IMAGINE the riotous complications if a magic potion were to make everybody in a village fall in love – indiscriminately and inappropriately.
W S Gilbert came up with just that comic idea and the outcome, in collaboration with composer Arthur Sulli
van, was The Sorcerer, the pair's first full-length operetta and a big box-office hit.
Naive grenadier Alexis, sung superbly by lyric tenor Jonathan Wilby, has a notion to cure the world of its ills by imposing on it the joys of marriage, and enlists the help of the local sorcerer Jonathan Wellington Wells (Richard Buxton).
Alexis, the only villager not to drink the magician's romantic elixir, comes to recognise his folly, as his fiancee, Aline, played by soprano Amy Greenwood, bestows her favours on an elderly lonely heart, the Rev Daly (Robert Thurman).
If that isn't enough, his father, Sir Marmaduke (Martin Whitaker) imp-robably presses his suit with roly-poly Mrs Partlet (Andrea Widdison), when clearly he is made for Lady Sangazure (Kathryn Buxton).
This is a large-scale, expensively-costumed production, for which musical director Maureen Earl, and stage director Margaret Schofield des-erve much praise.
It is on until Saturday and not to be missed.
The full article contains 208 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
