Buccaneering bikers
Julian Bissell, The Pirate King
on his bike with his band of bikers, Frederic, Tom Dalton, left and,
centre, Ruth, Glynis Leaman, and John Clay's long arm of the law
The Pirates of Penzance
Tinker’s Farm Opera
The Crescent Theatre
****
TINKER’S Farm have been . . . well . . .
tinkering, so the Pirates of Penzance are not so much swashbucklers as
the Gilbert and Sullivan rather civilised chapter of Hell’s Angels.
Which, as the operetta is set in 1879, means a 15
year wait for them before the first motorbike appears, but who cares,
its gives an imaginative, modern twist to what is a traditional
production, with an opportunity for some visual humour and enough
tattoos to cover a tennis court.
Tinker’s Farm seem to have had a new lease of
life with this bright, cheerful, enjoyable production. It is helped by
having strong leads. Bella Harris as Mabel a particular find, and
choruses both large enough and loud enough to earn their keep.
First nights have their own pressures but if the
first act had any mishaps they were not obvious and come the second act
you could see and hear confidence growing.
Director Jessica Dalton has done a fine job
keeping things moving along and creating a series of vignettes on the
seafront of Penzance behind a scrim during the overture was a
masterstroke, giving the excellent orchestra under Musical Director
Arthur Wrench a chance to flex their muscles and the audience a chance
to get into the swing of things.
The story is simple Frederic, a bit of a wimp,
played by fifth year Birmingham University medical student Tom Dalton,
has been mistakenly become an apprentice pirate instead of pilot after
an error by his nurse Ruth. I suppose he should be thankful he was not
an apprentice parrot.
But at 21 he is free of his indentures and can
marry his new love Mabel, sung by Bella Harris. Except there is a
paradox – which is the crux of the whole plot – which means Frederic
will not be free of his duties as a pirate until 1940.
Harris, who trained with the National Youth Choir
of Great Britain, is a music scholar – and current Gilbert and Sullivan
Society President – at Birmingham University and has a lovely powerful,
voice, clear as a bell and hitting all the high notes with no sign of
strain or, to be honest, little sign of effort. A delightful
performance.
Dalton also is a member of the society and has a
pleasing light tenor voice which blends well with Harris.
John Leaman as Major-General Stanley with the twins
among his multitude of daughters
Glynis Leaman quickly grew into her role as Ruth
playing her as a sort of glamorous granny, who at 47, is trying to
convince Frederic, who has yet to see any other woman, or more
pertinently, girls, that she is the one for him.
John Leaman, chairman
of TFO, leads from the front as Major-General Stanley, having sung
I am the very model of a model major
general I know what goes in to keeping
brain and mouth in step in G&S tongue twisters and he did an excellent
job as well as displaying a military bearing.
TFO stalwart Julian
Bissell, in his motorbike leathers, is a rumbustious Pirate King, his
third time in the role, and weighs in with a hefty baritone while lower
down the vocal scale we have the fine bass of John Clay as Sergeant of
Police bemoaning that a policemen’s lot is not a happy one.
Incidentally, this is John’s 55th
year of appearing in amateur and professional productions.
There is good support from Ben Cuffin-Munday as
Samuel, the Pirate King’s lieutenant as well as the General’s daughters
Edith, Alison Needham, Kate, Sonya Williams and Isabel, Philippa Goyal.
Which brings us to the choruses, the daughters,
the pirates and the police. Tinker’s Farm are not alone among amateur
companies in that suggested ages and available cast do not always
correlate, but what the choruses lack in age authenticity they make up
for in both volume and animation.
All too often the cast in crowd scenes are a mix
of statues and furniture when they are not singing but here director
Jessica Dalton has got her crowds acting like people, looking like a
real crowd with their own little scenes all over the stage.
As for the singing, you certainly knew they were
there as they belted it out, in tune and well balanced with words you
could hear.
There was nothing timid about this lot, which is
a credit to both them and whoever cracked the whip at rehearsals – in
itself not an easy task with a big cast of 37.
A mention too for Martin Hudson, responsible for
the good sound and Peter Laver’s lighting as well as the people,
including cast, responsible for costumes.
The director has kept scenery to a minimum with
just two backcloths, one Penzance and the other the chapel ruins, which
is no bad thing as there are no hold-ups for scene changes and the show
is able to develop its own rhythm to carry everything along into an
entertaining evening. To 02-04-15
Roger Clarke
29-04-15
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