Lively G & S update sails away with the plaudits

THERE are some shows that do your heart good from the first few beats of the overture, and when it is done well, this is certainly one of them.

The best of the Savoy operas is a wonderful mix of wry humour, wildly inventive plot and terrific tunes.

Normally I’d now be moving on to describe the energy of the much-loved “Broadway” version, probably the best update of a century-old show ever created.

But not this time: the pleasure of this joint Scottish Opera/D’Oyly Carte company touring production is all derived from a new update, which bypasses Broadway and returns to the original and its simpler orchestrations, here handled with great liveliness by conductor Derek Clark and the SO orchestra.

From this base, director Martin Lloyd-Evans goes in a new direction, starting with a cheery Cornish map, overflying seagull and pirate ship, from which the curtain rises on a set mainly of grey (but far from dull) shades and wild perspectives by designer Jamie Vartan.

This would be pointless if the production was badly put together, or suffered the over-elaborate gimmickry of previous reboots.

But this version just works; Lloyd-Evans’ direction is a model of restraint, but is filled with neat bits of modern business that are never allowed to get in the way of the humour in the libretto.

And in case you aren’t fully familiar with the words, the production handily, if perhaps curiously, puts the words of the songs on screen above the stage.

Being an opera company-based production the cast is chosen for its singing rather than acting ability, but this hardly matters.

The Broadway version gets, and uses, bigger performances, the singers enhanced by modern PA systems. In this purist version the singers are unaided and the show a little quieter, but the performers sing strongly and the choruses are powerful.

As Frederic, Nicholas Sharratt is slight and youthful and works well both with his Pirate King (Steven Page) and piratical maid Ruth (Rosie Aldridge), and with the sweet but determined Mabel of Rebecca Bottone (whose sisters are a much livelier bunch than usual).

Above them towers Richard Suart as the Major General, a wonderfully deadpan G and S patter specialist who breezes through his introductory song like he wrote it himself.

The other comedy character, the police sergeant, is performed by Graeme Broadbent with a thick northern accent and rubbery limbs.