"The Gondoliers". Review by Anuj Mishra

 The Gondoliers, St John’s Auditorium

Many profess to be lovers of musical theatre, but few love it enough to get to its comic opera roots. Cue Oxford’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society, which has spent most of the last century running through the duo’s repertoire. This term’s production was The Gondoliers, a slightly absurd piece of theatre which follows a pair of singing dancing gondolier brothers who choose their wives while blindfolded, only to be propelled to kingship minutes after their marriage. The rest of the plot is far too complex to pithily summarise. In a sentence, it revolves around many more such instances of paupers becoming princes, princes becoming paupers, and princesses loving paupers. The result is slightly ridiculous, and extremely hilarious. 

At times, the predictable constraints of staging what would once have been a piece of mass entertainment as a student company felt evident – for example, in the lack of set design and absence of the twenty-four flower girls needed for the opening song (here, there were only five-odd flower girls, and six flower boys for good measure). Nonetheless, creative workarounds – such as a large gondola on which characters ‘rowed’ in and out of the theatre – made up for any lack of visual spectacle. As for the actors themselves, their love and respect for the production shone through their performances, though their reverence for Gilbert and Sullivan did not preclude them from making some creative adjustments to the libretto. 

As the eponymous ‘gondolieri’, Nikolas Haarhoff-Nargi and Nich Leung showed admirable stamina and skill, remaining a charmingly dynamic duo for the duration of this marathon show. Their beloved wives were played by Iona Blair and Jess Downton, whose voices were outdone only by their capacities for comic acting. As the penniless Duke and Duchess of Plaza-Toro, Madeline Lay commanded the stage with an iron-fist and off-the-cuff gaffs, while Hannah Capstick nailed the physical comedy, maintaining nonchalance as she sauntered onstage in the second act wearing a 12-foot skirt (designed by Harry Hutchins). As their daughter, Sydney Haskins displayed strong talent in managing the balancing act of singing well while acting convincingly. The star of the show, however, was the indomitably hilarious Peregrine Neger as the Inquisitor, who, with a costume that looked as if it had been nicked from the Conclave set, was the beating heart of the narrative.

Decked out with a full pit orchestra (directed by Euan Kemp), talented performers, and enough enthusiasm to fill a canal, The Gondoliers is a welcome bundle of joy and a wonderful end to this term of drama. I only hope that the next performances will have a few more students in the audience – Monday night was overwhelmingly ‘over-40s’.

The Gondoliers continues its run at the St. John’s Auditorium until 12th March. Runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes, including a 20 minute interval.


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