Review: THE YEOMAN OF THE GUARD at Artscape

It truly is wonderful to see the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society back in action after such a long hiatus. We all know how the arts struggled through years of lockdown levels and it takes time to find your feet again after such a radical shift in the world. Thankfully, G&S is back and they chose to return to the Artscape with a classic G&S production.

THE YEOMAN OF THE GUARD is not one I knew going into this. It was a lot fun - all the classic elements that make up a Gilbert and Sullivan but a story I didn't know the twists and turns of. The story felt very Shakespearean - mistaken identities, unwitting characters getting caught up in situations that are beyond their understanding, nefarious plots and broken hearts. Although, for a comedy, the ending was quite sad and unexpected.

In the cast - absolute standouts for me were Sian Atterbury as Pheobe and Regina Malan as Elsie Maynard. They were really wonderful to watch on stage and their singing voices were simply stunning. Nick Plummer as Jack Point was another standout with his exceptional patter songs (something that is notoriously difficult to sing and a staple in a G&S production).

One of the areas that I felt let the production down was the execution of the choreography. Shayni Pappin-Davidson clearly had a vision to keep her choreography fitting with the style of the production and the music. This meant a lot of simple movements that needed to be sharp and clear. The challenge was met by some, but unfortunately not by all. Some of the performers did not feel connected to the moment.

Director Kyla Thorburn has created quite the visual feast, bringing together all the visual and performance elements of the production. Musical direction from Alastair Cockburn was, as always, brilliant too. The addition of having the music played live thanks to the talents and skills of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra was wonderful - very special indeed.

THE YEOMAN OF THE GUARD is on at the Artscape until 17 August, with tickets available via Webtickets.

Photo credit: supplied

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