Dress rehearsal photos!

Published 24 February 2016

When maiden loves, she sits and sighs
'Tis but a foolish sigh …
You're a cruel monster to speak so unfeelingly …
Tower warders, under orders
In the autumn of our life
… all the heat of bygone noon
Still would face the foreign foe
Brave in bearing, foemen scaring
At his bidding it arose, in its panoply of stone
Tho' a queen to save her head should come a-suing
It tells of duty done and duty doing
I keep my silent watch and ward
Ours are not the hearts that quail
My old friend, we meet but sadly
We are soldiers, and we know how to die
Man is well done with it
I am ready, good fellows
Here's a man of jollity!
Banish your timidity …
Give us quip and quiddity
We are merry folk …
… who would make all as merry as ourselves
The song of a merrymaid peerly proud
Heigh-dy! Heigh-dy!
A kiss for that, pretty maid!
You two, eh? Are ye man and wife?
The wife of a man I have never seen?
Look you! I am concerned in this!
Wilfred binds Elsie's eyes with a kerchief …
'Tis done! I am a bride!
There is a wealth of love within this little heart
With a long, long evening before us …
Lord, how she woo'd me!
Thou runnest a grave risk for me
Put a bold face on it, for here they come
Oh, Sergeant Meryll, is it true?
Here's a warrant for your execution!
Thou whose smile has shone so many a captive heart upon
Today the very worthiest falls …
By my troth, the news is fair
Thy life shall forfeit be instead!
Who could have help'd him to escape?
I've no idea at all — have you?
Enchantment must have been at work …
Oh, woe is me, I rather think!
Is not the world a big butt of humour?
When there's nothing else to do, I laugh at myself …
A private buffoon is a light-hearted loon
Tell a tale of cock and bull
Strange adventure! Maiden wedded to a groom she'd never seen
Though but sixteen year she carry …
It is purely a matter of skill
A glance may be timid or free
He must study the knack
'Tis said that joy in full perfection comes only once
Some lurking bitter we may find
This is my joyday unalloyed
Recall those words – it cannot be!
All thought of Leonard Meryll set aside
Thine heart will yield to pity's call
Mine is a heart of massive rock
Leonard my loved one – come to me
Would I had died!
Sir, I obey, I am thy bride
With happiness my soul is cloyed
This is our joyday unalloyed
This is their joyday …
Oh thoughtless crew! Ye know not what ye do!
For I have a song to sing, O!
It is sung to the moon by a love-lorn loon
Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum
Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb
As he sighed for the love of a ladye.
Misery me, lack-a-day-dee!
Who dropped a tear at the moan of the merryman
As he sighed …
Heigh-dy!

Grateful thanks to Mike for taking these pictures in the middle of a very hectic time for the stage crew. Pressing duties behind the scenes, like firing the arquebus, mean that some key moments are unrecorded, but these images give a real flavour of our performance. The captions are your webmaster’s best shot at what was being said or sung at the time, but do feel free to suggest improvements!