ounce of fun and pop in a bit of their own. I enjoyed the “M&S young man” and the Frank Sinatra reference, for instance.

We’re in a pub. Three “melancholic” maidens, dressed like Goths drape themselves along the bar and down lots of shots as they bewail their predicament. When down-to-earth Patience (Catriona Hewitson – sumptuous soprano) the barmaid arrives, blonde in her pinny and trainers she makes a colourful contrast. I’m left puzzling over what period this is meant to be set in when the three dragoons arrive in World War 2 uniforms but it doesn’t matter much – and the joke at the end when Grosvenor (Matthew Siveter – good) re-appears in a hoody with Angela and Saphir being every inch “innit” 2022 works brilliantly.

At the performance I saw, director John Savourin was covering illness as Bunthorne and he was terrific. Looking exactly like Oscar Wilde he uses his lanky height to great comic effect and commands the stage for every moment he’s on it as well as singing every word and note with warmth and humour.

Musically, some of the numbers are taken too fast. Yes you want pace but with WSG you need to hear every word and sometimes you couldn’t. For example “If you want a receipt for that popular mystery” would be better a little slower.

The sestet anthem “I hear the soft note of the echoing voice” was sung as well as I’ve ever heard it – a real high spot. Moreover it’s exactly the right directorial decision to respect these anthems and madrigals, at least one of which Sullivan included in each opera. They are beautiful set pieces and there should be no other distraction. In this instance it is literally a show stopper, given all the weight it richly deserves.

There’s a splendid performance in this production by Catrine Kirkman as Lady Jane – the weary, unappealing old trout who simply wants a husband. (Gilbert was notoriously unkind to women of a certain age). She has a delicious low slung voice, uses a stick until she stops boozing and starts flirting lasciviously. Her big solo number “Silvered is the raven hair” (and hers was exactly that with grey breaking though on the parting) is both funny and poignant. Her duet with Bunthorne “So go to him and say to him” is perfectly choregraphed (Meery Holder – with original choreography by Damian Czarnecki). It’s a real pleasure to watch two performers working together with such incisiveness.

Considering that the work was written to include a full female and male four part chorus it astonishes me (yet again – I’ve seen Charles Court in Iolanthe and HMS Pinafore and several other companies with bijoux G&S) that you can bring it off so successfully with just nine strong performers. Yes, you lose the four parts in some of the choruses but in return you get a great deal of musical clarity – a credit to MD David Eaton who accompanies on piano.

However dated Patience might seem I bet Sir Arthur Sullivan and WS Gilbert are spinning in their graves in delight that it’s still being performed and enjoyed over 140 years after its premiere.

Susan Elkin