Theatre & Dance

In a revival of Glyndebourne On Tour's 1985 festival production directed by Peter Hall, the company created an extraordinarily realistic view of 1940's social divisions.

Riddled with issues of moral righteousness and the role of the working classes, the production succeeded in combining an image of the rural idyll with a wit-driven mockery of upper class snobbery.

Small cast

The small cast, of which nearly all of the performers took a major role in the delivery of the narrative, projected an understanding of the views Britten intended the comic opera to portray.

The intricate web of inter-relationships, which branched from Miranda Keys' upright performance as Lady Billows to Robert Murray's fantastic interpretation of Albert Herring's transformation from repressed village simpleton to confident common man, was confidently portrayed.

The microcosmic recreation of small Suffolk town Loxford was realistic and entertaining, bursting with a gamut of social and cultural metaphors of the time.

John Gutter's design - mixing an English Heritage view of the Billows' stately home with an intricately devised small village (seen through the windows of the Herrings' fruit and veg shop) and a beautiful 'country-garden' May Day celebration - was delicately balanced with Keith Bensons sympathetic lighting.

Lots of fun

Laughter could be heard throughout the auditorium, particularly during the farcical May Day speeches.

Robert Davies' interlocutory performance as Mr Gedge the Vicar provided room for Adrian Thompson's bumbling mayoral speech and Lynton Black's moustache quivering vocalisations to shine.

A special mention ought to be given to Susan Gorton's entertaining rendition of busybody Florence Pike (Lady Billows' housekeeper), who balanced a sense of morals with sarcasm wrought through village gossip to underpin the opera's underlying messages.

With Rory Macdonald conducting, the GOT orchestra gave a playful, imaginative and superbly balanced performance, which combined Britten’s compositional invention with support for complex vocalisations in a seamless manner.

GOT continue their Norwich visit with a performance of Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore on Friday, 16 November and a performance of Verdi's Macbeth on Saturday, 17 November, 2007.