Martin Esslin Society: Ruddigore
Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 07:30 PM
Duty! Honor! Repression! Singing Ghosts!
The Oxford University Gilbert and Sullivan Society is proud to present Ruddigore at the O'Reilly. David Allen leads a full cast and orchestra in Arthur Sullivan's most sophisticated score as Rory Pelsue's unconventional production brings out the quirky humor and satiric genius of Gilbert’s libretto.
The Operetta concerns a witch’s curse afflicting the first-born sons of the house of Ruddigore: they must commit a daily crime or die. Hilarity ensues as the latest first-born disguises himself in order to escape his inheritance and win the hand of a beautiful yet priggish maiden.
Ruddigore is a parody of the stock plots and characters of nineteenth century melodrama. Yet Gilbert’s barbed depiction of the tension between passion and societal obligation is timeless. Gorgeous Victorian melodies combine with stinging social commentary to make a rarely-produced Gilbert and Sullivan gem you’d be cursed to miss!
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