Green Branch Opera, plays with music, pantomime, folk operas...
Home page APPEAL The operas and other works Green Branch productions Photographs Samples from the scores Listen to extracts Sitemap of this site Links to other sites Contact details	The Marvels of Merlin by Tim Porter Composer's note This pantomime is based on two early mediaeval manuscripts, one in Latin, the other in Welsh! That might make your heart sink, but the fact is, they were both comic novels of their day. Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings of Britain" is full of the stock-in-trade of farce - people are mistaken for one another and jump in and out of each other's beds in time-honoured fashion. As for the Welsh "Culhwch and Olwen", if viewed in a certain way it turns out to be a prototype "Puss in Boots" without the cat (we have, however, supplied the missing animal). It was the realisation of this last striking parallel that led me to treat the material in pantomime style. Though both the mediaeval authors based their books on ancient Celtic tradition, they saw no reason to approach it with solemn reverence, so neither have I. This is not to say the piece is without its darker shades - but they need only be there for those who seek them. Tim Porter Act I The Village of Happyfield The Dragons' Lair The Royal Palace The Battlefield Tintagel Sir Ector's House The Royal Palace Act II The Stepmother's Cottage On the Road Camelot The Giant's Castle Finale Back to Operas
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