No 39 -- Winter 1992–3 Edited by Michael Walters
First impressions as the curtain rises are always of great importance to an audience, and for this production the curtain rose on an all black set, which immediately gave the Glasgow first–night audience a sense of foreboding and depression. As has happened with the new company every time before, the producer/ director fails to read Gilbert's instructions. The scene should be "Tower Green". Where was Tower Green? The only trace of green in the whole duration of the show was an itinerant tree which appeared during the last quarter of the show, presumably to denote Tower Green which, to my memory, doesn't have a tree around it! This was, in fact, the only splash of any kind of colour in the set for the whole show and stood out like a sore thumb because of it. I have, down the years, seen many sets for YEOMEN, and by far the best, apart from the original D'Oyly Carte set, was one constructed for, and by, the Edinburgh G & S Society's annual production a few years ago. Bright, multi–coloured, multi–layered, as accurate as possible to the real Tower, and even including a square of green, the new D'Oyly Carte should take a lesson from the amateurs. This black setting was so dark that it was difficult to discern any kind of detail at all and it took some time for me to see the black silhouette of the Tower, which to all intents and purposes appeared like the prow of the QE2!
I was again disappointed with the appearance of Jack Point, but not with Fenton Gray's performance. Point has never been a tramp. His jester's motley has always been worn with pride – it is, of course, the badge of his profession. Instead, this tramp has a raggedy coat and coxcomb cap which one could well imagine had a life of their own! And Point a humpback? Never! The performer's appearance was pale and wan enough to depict that he was weak, ill and undernourished, but to have him look like Richard III, well, it was simply too much to accept. Also too much to accept was the denouement. Once again, why did the producer not read Gilbert's instructions, which state that Point falls insensible at Elsie and Fairfax's feet. It is not necessary (but preferred by audiences) that he "dies", but for this Point simply to be separated by the portcullis from Elsie and Fairfax was inadequate and missed the drama and poignancy of the ending.
Another visual, and factual, mistake was employing a coloured performer in the role of the Lieutenant. [This was not in the cast I saw. Ed.] In that era of the 16th Century, it is just not possible that a black African would be in any office of authority in London, let alone the Lieutenant of the Tower. [Authenticity seems to have no place in the modern theatre, not merely in G&S! Ed.] I say this with respect to Keel Watson, who has a magnificent voice and played his role well. The other performers played their roles well, and I liked David Fieldsend's Fairfax, especially the imperious way he summoned Elsie to his side away from Point in the finale. John Rath's Shadbolt, too, was strongly played and, with a little more experience in the role, he could bring to it the extra dimension that Kenneth Sandford produced. But once again, as I walked away from the theatre after the show, all I felt was disappointment.
[This, and the reference to Point's appearance, refer to Linda's views on the previous D'Oyly Carte YEOMEN. Ed.] LINDA WOOD
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