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THE AMAZONS
Verdict: Girls will be boys
Covent Garden Theatre Museum - 28-29 May 2002
Noeline, Thomasine and Williamine are three ordinary 1907 fledgling
aristocrats reared as boys, who fall in love with boys
and finally come out as the girls you always suspected they really
were.
This, you have to say it - touching and sweet - musical got lost
in the queue to the West End in 1971, until discovered and
presented by the Covent Garden Theatre Museum in May 2002.
And what a delight it is.
A splendid Church of England Bishop (Anthony Dawes) returns from
the Empire to visit his cousin Lady Castlejordan (Elizabeth Counsell,
who acted in the original production). What he finds behind the
locked gates of Overcote Hall is an unusual experiment in motherhood
that would keep a team of child-psychiatrists in work for life.
Lady Noeline (Lucy Montgomery), Lady Thomasine (Chevaun Marsh),
Lady Williamine (Alice Battersby) are drilled mercilessly
in military manoeuvres by eccentric Sergeant
Shuter (Myra Sands). They're addressed always as lads, because it's
lads that the late Lord Castlejordan wanted, and his widow feels it's
the best she can do to make amends.
And lads themselves are kept well away. But Lord Litterly
(Stuart Pendred), Lord Tweenwayes (Ellis Kirkhoven), and
Andre De Grival (Jamie Beamish), manage to breech Lady Castlejordan's
formidable barricades. Although Andre is French (a crime in itself at
Overcote Hall), he wins the heart of Williamine. Very camp Tweenwayes
woos very butch Thomasine. Litterly doesn't know if Noeline's
a boy or a girl, and doesn't care - either way he's in love. Butler
Turbot (Richard Costello) stands by ready to help the course of
true love, while preserving the family's unconventional secret.
The scene's set for a subtle and very funny exploration of sex and
gender identity. It's handled with finesse, and some fine farce.
Quite a long evening (around 3 hours with intervals) passes quickly.
London economics mean that 21-strong musicals don't normally get
staged for 3 performances, and the Theatre Museum delivers here a gem
that would otherwise remain unseen. The quality of performance is
remarkable, with fine choreography, excellent songs and some great
dance numbers from the whole cast who include (in alphabetical order)
Holly Boothby, Julia Glass, Amanda Graham, Simon Greenhill,
Michael Howell, James Hutchinson, Gavin James, Gary O'Sullivan,
Jessica Robinson, Faith Stevenson, Alexandra Turchyn.
Book by Michael Stewart. Lyrics by David Heneker. Music by
John Addison.
Assistant Director, Judith Merrick. Production Co-ordinator,
Anne Methold. Music, Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.
Director - Stewart Nicholls. Musical Director - Rowland Lee.
Producer - Just The Ticket Theatre Company.
Details and tickets of future events at the Covent Garden Theatre
Museum Theatre - Malcolm Jones (Workshop Manager) tel 020 7943 4804,
Theatre Museum, 1E Tavistock Street, London WC2E 7PR, email
m.jones@vam.ac.uk. Check at the time that these details are
still correct from website http://theatremuseum.vam.ac.uk.
END
John Park
Tuesday 27 May 2002
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
www.fringereport.com
