All Brown students who are feeling a significant absence of plummy British accents in their lives should take heart: Brown University Gilbert & Sullivan's fall production of "The Yeomen of the Guard" has arrived. "Yeomen," with direction by Rachel Weiler '10 and Melissa Kagen '09 and musical direction by Josh Feintuch '08, runs Friday and Saturday in Alumnae Hall.
The fourteen operettas by writer W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan have been theatrical staples since their premieres in late-19th-century London. "Yeomen," which first appeared in 1888, was their eleventh collaboration. It is less frequently performed than works like "The Mikado" - BUGS's project for next semester - so any production is an event in itself.
The plot of "Yeomen," which takes place in the 16th-century at the Tower of London, is even more convoluted than the usual Gilbert & Sullivan show. Phoebe Meryll - Sarah Hersman '10 - daughter of one of the Yeomen who guard the Tower, is in love with Colonel Fairfax - Finn Yarbrough '09 - who has been sentenced to execution for sorcery and is being held prisoner. His jailer and "Assistant Tormenter," Wilfred Shadbolt, played by David Deull '09, loves Phoebe, who rejects him out of a general discomfort with torture as a profession.
Along with her father, Sergeant Meryll, played by Nick Leiserson '09, and her brother, Leonard, played by Jeremy Kuhn '10, Phoebe devises a scheme to save Fairfax by disguising him as Leonard - who is also a yeoman - and vice-versa. Meanwhile, Fairfax, wanting to make sure his inheritance doesn't fall into the hands of the very cousin who accused him of sorcery, secretly marries Elsie, a poor singer, played by Juliana Friend '11, despite the objections of Jack Point - Peter Goldstein '08 - the jester who loves her. And this is where things get really confusing.
Though "Yeoman" features mistaken identities, an overload of one-liners and general topsy-turviness, it is also darker and more complex than most of the other Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. "It's the only Gilbert & Sullivan show I know of that ends tragically," Kagen said, to which Feintuch added, "The music is more somber and closer to serious opera."
The contrast of sadness and silliness in "Yeomen" posed an interesting challenge to the directors, who wanted to stay true to its more serious mood without sacrificing Gilbert & Sullivan's trademark humor. "I think we wound up mostly going in the silly direction," Weiler said.
As part of BUGS tradition, the "Yeomen" cast and pit orchestra put together a "Gag Show," which will be performed on Sunday afternoon. Publicity materials warn that the Gag Show is "not suitable for children" or "G&S purists."
According to the group's Web site, BUGS was started in fall 2004 by Dan Grollman MS'05 GS and Jonathan Ichikawa MA'05 "two Brown grad students who thought it was lame that there was no G&S at Brown." All BUGS shows are entirely student-produced and offered free of charge.
And in case anyone needs another reason to see "Yeomen," Weiler would like to add one thing: "There's a lot of torture."
