Gilbert and Sullivan’s 1881 opera famously satirises the vogue for everything aesthetic, but it has other targets, notably the macho posturing of the dragoon guards who are eventually forced to emulate the mannerisms of their poetic rivals in order to regain the attention of the female chorus.
Presented in Florence de Maré’s broadly traditional designs, which exhibit the languid lines and dirty greens redolent of the period, Liam Steel’s production allows Gilbert’s barbed arrows to hit their targets and his sense of the inherent ridiculousness of human behaviour to deflate the pretensions of his characters – whether literary fakes or military marionettes.
Sullivan’s dapper score is well served, too, with conductor Timothy Burke and English Touring Opera’s choral and orchestral forces conveying its abundant vitality and grace.
There’s a strong set of principal performances. In the title role, Lauren Zolezzi suggests a posh, prim milkmaid and is pinpoint accurate in her flights of soprano fancy. Valerie Reid finds grandeur and pathos as well as humour in the rapturous Lady Jane.
All three of the military officers are finely done, with Andrew Slater confidently spitting out the words assigned to Colonel Calverley in his patter song.
But the show rests on two expertly crafted comic performances. Bradley Travis’s effusively angular, “fleshly poet” Bunthorne is a joy, perfectly matched by Ross Ramgobin’s artlessly bumptious presentation of “idyllic poet” Archibald Grosvenor, his rich lyric baritone and flawless timing hinting at star potential.
- At Hackney Empire on 10 March. Box office: 020-8985 2424. Then touring until 3 June.
