New Sussex Opera’s King Arthur was a chest-beatingly British tongue-in-cheek romp.
Directed ambitiously by Boo Wild, King Arthur battled with the Saxons and sought the love of Emmeline.
He won both but along the way encountered sirens to seduce and distract him, fabulously sung by swim-suited duo Janet Forbes and Georgina Thorburn. King Arthur looked suitably alarmed.
Jennifer Clark as Cupid and Venus stole the show vocally and her rendition of Fairest Isle was pure lineal magic.
To keep up the British end (there was also a snappy referendum joke), Catrin Woodruff’s Honour in a Union Jack outfit brought the house down.
The church provided a rustic setting enhanced by imaginative lighting, occasionally plunging the players into challenging darkness.
Traffic cones acted as props and aids for the number Hither This Way, in which the befuddled chorus needed rescuing by their musical director John Hancorn. He sat, beautifully lit, on a platform above the action with his band of merry Purcellians, providing support and guidance to the artists and huge pleasure to us.
Louise Flind
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