{"id":7185,"date":"2023-08-16T21:59:29","date_gmt":"2023-08-16T20:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.larkreviews.co.uk\/?p=7185"},"modified":"2023-08-17T21:00:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T20:00:37","slug":"express-gs-john-savourin-and-david-eaton-charles-court-opera-company-wilitons-music-hall-august-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/?p=7185","title":{"rendered":"Express G&S John Savourin and David Eaton Charles Court Opera Company Wiliton\u2019s Music Hall August 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"WS Gilbert died in 1911 and Agatha Christie was born in 1890. So they could, in theory, have met. I doubt that they did \u2013 that is until Charles Court Opera Company introduced them to each other in this ingenious, enjoyable show.<\/span><\/p>\n

A detective named Philippe Pierrot (Matthew Kellet) with little black tashes and a ridiculous French, not Belgian, accent is on an old fashioned express train travelling through England. He is supported by the guard, Reggie (Matthew Siveter) and the flirty trolley lady, Bridget (Catrine Kirkman).<\/p>\n

Then her trolley, characterised by its doilies is mysteriously wrecked and Philippe has to solve the mystery of the broken doily cart (cue for gleeful audience groans and chuckles) on which he finds clues such as a peer\u2019s coronet, a jester\u2019s stick and a long silver hair. Yes, this is a show which will delight G&S aficionados although there\u2019s plenty here to amuse the rest of the world too.<\/p>\n

Express G&S derived, I understand, from a lockdown attempt to devise something socially distanced by a company which knows, loves, and is highly experienced in, these operas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a 75 minute show, modelled on popular Victorian one act-ers such as Trial by Jury and Cox and Box. Once the scene is set it serves up songs from, and references to, every opera G&S wrote with Siveter and Kirkman becoming different characters.<\/p>\n

Often the words are re-written and there\u2019s a clever version of Koko\u2019s little list song, sung by Siveter (good) reworked as an account of the train\u2019s passenger list. Most of Gilbert\u2019s outrageous characters are on board including \u201ca protoplasmic globule who\u2019s really quite a bore\u201d along \u201cThe Duke of Plaza Tor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The linking dialogue is wittily clever too as we nip from one show to another \u2013 all so familiar but gloriously mixed up. The entire oevre, including a tasty little anthem from The Grand Duke, is lurking somewhere in the melange.<\/p>\n

As a die-hard G&S fan, I chuckled, at the reference to Thespis whose score is lost and at the line about the carpet quarrel. These are the sort of things that G&S buffs know about but they aren\u2019t laboured in this show \u2013 just there for you to pick up if you will.<\/p>\n

Some of the songs are more or less straight. Kirkman\u2019s \u201cThe Sun Whose Rays\u201d (The Mikado) is delivered with immaculate clarity and vocal warmth. So is Kellet\u2019s nightmare song (Iolanthe) when he can\u2019t sleep on the train. Kirkman\u2019s Buttercup number (HMS Pinafore) though, in which she extols the goodies on her trolley, has nippy, witty new words including references to Sally Lunns and pork pies from The Sorcerer.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile David Eaton, who does a fine job on piano and I admired his semi-Shakespearian prologue, gives us many musical clues and signals.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a storm, for example \u2013 shaking carriage and flashing lights \u2013 and, predictably, we hear those atmospheric, descending minor scales from Ruddigore beginning quietly under the dialogue before we get \u201cWhen the Night Wind Howls\u201d with the three verses split between the three actors.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, a lot of the music has been arranged. Some keys have been changed and it\u2019s fun to see a woman taking on \u201cA Policeman\u2019s Lot is Not a Happy One\u201d (The Pirates of Penzance) Occasionally the balance is awry, though, and from row D, at least, Kirkman is sometimes overpowered by two very strong male voices in trios.<\/p>\n

All three performers, especially the versatile Kirkman who sings both soprano and traditionally alto roles with aplomb, have a knack for casting delicious looks at the audience. Moreover they really know how to deliver this material: the diction is crystal clear as it has to be.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fresh, fun and intelligent. Well worth catching if you can.<\/p>\n

Susan Elkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WS Gilbert died in 1911 and Agatha Christie was born in 1890. So they could, in theory, have met. I doubt that they did \u2013 that is until Charles Court Opera Company introduced them to each other in this ingenious, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7193,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7185\/revisions\/7193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.larkreviews.wickedlemon.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}