Review - Advertiser 18/10/06

The skates have been on at the Gilbert & Sullivan Society – and the season of Patience is on a week early, thanks to a glitsch in dates.

The handsome production just goes to show how troupers can shine under pressure. It's another G&S gem. Alan McKie leads a glorious orchestra beneath a Beardsley-esque stage whereupon the lovesick maidens loll in elegantly appliqued costumes. If the staging is class, the cast is yet more so with the star presence of Dennis Olsen – lithe, light-footed, rich-voiced and a joy of comic nuance. Hot on his heels is the very tall rising talent of Paul Talbot as the other aesthete, an adorable picture of vanity and a nice tenor, too.

Samantha Rogers, with a clear soprano voice, slips without affectation into the role of milkmaid Patience while Bev Shehan throws forth the flourish and mellow mezzo voice as the dire Lady Jane. All around are rapturous maidens and Dragoon Guards – colour, movement, lovely singing and lots of fun, expertly directed by Richard Trevaskis. Barbara Turner, Marsha Seebohm, Megan Doherty, Ian Muster, Timothy Ide and Norbert Hohl provide strong support – as does the inimitable Larraine Wheeler with the lighting. Catch it if you can.

– Samela Harris

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