If only I had enough words to describe the complicated goofiness that is Gilbert and Sullivan's little-known work Princess Ida. This parody of feminism not only takes a swing at the rise of girl schools, but also takes the opportunity to mock everything academic in general, not to mention taking a few jabs at Darwin's theory of evolution. This being a farce, and a Gilbert and Sullivan farce at that, time and logic absolutely do not apply in any way, shape or form.
This being a three-act operetta and having a somewhat more complicated plot than most of Gilbert and Sullivan's other works, I'll only give a brief summary.
Basic plot goes like this: Princess Ida, the daughter of King Gama, has founded a school for girls at Castle Adamant and refuses the company of men considering them to be the scum of the earth. Prince Hilarion, whom Ida was engaged when the two were babies, still wishes to marry her. Suffice it to say hilarity ensues, Ida and Hilarion reconcile, and everyone gets married an lives happily ever after.
The main high points of this show were King Gama's ridiculous aria in Act 1, and the antics of Hilarion his buddies when they disguise as women in order to infiltrate Castle Adamant. Actually, with the style of costume they chose, they looked more like 19th Century monks or Anglican bishops. A lot of the comedy came from their hilarious inability to fully discguise the fact that they are men. Cyril gets drunk in one scene and starts singing a bawdy song and Hilarion grabs the wine jug and takes a swig (one of those I-Need-A-Drink-To-Distract-Me moments).
The only downside was that the men's chorus was little more than a quintet. That is even worse than last year's performance of Iolanthe where the men's chorus was an octet. So the Madison Savoyards are doing The Mikado next year instead of the originally planned The Gondoliers. The group needs more men*.
Great show nonetheless, and I'm looking forward to The Mikado next year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*This is a recommendation for any men who are interested in trying out for the chorus next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment