AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: The Gondoliers - St. Joseph's Hall, Leigh.

The Three Towns Operatic Society are a group of enthusiastic amateur thespians who produce a full-scale musical each year at St. Joseph's Church Hall in Leigh (Greater Manchester). This year the society turned their attentions to the comic operatic capers of Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan, and their Venetian romp, 'The Gondoliers'. 

I have to admit, it has been a very long time since this particular operetta has been on my radar, having seen only a couple of stage performances before "a-many years ago", and even farther back, performing the part of Antonio in my own local amateur society. and as such it was nice and refreshing to reacquaint myself with the jaunty, catchy melodies and silly lyrics.

'The Gondoliers' tells the story of two gondolier brothers, Marco (David Griffiths), and Giuseppe (Tim Henshaw) who are so handsome that all the young maidens of Venice are at their disposal. In a 'game of chance' they chose two to wed; namely Gianetta (Victoria Goulden), and Tessa (Jennie Heywood). As all the maidens then pair off with other gondoliers we witness the arrival of the Duke (David Kay) and Duchess (Barbara Mayers) of Plaza-Toro and their daughter, Casilda (Julia Sutton); bringing with them, all the way from Spain, their personal "drum" (attendant), Luiz (Paul Bailey). They are here to have an audience with the Grand Inquisitor (Ken Rees), and to bring Casilda together with her husband - wed when just a baby - to one [which one - no-one knows] of the two aforementioned gondoliers; who is actually unbeknownst to either gondolier, the now King of Barataria! It is here that the plot thickens, and a whole set of unbelievable contrivances  make it seem impossible for any of our protagonists to find happiness in love - that is until a Deus Ex Machina arrives and of course, because this is opera-bouffe, saves the day and everyone leaves with huge smiles on their faces. 

There were a couple of things I noticed this evening which, considering the effort put into the rest of the show, seemed a little overlooked. First, after seeing a lovely first act set of Venetian palace, piazza, canal side and steps, the second act forgot to either block or change the flat (stage right) which showed a significant part of a canal. Second, the lighting design and the operating thereof this evening was somewhat chaotic it has to be said sadly. I feel sure it should not have been as it was, and hopefully it will have been already rectified for future performances. 

David Kay's direction of this production was very much keeping to tradition and along with colourful and appropriate costumes, and some superb-sounding choral singing, the production was brought to life. The one thing that would have been the cherry on the icing however, was the one thing which has now become something of a traditional in G+S shows, and that is to lampoon and satirise the laws and law-makers of our own society. Gilbert and Sullivan were the absolute masters of this in their day, and every character in every operetta was a recognisable personage of the time, even the operettas' plots were based on real-life scandals, hence their popularity, and that popularity has continued, in no small part, due to the pliability and changeability of their scores and librettos, meaning that contemporary politicians and legal mores can and very often do, come in for a non-libellous but nevertheless sideways kick in these shows. The production this evening made two very timid and short attempts at this, but it was never carried through, and failed to truly hit the mark either time. Kay did however find much comedy in other places, and the "I Am A Courtier" song was one of the show's highlights.

A 19-piece orchestra, under the solid direction of Phil Boardman filled the soundscape beautifully. It has been a long while since I have seen an amateur show which had a percussion section with timpani and cymbals, and the orchestra's cumulative sound was delightful. The society is truly blessed here. Boardman also took a few of the songs a little slower than normal this evening, which worked in the society's favour; and we were able to more clearly hear the lyrics and understand the plot contrivances because of it. 

All-in-all, a high spirited, ably and faithfully performed production, from a society that has an obvious love of the genre and of performing in general. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 16.5.23