“Another great performance from the Guildhall school”
From the Guildhall School, this performance brings students and professionals together to showcase the talent on the school’s degree courses.
Set in the 1800’s, this performance tells a story of Owen Wingrave preparing to follow in his ancestors’ footsteps for a path into military as he is enlisted into an academy for entry into officer training. Despite his promising future, Owen disagrees with war and the sacrifices that come with it. Inspite of his teacher, Owen is sent back to his family home to be “straightened out” and what follows is a disapproving welcome, pressure, expectation and a family legend which sees Owen suffer the same fate.
What is striking about this show is the talent from the students, in past shows, a similar level has been performed, making these shows entertaining. From the incredible opera singers to the orchestra and costume design, the performance is high quality and professional. The stagehands were utilised and were dressed as if they were servants or butlers which was fitting as the Wingrave family were upper class.
The lighting and set design were well designed, although the use of video, almost AI didn’t seem to work as perhaps best as it was intended. With the set changes, video of battles of the time were played, merely as a distraction and highlighting the Wingrave family history. Overall, it didn’t add anything, and the story gave the same information so it just felt a little unnecessary. There were also times when the orchestra overpowered the singers and the script shown on screens was needed to understand what was going on. But the music overall was well performed and helped to bring the story alive.
Considering the Wingraves have dealt with great losses and a “legend” this was not alluded to and only came to knowledge after Owen goes to visit his family. If the tragedy which has caused much loss and grief, the director could have made it their own and made Owen’s opinion more apparent as the family “legend” seems almost sprung upon the audience, which could make it hard for an audience to engage with the tragedy and characters.
Overall, it is a good performance and really showcases how talented the students are, and it was nice that professionals were working alongside one another to bring together this performance. The Guildhall School really do put on some wonderful shows and I would highly recommend catching a student performance. This shows run has now concluded with it being played at the Guildhall School.