Director's Notes

Welcome to the NSLOS’ production of Patience!  I have been enthralled by the work of Gilbert & Sullivan since the age of 12, when my father first played for me a recording of The Pirates of Penzance – on records, if you remember them.  For my next birthday, I asked for the record sets of HMS Pinafore and The Mikado, and, for many birthdays following, a new, D'Oyly Carte boxed-set was always one of my presents.  By the time I was sixteen, I owned a complete set of G&S records, likely pointing to an obsessive interest in these masters of the English operetta stage, but, NONETHELESS, I am almost certain that my copy of Patience has been played only once.  This satire of the Aesthetic Poetry movement of the 1870's didn't seem to grab me as a young man, nor has it grabbed many others since the knowledge of its targets faded from the public mind.  A sad fate for a show that, when it first closed in 1882, had become the longest-running piece of English Musical Theatre in history.  These days, I am certainly older, possibly even wiser, and this chance to revel in the world of Patience has revealed an exquisitely tuneful and frequently hilarious operetta, which deserves to be shared with a new generation of theatre-goers.  And so, tonight we aim to crack open that dusty score, and let Patience, Bunthorne and their associates dance once again on the keyboard and the stage.  We trust you will give them the welcome they deserve - Enjoy the show!
 

Matthew Bissett