The conductor started the overture amid the clamour of late comers who chattered. Perhaps this was an advantage as it did take one's mind off the fact that the brass managed to get a bar ahead at the beginning of the allegro; an error which persisted to the apparent oblivion of the conductor and the brass to the end of the overture. The curtain rose on a set which was obviously supposed to look like that used by D' Oyly Carte but gave the impression of having been painted by a backward two-year old. Every move, every dance step, every inflection of the voice was copied straight from D'Oyly Carte. The average age of the chorus seemed to be about 40, and they sounded about 70. If I hadn't known the libretto backwards I would certainly not have heard a word. They all looked as if they were hating every minute of it. Of the girls Pauline Ayling seemed to have the best voice as Zorah. Jean Harvey as Dame Hannah hobbled about very unconvincingly with a stick until she was called upon to dance, at which point her gout (or whatever) miraculously disappeared. Her voice was certainly not suited to the part and it would appear that she was a soprano doing her best to sing contralto at a moment's notice. Helen McGinnity as Rose looked very pretty but could not act and certainly could not sing. The same comments go for Jean Cope (Mad Margaret), whose acting was so bad that her dissolving into tears at the end of her aria was embarrassing. Of the men, Frank Telford (Sir Despard) and Frank Bazeley (Old Adam) were atrocious both as actors and as singers. Michael Welsh (Dick Dauntless) could not under any circumstances be described as a tenor. His top notes were strained and the rest appeared to be sung through cotton wool. His acting was bad and his dialogue spoken as though he was reading it for the first time. No one picked up cues well. The best performer of the evening was Anthony Constantine as Robin. He sang well, acted well and spoke well although copying John Reed in every detail. However his performance was perhaps his undoing for I was later to see him audition for the Learned Judge at Totnes and perform Ludwig in The Grand Duke. In both cases his actions, movements and inflections were those he had used for Robin. One therefore assumes that his ability is severely limited. IAN BOND

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