THESPIS (or the Gods grown old)
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Jupiter and the other gods on Mount Olympus have grown old and tired. They bemoan that they have lost their sway with mortal man and consider what to do to restore their appeal and influence. As they do they are interrupted by a troupe of actors and their manager, Thespis, who are on their way up the mountain, where they have planned to hold a picnic in celebration of the wedding of Nicemis and Sparkeion, two members of the troupe.
The couple arrive at the summit before the rest of the group in order to share a few private moments together before the rest of the company arrives. The come upon an ancient ruin and talk about how peaceful such a place might be for the two of them. Though blissful over the prospect of being married to one another Nicemis rebuffs Sparkeion's too familiar advances to her (reminding him that they are not yet married). A spat ensues. Sparkeion reminds Nicemis that comely other young ladies have had an eye on him. And she reminds him that their manager, Thespis has always had a special fondness for her.
The rest of the troupe arrive and proceed to settle in for the picnic. Their picnic is shortly interrupted by Jupiter, Apollo, and Mars who take offense at their rude intrusion of their home. After introducing themselves, Jupiter learns from Thespis that mortals take little heed of Jupiter and his fellow gods these days and that they are rarely portrayed in theatre and then only in burlesque.
Jupiter consults Thespis asking him what he thinks they might do to restore their influence. Thespis recommends that they all go down to Earth incognito, and spend time with mortals to learn how they live and think. Jupiter is interested in the idea but expresses his reluctance to Thespis of leaving Olympus unattended. So Thespis suggests that Jupiter and the other gods retain the services of his troupe to manage things on Olympus while they are away. The bargain is struck. Each of the gods hands off their powers and duties to actors in Thespis's troupe. The gods depart for Earth, but ask Mercury stay behind to act as a consultant to Thespis and keep an eye on things.
Thespis and his troupe quickly go to work. They repair the temple ruins and spruce up the grounds. Thespis, as substitute Jupiter gives the others a free hand to carry out the other gods various duties as each best understand those to be and sees fit to do. And so they do. But not without some confusion. Nicemis goes out each night with Sparkeion. Since they are married in the earthly realm that makes perfect sense. But in the godly realm Nicemis is Diana, goddess of the Moon, and Sparkeion is Apollo, her brother, and the god of the Sun. In this setting they should not be an item and the Sun should certainly not be going out at night.
A year has past. And regardless of some confusion about the gods relationships with one another, all seems to be going rather well. Thespis pats himself on the back noting that running things has been child's play and that there has not been a single complaint from Earth about the way in which they have performed their jobs. But Mercury quickly dissuades him of that notion telling him that the reason he has not seen any complaints is that they are collected by him and only reviewed once a year. He goes on to say that today is the day to review the petitions. The real gods have returned from Earth and are infuriated to learn that Thespis and his substitute gods have made a total shamble of things. Jupiter takes Mercury to task for allowing this to happen. But Mercury is quick to point out that he tried to intervene but that Thespis would have none of it. The numerous and egregious complaints are read to the shock of all giving ample testimony to the sheer incompetence of Thespis and his substitute gods. Jupiter decides that it is time to take back Olympus and send these inept pretend gods back to Earth. And he does so, telling them all; "Away to Earth contemptible comedians, and hear our curse before we set you free. You shall all be eminent tragedians, whom no-one ever, ever goes to see."
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Videography: Marcus Hamilton, Hollywood East Productions www.hollywoodea...
Song subtitles: John Freedman - Zábava
How exciting!
I saw this recently in Melbourne, Australia, and this production is very good.
The subtitles are quite helpful, thank you
Hmm Even the dialogue could use subtitles...
An ingenious exercise in reconstruction with some interesting and amusing moments using music from other G&S operas where the metre is the same, or very nearly so, apart from the two original numbers that have survived, together with the interval music.
So who did this ingenious musical reconstruction?
Much of it seems to be based on the late Terence Rees and Garth Morton's 'reconstruction' of the music, which dates from around 1971 and was performed in London and recorded shortly thereafter. It's not though quite the same, as they took great care only to use items from Sullivan's other works if they could be almost seemlessly arranged to fit the 'Thespis' libretto. For example in their score the opening chorus "Throughout the Night the Constellations" is set to part of "All Is Darksome" from 'The Grand Duke', while in this version it is set to a piece from Sullivan's 1897 ballet 'Victoria and Merrie England'.
@@robertwhittaker5477 I preferred the reconstruction with music from the film composer Bruce Montgomery (e. g. Buxton) because he knew how to imitate Sullivan's style to a T.
@@richardduployen6429 I was in the world premiere of Bruce Montgomery's edition of THESPIS in 1971, which took place at the Plays and Players Theater on Delancey Street in Philadelphia, PA. I portrayed Cymon/Father Time with Bruce's group, The Gilbert & Sullivan Players of Philadelphia. In 1989 the group performed the show again. This time I was Apollo. Bruce directed both productions.
Thank you so much. I think Bruce also composed film scores. Is either of the Gilbert and Sullivan Players of Philadelphia productions of "Thespis" available on CZcams? I used to have the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival video.@@scottbullitt723
Knock knock
He created acting
Oh dear!! Quite a good reconstruction using music by Sullivan, but dreadful stage direction and most of the cast are just not up to the job.
Terrible. The worst THESPIS I have ever seen. What a dire reconstructed score. Poor singing, non-existent acting, and a total lack of any stage direction.
I've seen lots of truly terrible theatre on youtube...this may be the most terrible.
Terrible singing, not just bad acting, but an absolute lack of acting in general.
Bad,bad and more bad.
You don't get out much do you? I have seen many hundreds of G & S performances, both amateur and professional, and worked on quite a number I actually think that this is very good. This is the first total reconstruction of this largely lost piece I have seen that is convincing.