Once upon a time...
there was a tiny kingdom. The hideous dragon Ahrimanes who lived in the hills nearby had not attacked in months, food was plentiful, and there was to be a wedding. Lord Marmaduke Pointdextre's son, Alexis, was to wed Aline, the daughter of Lady Sangazure of the neighboring kingdom. And there was great rejoicing in all the land.
Our story opens on the day Alexis and Aline are to sign the official engagement papers to unite the kingdoms, and Lord
Marmaduke has arranged a feast at his castle. Amidst the general rejoicing, we find Constance Partlet, a beautiful
young pig-herder, in tears. She pours out her tale of unrequited love for Friar Daly to her mother, who then endeavors
to bring them together. Daly feels he is too old for taking a wife, though he desires one. Either way, he is clueless
to Constance's feelings.
Season: Autumn 1999
Dramatis Personae:
Production Staff:
Notes
Gilbert & Sullivan have entered that realm of classics where admiration and re-examination can bring a show new life without barely having to change a word. Like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet can be a modern movie about gangs or MacBeth can be created in a post-apocolyptic setting, G&S can be just as valid in other settings. Other G&S companies have taken Iolanthe to a Robin Hood period, Princess Ida to a Doctor Zhivago Russian winter, Trial By Jury to the Wild West (and even as the third act with Josephine suing Ralph for breach of marriage contract while Sir Joseph presides on the decks of the H.M.S. Pinafore), and even OMP's own production of Patience set in a Greenwich Village beatnik Coffee-House.The Sorcerer is ideal for a resetting, because unlike most of the G&S canon, political satire and timely references are at a minimum. The show is more plot-oriented than joke-oriented. And yet, many would claim that the plot is lacking. But that fact makes changing the setting easier. As nothing more than a look at romance, it could be reimagined more naturally and easier than, say, The Mikado in Scotland, H.M.S. Pinafore in Africa, The Gondoliers in outer space, or The Pirates of Penzance in 1920's Chicago.
There is, perhaps, one character that does not translate well into different settings. Dr. Daly, the village vicar, is the only religious figure in the whole G&S canon. Perhaps Gilbert felt uneasy or found it difficult to poke fun at people of religion. This being their first major operetta, the religious character never appeared in later works, where other types of characters would appear over and over — the learned judge or monarch for example. So trying to find a suitable translation for a religious person who wants to marry is a quandary. But since most of the characters are superficial people (what else in Gilbert & Sullivan?), our Daly is as superficial as any one else, and not meant to be taken seriously.
So, with all this superficiality, is there a point to the opera? Many scholars have noted that Alexis should not be the
one who triumphs at the end — where as Wells, the innocent, should. Where is the moral in that? And what kind of
society would shun Sir Marmaduke's courting the lowly Mrs. Partlet, but would accept the coupling of the
beyond-middle-aged Daly and the 17-year-old Constance? But if we hope that Alexis learns his lesson, that love between
any two people should be celebrated, not judged or tampered with, then perhaps individually, we can learn that lesson
as well.
"Happy Are We"
Another significant change was that the potion now worked in twelve hours, not in half-an-hour. Some necessary dialogue changes have never been reflected in the official score; the most obvious plot problem being Aline not being effected the same as the others at the end of Act 1. This song and the structure of the second scene have been inserted to reflect the potion's effect on Aline, and to give the chorus another fun number.
Photos by James Blake and Katherine M. O'Donnell
Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture
Last updated: 01/14/08