The Boatswain's Mate
The Boatswain's Mate is an opera in one act (but in two parts) written by British composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth in 1913–14 set to her own libretto, which was based on a story of the same name by W. W. Jacobs. It was Smyth's fourth opera, and it is sometimes claimed as a feminist opera. The piece centers around a humorous battle of the sexes featuring a feisty and resourceful heroine who outwits her scheming suitor (but perhaps falls for his accomplice—this is left to the speculation of the reader or audience). In summary, the opera's score has been described by Stephen Banfield as "interspersed with spoken dialogue in part 1, [it] is symphonically constructed around folksongs and Smyth's own March of the Women; its pacing and orchestration are adroitly managed." Performance history From December 1913 to May 1914, Smyth stayed at a hotel in Helwan, Egypt, in order to compose The Boatswain's Mate free from distractions, although she kept up a continual correspondence with Emmeline Pankhurst. The hotel, formerly the palace of Tewfik Pasha, was suggested by her friend Ronald Storrs, who was an official under Lord Kitchener in Cairo. On returning to Europe, Smyth arranged for the opera's premiere to take place at Frankfurt in March 1915, as well as scheduling her earlier opera The Wreckers for February 1915 in Munich. However, these plans were overtaken by the outbreak of World War I. The first performance of The Boatswain's Mate eventually took place at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, on 28 January 1916 under Smyth. Thomas Beecham entrusted the premiere to Eugene Goossens but on the day "[t]he composer herself elected to conduct the première of her work—much to my annoyance, as I had taken all the preliminary orchestral rehearsals. At the last moment she took over the baton, thinking herself the Heaven-sent conductor she was not." The opera uses a number of folk melodies, including "The Keeper" and "Lord Randall", as well as "Bushes and Briars", which provides the theme for the intermezzo. The overture was based on Smyth's earlier composition, "The March of the Women". Reviews in The Times drew a distinction between the ballad opera style of part 1, with its light-hearted dialogue and songs, and the sung-through style of part 2, which they found heavy and less appropriate to the libretto. The chorus of agricultural labourers in part 1 was also praised. The opera was performed with full orchestra and chorus a number of times at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the 1920s. Smyth's music subsequently went out of fashion and no productions had been recorded for more than 50 years until a chamber version of the opera was arranged by the Primavera Productions theatre company at the Finborough Theatre in London in June 2007. In 2018, The Boatswain's Mate was performed at the Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre, London. Roles Synopsis Place: England Time: 20th century Part One Mrs Waters is a widow running a lonely country inn called "The Beehive". She