CREATIVE CUTS - Mirth with the Maleny Singers

What do Victorian England and modern social media have in common? According to Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, quite a lot.

The Maleny Singers’ upcoming production of Patience at the Maleny Community Centre proves that celebrity culture, trend-following and public obsession with image are nothing new. Written in 1881, the operetta hilariously satirises the aesthetic movement of the day, where self-important poets, dramatic fashions and “good taste” became wildly fashionable.

Sound familiar? In Patience, two rival poets compete for attention from a group of swooning admirers, while a regiment of bewildered Dragoons struggles to understand why they have suddenly been ‘dumped’ and become unfashionable. Beneath the absurd comedy lies a surprisingly sharp commentary on people chasing status, popularity and the latest cultural trends.

At the centre of the chaos is Reginald Bunthorne, played by Rod Johnson. Bunthorne is a deeply theatrical poet who has carefully crafted himself into the height of artistic fashion. 

His rival, Archibald Grosvenor, played by Colin Dunn, is handsome, talented and universally adored…in other words, everything Bunthorne pretends to be. His arrival sends the young ladies into even greater hysteria and leaves Bunthorne scrambling to hold onto his celebrity status.

Meanwhile, the long-suffering Dragoons provide some of the show’s biggest laughs. Matthew Gray plays the Duke of Dunstable, an aristocrat so weary of high society that he escapes into the army, only to find himself caught in an even more absurd world of aesthetic poetry and fashionable nonsense. 

Ian McMaster’s Colonel Calverley grows increasingly bewildered as the soldiers attempt to reinvent themselves as sensitive aesthetes in order to win back their admirers, while Rob McArthur’s Major Murgatroyd watches much of the unfolding chaos with mounting disbelief and exasperation.

Lady Jane is played by local favourite Viera Keogh, and she views the entire romantic circus with a more cynical eye. 

“Lady Jane steals scenes because she says what everyone else is afraid to admit,” says Musical Director Margaret Taylor OAM, who played the character of Patience during her time with the English National Opera. “Gilbert gave her some wonderfully sharp observations about vanity and human nature that still land today.”

The production features a full live orchestra from the Maleny Performing Arts Orchestra, bringing Sullivan’s sparkling score to life with all the energy and colour the music deserves.

With memorable melodies, colourful costumes and plenty of tongue-in-cheek comedy, Patience promises an entertaining afternoon for both devoted Gilbert and Sullivan fans and newcomers alike.

Performances are at the Maleny Community Centre on June 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 2pm. Tickets are available at trybooking.com/DJMPE or from the Maleny Visitor Information Centre. (Image by Marsha Fotogràfiê.)