No 45 Autumn 1997 Edited by Michael Walters
If there is such a thing as a "traditional" Grand Duke, this was it. Sets of eighteenth century wooded houses for Act 1, and a palace for Act 2, vaguely based on the original D'Oyly Carte sets - obviously hired, as were the excellent costumes, but the programme gave no indication of the source. The costumes, too, were similar to those of the original production. The orchestra (also uncredited) were basically sound, though with one or two odd sounds during the overture. The dialogue was judiciously pruned in places, injudiciously so in others, where in some cases it resulted in unintelligibility of Gilbert's carefully planned jokes. Ludwig's speech about a Grand Duke having a different make-up for every day of the week was included (and superbly delivered by Vincent Daniels) as was "Come bumpers", and the Roulette Song with some of its accompanying dialogue, but Rudolph's "Well you're a pretty kind of fellow" was omitted. The piece ran for about three hours (including a quite long interval). There were no encores.
Rudolph (Alistair Rainey) gave a very strong performance, à la Cardew Robinson, but was quite contrary to the text. There was no suggestion of misery or low living. He was rather "jolly hockey sticks", which made some of the lines sound odd. It was a virtuoso performance but it wasn't Rudolph for a moment, and it seemed to rely on the actor's personality rather than a real understanding of stagecraft or the text. The episode of the jujube: the Baroness produced it out of her cleavage, a brilliant idea and potentially capable of having the audience rolling in the aisles, but it basically went for nothing because neither of the actors had any idea how to handle it. Rudolph merely took it, said "I'll keep it for supper" and pocketed it. To a good actor, this should have been a gift handed to him on a silver salver: to put it to his lips, glance at the lady's bosom, make a face, and then deliver the line. Almost a dead cert laugh that couldn't fail - but it did. The scene with the Chancellors was slightly camp. For the handkerchief business the traditional arrangement was reversed. Rudolph had his lace handkerchief in his sleeve, having used it it was passed off from Chamberlain to Chamberlain, who used tongs to hold it, until the last one dropped it into a fishing net and passed it offstage. This did get a laugh as it was fool-proof and did not depend on timing and acting.
Ludwig (Vincent Daniels) was lower key, which perhaps threw the balance a little off, since most of the supporting characters emerged as stronger personalities. His friends were evidently "in" that night, for when he appeared, as Troilus in Greek costume with Louis Quatorze wig and bare knees, there were cat-calls from the audience, which he acknowledged by raising his eyebrows. He later played up to this when sitting down by pulling his miniskirt self-consciously down over his thighs. Among the cheaper jokes was during the scene where Ludwig explains his revealing of the plot, on the line "by eating three with obvious relish" the chorus brought on a large chutney jar labelled "Obvious Relish" and spooned some of this on to a sausage roll.
Lisa (Val Harwood) was well sung and acted, but the part is unmemorable. Julia (Christine Peters) gave a very credible performance of this difficult role, though her "German" accent tended to come and go. The role was excellently sung and the histrionics convincing, though one got the impression of her working hard at the role rather than it coming to her spontaneously. The Baroness (Isobel Manz) appeared in a magnificent full-paniered gold lamé dress, which seemed to contradict the parsimony inherent in the text. One really couldn't believe that such a richly-dressed lady could be so stingy. But she was a first-rate singer and actress, and the drunk scene in Act 2 ("Come bumpers") was hysterical - but should she have been wearing the same dress that she was wearing in Act 1? The Princess (Kathryn Robinson) spoke with a splendid "French" accent, not used by her father, and this was used to make several excellent jokes based on different pronunciations of different words. Neither of the Monte Carlos was able to sing the long lines in "We're rigged out ... " without breaking the line for breath. These lines should, of course, be sung in a single breath. The Prince was the veteran Cyril Foley, who gave a supercilious performance. There were only five nobles, so the lines were altered suitably, the Duke of Riviera became the Lord Chancellor (because that was the costume he was wearing). Viscount Mentone was dressed as the Pirate King, but I cannot recall what his title was given as - it wasn't Mentone or Pirate King! These two became "stooges" during the Roulette Song, as they were dressed in red and black respectively. So the Princess flirted with them at appropriate points in the narrative.
Ernest (Peter Mather) was elderly, and though he acted with authority, his singing was showing the cracks of age. It was a fairly typical AOS-type performance, but little more. In his speech "Oh, its a certainty ..." a lot of topical references were made to current British politics. The Notary (Paul Robinson) had a quite extraordinary delivery, the like of which I had never heard before. He did not "chest" any of his music, the sound seemed to be produced entirely at the front of his mouth. The effect was like a full-voiced whisper in tune, yet he could be heard quite clearly most of the time. His speaking voice was much the same. At the end the Baroness paired off with the Notary, by force. It seemed an odd conclusion - her pairing off with the Prince is a more usual arrangement - Still - !
I was annoyed at the end when trying to get out of the park, to be directed to a locked gate by a fat fool in a dinner suit who was presumably a front-of-house official. The action of this idiot lost me a good ten minutes in escaping from this wretched theatre, tucked away in the depths of nowhere, and probably added half an hour to my already long journey across to the other side of London. I also had an early start next morning, to get to Cheltenham to see -
Two productions of The Grand Duke in two days, and not a sign of Mr. Boyd! After a number of years away, the Savoyards had returned to their roots in the pretty little Playhouse Theatre for their centenary production of The Grand Duke. The sets were made by the company, designed by David Manifold. Act 1 was the usual market square, attractively done; Act 2 was rather curious - A Greek parthenon, pretty but odd. It is supposed to be Rudolph's palace, so why would Rudolph have a Greek palace? But it set off the Greek costumes beautifully, and I doubt if many people in the theatre would have noticed it was wrong. The costumes, which were from "Costume Call of Coventry" were attractive - standard 18th century costumes for Act 1, very quaint Greek ones for Act 2 - all in pastel shades of silk - seeing the men in rose-pink and powder-blue kaftans was ever so slightly twee. The dialogue was pruned more judiciously than Chapel End's text had been. It was musically complete except that a couple of three-verse songs were reduced to two - notably Ludwig's "At the outset I may mention" and Rudolph's "Well you're a pretty kind of fellow", this worked OK. The production was traditional, and there was little that needs to be said about it as a production except that it was very pretty and pleasant, and relied mainly on the singing and acting of the cast, all of whom were good enough to keep it flowing. Even so, one always has the feeling that the first act is really too long.
Eric Atherton (Rudolph) was a dapper little man, pompous and self-important, but certainly not miserable or downcast. He did not look as if he had been living low, but was distinctly well-fed, rather like a little cock sparrow. Ray Kinghorn (Ludwig) was, I was told, making a comeback; I had first seen him as Professor Bunn in The Emerald Isle back in 1970. His style was much the same, slightly over-theatrical, but this was very suitable for this role. Much of the success of any performance of The Grand Duke depends on a strong Ludwig as it is such a long role, and this actor sustained interest all the way through. David Manifold has lost none of his charm, and although he hates the role of Ernest which he has now played three times, he still remains among the best I have seen. As the part is written, Ernest is a pompous stick, and although David did not attempt anything of the sort, he may perhaps be best summed up by George Baker's description of Courtice Pounds "he could charm you into believing it was right". However contrary to the text it might be, I think he could always do that, he smiles with the whole of his face, particularly his eyes. John Lester (Notary) was a dry, starchy little man, temperamentally perfect for a lawyer, but with an unfortunate uncertainty with his lines.
Unfortunately, Josephine Llewellyn (Julia) completely lost her voice on the morning of the last performance, and had to mime while Christine Manifold sight read and sang the role from the orchestra pit. Both of them managed extremely well. Vocally, Christine sang the role excellently, though inevitably some of the dramatic impact was lost. Like most Lizas, Sarah Moody sang excellently, but the role is such a wet one it gives an actress little scope, and I have to confess I find both the character's songs rather dull. Ann Cox was an excellent Baroness, but really too young and pretty.
MICHAEL WALTERS
Web page created 25 July 1998