Dream Lovers – Stanley Arts, London

Composer: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Libretto: Paul Laurence-Dunbar, Kathleen Easmon, Christina Rossetti and Henry W. Longfellow

Director: William Byram

Bravo to South Norwood’s Stanley Arts for bringing home one of its own. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is little known, but he was a celebrated composer during the Edwardian era. His Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast was an annual standard at the Royal Albert Hall from 1924 until the Second World War. His rarely performed Dream Lovers, first staged at Croydon Large Pubic Hall in 1898, is given a bright (and queer) makeover for Valentine’s weekend.

Adding some songs from other Coleridge-Taylor’s works, director William Byram’s version of this almost-forgotten operetta highlights the swelling melodies of the day. Romantic and luscious, it’s a surprise that these sweet songs aren’t more often performed. Each only lasts a few minutes, but the four-strong cast accompanied on piano by musical director Michael Rose, ensures that they all sound different, from the dreamy to the comical.

The story of a woman who dreams at night of marrying a prince from Madagascar is admittedly lightweight, but is made melancholy by an unexpected coda that makes leaving the grandeur of the Edwardian Stanley Arts a little bittersweet. However, the singing of the performers is what makes the night so special.

Soprano April Koyejo-Audiger as Katherine, the woman who dreams, is excellent, filling the space with her voice. When she sings My Heart To Your Heart with her prince, Benson Wilson and his deep tenor, the result is exquisite. James Beddoe as Manuel and Hannah Morley as a gender-swapped Martin bring some high camp to proceedings, as if opera weren’t camp enough.

Some eye-raising ditties put Gilbert and Sullivan in mind, especially the Gallant Hero song, and the hilarious Funny Men, which seems to be concerned with those kinds of Victorian bachelors who remain stubbornly unmarried. And it’s all performed on a cloud-draped stage designed by Jennifer Gregory.

Stanley Arts has an exciting 2025 programme and we can only hope that in the future it produces more of the Black composer’s work. As the title of Alison Wilkins’s play performed at the Talawa Studios in 2023 suggests, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor demands more recognition.

Reviewed on 14 February 2025