BHOS present Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore 2nd to 6th October 2001 - Martlets Hall, Burgess Hill Director's Note from the programme

When BHOS first asked me to direct "RUDDIGORE - THE MOVIE" as part of the Rederring Film Festival and BHOS's own Golden Jubilee celebrations my immediate reaction was to query why BHOS should wish to celebrate, or spoil, it's 50th Anniversary celebrations by putting on a rarely-performed and little known operetta when we could be performing a proven block buster or at least one of the better known G&S offerings? Well, why not? BHOS owes its very existence to Gilbert and Sullivan and what more appropriate that we should put-on one of the less frequently performed shows as part of our Golden Jubilee. RUDDIGORE may not be in the G&S Premier League but that owes more to its rather unfortunate history than actual merits as a show. And, let's face it, anyone can fill a theatre with The Mikado even if it's a lousy production (not that BHOS has ever put on a lousy production!). When first staged in eighteen-eighty-something the plot didn't work well and was the subject of hasty revisions after the first night. After an initial run of some eight months (so it wasn't THAT unpopular!) RUDDIGORE was dropped and not revived professionally until after both Gilbert and Sullivan had died, when it was subjected to further unauthorised changes, many (in my view) for the worse. Fortunately, once copyright expired, that process went into reverse and many of today's productions are more closely related to the show that Victorian audiences saw. And so to our version. Certain musical numbers have been restored as well as some long-lost dialogue. I have also updated the show to the modern vibrant 1920's, where I believe its melodramatic theme is well-served by the world of silent movies, as well as taking a few liberties (which will become evident as the show progresses). So what you will see is the Director's Cut (which he usually is - at least half-cut!). Not for us the movie blockbuster of "Gondoliers with the Wind" or "The Pirates of Ben Hur", but I hope you enjoy "RUDDIGORE - THE MOVIE" for all that. Tim Leete.