Patience

Newcastle University Gilbert & Sullivan Society presents a fresh and updated version of the duo’s much loved classic ‘Patience’ at Tyne Theatre & Opera House.

In this non-traditional production, the story takes place in the fast-changing postwar rock ‘n’ roll era. Join in at Waterloo House High to find out why the nerdiest girl in school has won the attentions of the most fashionable boy – it’s a high school musical you’ll never forget!

Meet Reggie Bunthorne, an egotistical 1950’s schoolboy who grabs the girls’ attention with his sleek good looks and his Rock and Roll rebel act. All the boys hate him. All the girls love him. That is except for Patience, a carefree bookish girl who Reggie is besotted with.

This new take on the show, directed by Zoe Hull and Elizabeth Hamer perfectly captures the air of fun and freedom present in the 1950’s. It laughs at the ridiculous way people follow the crowd no matter what and goes to the extreme to mock the idea that love is pure.

Newcastle University Gilbert & Sullivan Society is one of the oldest student societies in the university, established in 1952. Every February the society performs one of the fourteen comic operas created by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan and during the summer there is also a smaller production, which is often an original libretto set to music by Gilbert and Sullivan and other composers of the Victorian and Edwardian period. The society is open to all students and there are no auditions held for chorus parts.