What the Papers Said...

Review - The Sorcerer (from Southern Daily Echo, 02/05/08)

Superb music and up-to-the-minute comic moments make this rarely performed Gilbert and Sullivan operetta an enjoyable evening's entertainment.

What the show lacks in plot and intrigue is made up in excellent characterisations, mimes, and a stunning leading performance by Katie Hickson (Aline), who sang and acted with warmth and artistry.

The setting is The Village - a "twilight home for elderly individuals", where Alexis Pointdextre has the local sorcerer administer a potion to make inmates and staff fall in love.

The plan goes wrong when his own feisty fiancée falls for someone else.

With excellent comedic timing Adrian Hickford (Sorcerer), and Dan Hickson (Alexis) try to control events, while Helen O'Sullivan (Constance) sings delightfully about both requited and unrequited love. Curtain Call award-winning musical director Martin Paterson gives us his usual musical excellence, and Max Bullough has adapted it to modern dress and staging.

Reviewer: Barbara Godwin