Gilbert’s & Sullivan
posted by Miriam Cherry
Recently, I had the good fortune to attend a performance of “Trial by Jury” put on by a combination of groups to benefit a local counseling center. The cast included a number of my colleagues: Jarrod Wong and Brian Landsberg were jurymen, while Jay Leach tackled the role of Edwin, cad/defendant.
For those of you unfamiliar with the musical, it is a comedy about a lawsuit for breach of promise to marry. Amidst all of it may be masquerading a serious point (besides lampooning the lecherous judge and the sanctimonious jury members). At one point, the plaintiff professes her profound love for the defendant (so that the damages will be higher), while the defendant testifies that he’d make a terrible husband and thus is eligible for an abatement:
I smoke like a furnace -
I’m always in liquor,
A ruffian – a bully – a sot;
I’m sure I should thrash her,
Perhaps I should kick her,
I am such a very bad lot!
I’m not prepossessing,
As you may be guessing;
She couldn’t endure me a day.
Recall my professing,
When you are assessing
The damages Edwin must pay!
To his credit, my colleague Jay refused to sing these lyrics (full text & karaoke here), instead choosing to substitute “I will not kiss her / I’d rather diss her,” which, while somewhat sounding more like a “rap” version certainly got the point across without those troublesome domestic violence references.
While these colleagues can really sing (McGeorge’s got talent!) maybe Gilbert and Sullivan today would be bloggers – diverting and entertaining, sometimes throwing in a clever turn of phrase, lampooning those who most need it, and making a serious point from time to time.
Picture credit: Wikicommons
October 27, 2008 at 4:11 am
Posted in: Feminism and Gender
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