The plots that W.S. Gilbert contrived for the comic operas he wrote with Arthur Sullivan often turned on what he called “topsy-turvy” situations, where normal reality is upended and absurdity reigns. The Yeomen of the Guard is the duo’s most striking departure from those fantastical worlds, as well as from the happily-ever-after conventions of the genre. For one thing, it takes place in a real and rather grim setting: the Tower of London. For another, one of its central characters, instead of ending up with an appropriate love-mate, dies (according to the customary reading of the ambiguous stage directions) of a broken heart.
Written in 1887, the show also appeased Sullivan’s perennial impatience with Gilbert’s plots. “No topsy-turvydom,” he confided to his diary. “Very human, and funny also.” Jackie Haney, stage director of the Valley Light Opera’s current production, says it’s Gilbert’s “most believable story.” Which goes to show how unbelievable most of his plots are, as this one involves a soldier/scientist sentenced to death for sorcery, a confusion of disguises and mistaken identities, and a cap-and-bells jester, along with the usual collection of G&S stock characters.
Nov. 7-8, 14-15, Academy of Music, Northampton, tickets at vlo.org, academyofmusictheatre.com, or (413) 584-9032.
