Music: Arthur Sullivan
Libretto: W.S Gilbert
Director/Choreographer: Liam Steel
Conductor: Jack Ridley
English Touring Opera began their Spring tour at Sheffield with a sparkling production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers. It’s interesting to see what has happened to Gilbert and Sullivan’s productions in the 50-odd years since the D’Oyly Carte monopoly ended. One important change has been in the reduced size of chorus fielded by companies such as English Touring Opera. The contadine in the opening sequence actually refer to there being 24 of them (comic counting of fingers on stage put it at seven at Sheffield) and, while this might reduce volume, it increases the individuality of each person’s contributions. Liam Steel exploits that throughout in little comic touches and more flair in the dances than could be expected of massed forces of 24!
Furthermore the balance between the characters seems to have shifted. No longer are we awaiting the splendid comic turns of veteran Savoyards as the Duke of Plaza Toro and Don Alhambra del Bolero, though Phil Wilcox and Matthew Siveter get full value out of their over-the-top posturings and still relevant satire: the Duke who ‘led his regiment from behind’ puts one in mind of a current world leader and Don Alhambra’s conclusion that ‘when everybody’s somebody, then no one’s anybody’ is, at least, worthy of debate. But who would have expected the Duke’s daughter, Casilda (Kelli-Ann Masterson) and her secret lover Luis (George Robarts) to provide some of the comic highlights of Act 1, as well as singing with distinction?
Gilbert’s plot, a typically paradoxical topsy-turvy confection, involves the marriage by proxy of the six month-old Casilda to the similarly youthful Prince of Barataria. When his father became a practising Methodist, the Grand Inquisitor, Don Alhambra, removed the infant from his corrupting influence – they did that sort of thing in those days – and left him to be brought up by a highly respectable gondolier in Venice. Sadly, the gondolier was unable to say which was the Prince and which his own son – and now, the King having departed this life, the problem is, who actually married Casilda? With both the gondoliers married and Casilda in love with Luis, here is a matter for “quiet calm contemplation”, as the anything but quiet ensemble puts it.
A zestful production, set against Michael Pavelka’s set of a Rialto bridge in several detachable parts and, in Act 2, the exotic glories of the Baratarian court, with sensual Classical subjects on all available walls, puts the spotlight firmly on the gondoliers and their wives. Robin Bailey and Samuel Pantcheff clown enthusiastically as Marco and Giuseppe, with Bailey managing to serenade a pair of sparkling eyes elegantly despite having no trousers (don’t ask!). The delightfully animated Natasha Agarwal and Beth Moxon sing and dance with appropriate glee (and occasional fury) as their wives Gianetta and Tessa.
It is very much an ensemble production, Steel’s inventive imagination backed up by Laura Jane Stanfield’s sometimes fanciful costumes: the Plaza Toros in particular, with Lauren Young matching her husband as the redoubtable Duchess in appearance as much as in life. Now there’s another change: what happened to those formidable contraltos D’Oyly Carte used to field? Young proves a more than suitable replacement.
First night hitches were confined to a few slight hiccups with props, with the second half noticeably more relaxed than the first, with Jack Ridley relishing the constant stream of Arthur Sullivan’s joyous melody.
Reviewed on 20th March 2026. On tour in England.
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