No 7 — July 1977 Edited by Michael Walters
Selwyn Tillett and I caught this production on its single night stand in Cambridge. It proved to be a bitter disappointment. From the programme note we were quite prepared for an exciting modern dress production, what we saw in fact, was a production which seemed to lack point or purpose. The set was garishly painted in red, white and blue (what will they do with it next year when the Jubilee is over?) and the costumes, for no obvious reason, appeared to be early 19th century. Josephine's dress made her look like a scullery maid. The only member of the cast who seemed to have any clear idea of what he was doing, or to realise that G & S is neither Grand Opera nor Whitehall farce, was Thomas Lawlor, who gave a fine performance as Sir Joseph, sung with more voice than I have ever heard the part done before. The production varied between the dull and the gimmicky - at the beginning, for example, the crew all lined up and laboriously received their pay. This was not funny, and it seemed to have no purpose except to underline a not very important line of Buttercup's. I could see no reason for Buttercup to have a Yorkshire accent, or for Deadeye to have a Birmingham one. One would have thought that the producer had set out with the intention that everything must be different from tradition at all costs, whether or not the tradition was better or worse. Am I being unfair? MICHAEL WALTERS
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