My final show of this week meant a return visit to the Union Theatre where last Friday I saw the wonderful production of King John, directed by Phil Willmot. This time I was there to see Sasha Regan’s All-Male Patience, the latest in an installment of Gilbert and Sullivan operetta’s that dismiss all soprano and contralto roles for that of young men singing falsetto.
I have made no bones about the fact that have found these productions compromised on several levels. Today, if I see an all-male - or for that matter an all-female - production of anything, I expect to be given a reason why. There is no reason given for the switch in this production, we are simply expected to see boys dressed as girls and accept this as a stylistic choice. Fair enough.
Now the boys sing the score quite well.
You couldn’t mistake them for anything other than a chorus of boys either vocally or visually but they hold their own and with neither amplification nor corsettrey they hammer home the cross-dressing conceit. Then the male chorus arrives and the difference in volume and power is palpable and something of the score is lost. Musically, if you don’t mind compromise then this shouldn’t be a problem.
Personally I have a problem with a production that sacrifices quality for a ‘single joke set up’ in this way. There are scarce moments where cross-dressing sheds any new light on the relationships in Patience and this particular brand of satire sits very awkwardly on what is already an extremely accomplished satirical piece of theatre. Does the cross-dressing make really it more accessible to a modern audience?
What is more, a member of the creative team, when I expressed my concerns offered - “There are notes these boys are singing that a lot of girls only wish they could sing!!”
Let’s face it, how would he know, it’s not like they auditioned any girls for this. Such blind arrogance and ignorance on the matter only go to fan the flames of my argument against this style of production.
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