It has become a tradition over the last few years for Opera Holland Park to finish their summer season with a Gilbert & Sullivan collaboration with Charles Court Opera. This year, the company’s artistic director, John Savournin, not only directs and appears in The Yeomen of the Guard, he has also made, earlier in the season, a quite wonderful contribution in the dumb role of the butler in Susanna’s Secret. Because, as a G&S man to his core, he knows a thing or two about comedy.
Yeomen is, however, less of a side-splitting evening than many a G&S operetta. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, Arthur Sullivan regarded it as one of his more serious musical offerings. His original score has been pared down here to fit the smaller size of the City of London Sinfonia, who play as ever with gusto, this time under the baton of David Eaton whose enthusiasm for this piece is very clear (he even mouths the words at times).
Matthew Kellett as Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard
The second and perhaps more important reason is that this is – at least for G&S – quite a dark piece. Most of their works end happily and there is, indeed, a wedding here, alongisde an unveiling of everyone’s real character and a happy-ever-after element. There is, too, though, the plight of Jack Point, the jester whose love is unrequited (and here ends with a suicide).
Before this tragic ending – and Matthew Kellett’s Jack is the most engaging character of the evening – there has been plenty of plot. Set in Tudor times, the beefeaters at the Tower of London have taken Colonel Fairfax (William Morgan with his very fine tenor) to gaol awaiting his execution. Phoebe (Samantha Price) is the daughter of the Yeomen’s sergeant (Darren Jeffery) and smitten with Fairfax, who has in the past saved her father’s life. Father and daughter decide to save Fairfax by disguising him as Phoebe’s brother Leonard (Jack Roberts) a returning hero from the wars about to join the yeomen. They need the keys for the dungeon, though, and the only way to get them is for Phoebe to flirt with their keeper, Shadbolt (John Savournin).
Llio Evans as Elisie Maynard
They succeed but, of course, nothing goes quite according to plan, especially with the arrival of Elsie and Jack, travelling players. Elsie marries Fairfax (but doesn’t see him); Shadbolt claims to have shot the escaping Fairfax (but he hasn’t); and two couples marry reluctantly in order to keep a secret. In the meantime, there’s some quite lovely music – for me the highlight being the “Strange Adventure” quartet with Natasha Agarwal’s quite lovely blending beautifully with Amy J Payne as Dame Carruthers, William Morgan’s Fairfax and Darren Jeffrey as the real Leonard. Luckily, I saw the second performance – the first night having had quite a few problems with the sound quality and also the loss of Llio Evans’ voice as Elsie (she mimed the action while her voice was supplied from the orchestra pit). The technical problems, though, had all been solved by Thursday and Evans was in fine voice throughout.
There were some outstanding performances and fine tableaux (including some beautifully composed scenes with the OHP Chorus, as versatile as ever). Darren Jeffery and Amy J Payne gave us a very funny duet. Savournin’s gangly Shadbolt made a wonderful duo with the diminutive Matthew Kellett, their comparative sizes contributing notably to “Hereupon we’re both agreed”. And Kellett turns out to be a a bit of a tumbler, too, somersaulting across the stage, quipping and lively – until he learns he has finally lost his one true love. A barnstorming performance in G&S’s darkest piece.
The Yeoman of the Guard runs at Opera Holland Park on 9th and 10th August at 7.30pm with a matinee on 10th August at 2.30pm. For more information, and for tickets, please visit www.operahollandpark.com.
Photos by Ellie Kurttz
