SADLY, the days of Buxton as the capital of
the topsy-turvy world every August have now gone, as the headquarters of the
22-year-old International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival has moved to Harrogate.
But something of its past glories is coming
back to the High Peak, as the professional performance
troupe formed for the festival – the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera
Company – is on tour again, and from August 4 to 8 takes to the boards of its
old stamping ground, Buxton Opera House.
Productions of The Mikado, The Gondoliers
and HMS Pinafore are on offer, and they’re all directed by Sheffield-born John
Savournin, a performer-director who has made a considerable niche for himself
in the G&S hall of fame – both as singer and through his razor-sharp, but
traditional-in-spirit productions, mainly with Charles Court Opera, a touring company
he founded and has run for the past 10 years.
Principals this time include John himself
and G&S luminaries such as Donald Maxwell, Richard Gauntlett, Bruce Graham,
Oliver White and Nichola Jolley.
I asked John about his own journey to this
point.
“I have always been involved in music and
theatre,” he said. “Starting as a field mouse in a production of The Wind In The
Willows. I decided to attend music college in London
(Trinity College), as I felt I could best serve
both my passions through opera.
“I’m not the first person to say that I’ve
ended up where I am now by lots of luck, and in some ways by accident – but
also through a lot of hard work.”
He loves the G&S shows (though Charles
Court Opera does much more than those). “Not only are the plots accessible
today, but they combine that with the unique blend of G & S: entertaining
musical theatre with intelligent, biting humour.”
As director, he goes to the text and music
of each show and looks at them with fresh eyes. “Often they’re quite convoluted
– especially in the songs – but it really pays off to get inside the text
afresh. I try to find energy and a lightness of touch, most of all.
“But they have to be truthful and, as with
any good comedy, to be taken seriously.
“Get the comedy right, and the pathos will
shine through, too.”
John’s performing in the north west again later this year, in Opera
North’s new production of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate.
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