Nigel Hanson reports on a world premier . . .

The world premire of Roger Simmonds's opera The Enchanted Loom gave villagers in Wheatley magical entertainment.

The audience was immediately transported from Wheatley C of E Primary School's hall to the foothills of the Himalayas by an impressive set design and sumptuous Indian costumes made with advice from Oxford's Gujurati community. Schoolteacher Mr Simmonds took five years to compose the opera, based on a novel of the same name by Wheatley resident Raymond Vernde, 96. Village theatre group Wheatley Productions (WP) pulled out all the stops to do it justice with a stunningly colourful show.

A 40-strong cast, including children and time-tested WP stalwarts, staged the story of Man Singh, a young man who survives guiding pilgrims to the Shrine of Shiva on Nanda Devi, India's highest Himalayan peak. Most of the party are killed and Man Singh's villagers are so surprised to see him again that they initially drive him out as a suspected ghost. He is accepted only when his identifying amulet is found after being dropped by a well. He marries his betrothed in the end. The entire cast were on stage for a wedding finale in a flurry of marigold and crimson colours.

Musically, no concession was made to populism or catchy melody. The opera is seriously contemporary, albeit with Eastern motifs. It is often deliberately dissonant and, as such, challenging for an amateur cast. For people seated a long way from the accompanying chamber orchestra, which was located to one side of the stage, it meant the singing was sometimes a little exposed. A move during the interval to a chair next to the orchestra, however, ensured the intended blend of voices through a mesh of close string-playing, woodwind and piano. Having the instrumentalists in a central orchestra pit would have helped. Producer Kathy Keene deserves special mention, along with Elaine Parsons and Lesley Cosier, who organised costumes, and Alex Hales on lighting.

This was surely one of the most ambitious village productions in the county for years.

Published in The Oxford Times, October 25, 2002