In 2009, Ian Smith finally plucked up the courage to let me loose on a full-scale G&S production at the Festival. Opera della Luna, by then, had performed in Buxton a number of times and become firm favourites as professional enfants terribles. I suppose for the traditionalists, it was taking something of a risk as our Pirates, Mikado, and Ruddigore were far from standard, and although I personally took the work very seriously, some spectators could be forgiven for calling them “jokey.”
Being in charge of a full-scale show, though, was a completely different undertaking from the work that OdL had been doing. One can never view one’s own work objectively, and whilst I am sure my Princess Ida had my own style about it, it was in no way intended to be an OdL Ida. Nevertheless, I was fortunate in being able to have so many of my own company in the cast: Philip Cox (Gama), Chloe Wright (Ida), Lisa Anne Robinson (Psyche), Vicky Byron (Melissa), Ian Belsey (Arac), and Oliver White and Toby Merz as Hilarion and Cyril – all gorgeous artists with Opera della Luna pedigree.
To this illustrious crew were added three more delights: James Cleverton as Florian, Gareth Jones as Hildebrand, and the rather more daunting prospect of Jill Pert as Lady Blanche. All three proved utterly charming to work with, and no one was more surprised than me when Jill gamely agreed to appear in Act Three with an enormous kettle on her head! One of my happiest memories of Gareth is his astonishment at being called to a rehearsal for dialogue. He turned up as per schedule but was puzzled to find there was no pianist at the rehearsal.
“How can we rehearse without a pianist?” he exclaimed, perplexed. “We’re just doing dialogue,” I explained. “Just doing dialogue? For G&S? That’s unheard of! But it’s surely not going to take two hours?” But it did!
Both Tony Brett (costumes) and Paul Lazell (sets) were also a little wary at first of this new kid on the block. But I must give credit where credit is due: they could not have been more supportive. There was clearly no possibility of bringing in a dedicated designer, so I had to knuckle down and design it all myself. Paul built the tall monolithic slabs I wanted for the set, and out Jackson-Pollocked Jackson Pollock with a wonderful texture of grey and lilac abstract blobs and splatters. It looked terrific.
And for the costumes, I was able to bring in a maker who regularly made my pantomime costumes (Opera della Luna, for many years, produced the Christmas pantomime at Newbury Corn Exchange). Janet McGeown was keen to get more experience in making opera costumes and between us we were able to create something visually stunning and very different from any Ida that had been seen in Buxton, or anywhere else for that matter, before. Those costumes came back to the OdL stores at the end of the show and have hung there ever since, awaiting the moment that is finally upon us: the revival of the production. I am very excited to have been given the chance to revive this production. It remains one of my favourite shows, and I only hope that it is received with as much enthusiasm and joy as it was in 2009.
Jeff Clarke
Director
Princess Ida, National G&S Opera Company – 2025