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Operetta raises the roof at Balcombe
A RARELY performed one act operetta by Sir Arthur Sullivan "raised the roof" at Balcombe's Victory Hall on its opening night yesterday.
Never timid of taking on difficult theatrical challenges, Balcombe's Victory Players again excelled in a double bill of farce by Italian satarist Dario Fo followed by singing in Sullivan's The Zoo.
Although the exaggeration of farce is notoriously difficult to perform, the cast of seven in Fo's The Virtuous Burglar, were bold in their efforts with a script that was challenging in the number of lines to be learnt let alone the execution of humour and irony.
The play built slowly as the extra-marital manoeuverings of the main characters, originally set in a divorce-free, very Catholic 1950s Italy, were gradually revealed. But the complexity of a scenario of multiple duplicities developed at a more and more rapid pace to become riotous humour concluded with great panache.
After the interval the players produced an entirely fresh cast of five lead singers plus a chorus of 17, accompanied by pianist Ian White and conducted by the play's director Douglas Wragg.
The four lead singers excelled in voice and acting, as did John Humphries in the lesser solo of heroine Loetitia's disgruntled father Mr Grinder.
They, and Douglas Wragg's wonderful stage and musical directing, lifted the performance of the chorus to one of meticulous timing and clarity that at times could well have been loud enough to raise the roof and be heard outside of the building.
The chorus, made up of ages ranging from nine-year-old Jack Holland to several members in their seventh decade, made this a joyous experience of light-hearted operetta for which Sullivan surely should have received far greater credit that the three previous outings The Zoo received when it was first produced in the 19th century.
The Victory Players will be performing The Virtuous Burglar and The Zoo tonight (Thursday), Friday and Saturday. Tickets are still available through the Book Office c/o Threads on 01444 811372.
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Sunday 27 May 2012
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