It was George Washington’s favourite play and possibly the first Broadway Musical so The Poor Soldier comes with a strong pedigree, so why is this possibly the first professional production in a couple of hundred years?
Presented as part of the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds’ Restoring The Repertoire initiative to resurrect classics of Georgian Theatre, The Poor Soldier is the first musical of the period the theatre have tackled.
It’s not a wholly historical piece with a cast of actor musicians but aside from that it’s a traditional Georgian romp, mistaken identities, unrequited love and a bit of bawdy humour. Think Sheridan’s The Rivals meets Gay’s Beggars Opera and you get the idea.
And there lies a problem – while the piece is well performed by the versatile cast and the script is entertaining, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in productions such as those above. Another problem lies in the score, while undoubtedly of the period; the piece lacks any real variety with the same thematic pieces merging into one. Colin Blumenau's production doesn't really allow the humour to fully develop in the romp it verges on becoming.
The Theatre Royal should be congratulated for restoring these lost plays but perhaps a more inventive approach to production is needed to bring these to life for a modern audience. If the aim is purely to stage the pieces as historical replication that is fine and commendable in its own way but does that belong in a theatre or a museum? Surely part of the appeal of theatre is to see how classic texts can resonate with modern life?
2 comments:
It's all very well saying the point is to see "how classic texts can resonate with modern life", which the Theatre Royal did excellently with the superb 'Wives as they were, Maids as they are' and 'The Massacre', but to what extent can we expect a one act musical comedy set against the back-drop of post-American War of Independance England to resonate with a modern audience? The answer is very little. In the aforementioned productions the Theatre Royal had the themes of political revolution, social revolution, genocide and the place of women in society burning brightly in the text, all juicy topics that really do resonate with a modern society. But what, pray tell is there in 'The Poor Soldier' that is going to resonate with a 21st Century audience? We all like to laugh at a comedy Frenchman? We all secretly think there's something a bit seedy about an Irish priest? Well these are hardly major themes and they certainly don't need any emphasis from the director, the piece espouses them quite clearly.
Yet this is a piece which has a very strong claim to the title of 'The First Ever Broadway Musical' hasn't been performed in nearly 300 years despite this, surely it is high time it was revived? Even if a revival does prove it to be a trfiling bit of populist entertainment rather than a great work of social commentary.
If you want a meaty piece of drama that shows how 'in sync' modern day society is with Georgian society then you'll have to wait until the Theatre's upcoming production of 'The London Merchant' by George Lillo. A play that deals with the corruption of a young man in the middle classes, steeped in the strictures of 'Christian morality'. But for now this is a fine Summer to enjoy two hours of the delightful and entertaining historical curio that is 'The Poor Soldier'.
In January of 2009 in Schenectady, NY (USA) the Poor Soldier was professionally produced to great critical acclaim and sold out houses by the Musicians of Ma'alwyck. The production included a cast of opera singers and theatrical singers, a 22 piece professional orchestra in Colonial costumes (performing a score reconstructed by Brett Wery). We used an 1808 version of the libretto, with additions from earlier libretti, which was adapted and annotated by Sandra Boynton. The Poor Soldier remained in the American repertory (first with the Old American Company and then with other touring companies) throughout the early 1800s, with regular performances continuing into the 1850s.
Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, Director
Musicians of Ma'alwyck and Producer of the Poor Soldier January 2009
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