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1971 - Golden Revenge

Background to the Story (taken from show programme)

The opera was written to mark the Golden Jubilee year of the foundation of the Lyme Regis Amateur Operatic Society.
We have taken a number of isolated events which took place in and around Lyme Regis in the years 1565 - 1590; and have strung them together, without regard to their sequence or their coincidence. The facts are:
(i) Lyme was noted as a smugglers' port in Elizabethan times,
(ii) A royal commissioner of Excise named Roger Lane visited the town and was flung off the Cobb into the sea.
(iii) There still exists a tally board listing the custom dues levied upon all goods handled at the Cobb; though this is much later than the time in which the play is set.
(iv) A small fishing vessel named "The Revenge of Lyme", captained by Richard Bedford was in the roll of ships that sailed from Plymouth to engage the Armada in Lyme Bay.
(v) Inspectors of fortifications visited Lyme during the times of uncertainty and were entertained lavishly in the Guildhall.
(vi) A levy of £400 was assessed as the town's contribution to local defence.
(vii) Robert Gregory appeared before the mayor's court, charged with drinking and gaming when he should have been practising archery with the trained bands.
(viii) A victory beacon was lit on the cliffs just out of the town after the Armada had been scattered.
We have tried to weave these disconnected events into a light-hearted tale of smugglers and their booty, Elizabethan fisherfolk, the conflict of local and national interests, and a romantic interest that is, so far as we can discover fictitious—but quite inevitable!

Synopsis of the Opera

The scene opens on the Cobb at Lyme. The busy-ness of the scene is reflected in the activities of the fishwives: and this is only interrupted by the customs-offlcers who announce the dues they seek to collect. They are mocked quite genially by the crowd; but events take a much more serious turn when the town crier announces the imminent arrival of Roger Lane - a much more awesome figure. Richard Bedford, the Mayor and his family and the whole company prepare to distract Lane for a sufficient period of time so that the ships may be unloaded of their contraband. The stratagem succeeds; and at last Lane is allowed to go off to search. He realises that he has been duped and returns, making wild accusations, which cause the crowd to turn nasty. The scene rushes to an end with the protesting Lane being carried off to be thrown into the sea.
Act II opens in the Guildhall; the mayor is presiding over a court to try Robert Gregory for failing to fulfil his training duties with the Elizabethan Home Guard.
Roger Lane returns dripping wet—and after an angry exchange with Bedford, impounds the ship Revenge. Violence is avoided by the arrival of the inspectors of fortifications: they impose a huge levy for local defences upon the town - and the Mayor suggests that the service of the Revenge with Drake's fleet will serve instead. Bedford and Jane sing a "scratchy" duet and part unhappily; and the Mayoress laments her problem daughter. The moments of sadness are lost in a banquet scene which includes the Boars Head Carol, a madrigal, and ends with the ceremony of the Loving Cup.
In Act III the mood changes. The scene is set on Stonebarrow, where in the cold dark hours before dawn, a sentry keeps watch and the women of the town wait in fearful anticipation of what the day will bring. The trained band of pikemen marches to take up position: and the moment is right for the battle to be joined. The fight at sea is narrated by the watchers on the cliffs while the guns reverberate and thunder. The exploits of Bedford in Revenge are watched with eager eyes: and, in the moment of victory, the beacon is lit and the leaping flames pass the news of triumph to the watchers inland and down the coast.
The scene then reverts to the Cobb where a crowd of women, waiting still, but in quite a different mood, is gathered to welcome the victors back home. There is a touching reunion between Jane and Richard Bedford; and the act (and opera) comes to a roistering boisterious conclusion, with a barbeque feast and dancing upon the Cobb.