HMS PINAFORE

 

What an imaginative production, setting HMS Pinafore in the 1940’s, with naval ratings, WRNS and a group very reminiscent of the Andrew’s Sisters, this stirred G&S up, and gave us a very enjoyable and interesting production. 

The brainchild of Katharine Crew, that Katharine and Shona Gilchrist worked together to direct the energetic cast, and we saw the ladies of the cast taking a more active part, which was great.  There were some younger people involved too, it was a very inclusive production, catering for everyone in the cast.

Musically, PBGS always score highly, as this is their forte, and with more people on stage the quality of the singing really came across well.  I loved the overture to Act 2, in that it suddenly morphed into a 1940’s swing-type sound, giving each band member a chance to shine with a solo, it was such a shame that the audience missed giving this display of excellence a round of applause on the night I was there, it certainly deserved it.  MD Margaret Johnson had obviously worked hard on getting the music right, which I really enjoyed.

The set was quite different to the norm for PBGS, it was used well, and gave us different performance areas, whilst keeping the cast contained in ensemble numbers.

Lighting and sound were good, projection from the entire cast meant we heard every word, with no personal mics, which was so good to see.

I mostly liked the costumes, which suited the feel of the era. 

Rebecca Badham as Josephine sang beautifully, she has a strong, melodious voice, moving around the set with ease, a very expressive performance.  Rebecca interacted well with Toby Wheatley as Ralph Rackstraw, who was very animated and showed many facial expressions, along with a good voice.  A very effective pairing.

David Crew as Captain Corcoran gave us the rather stern ship’s captain, wonderfully sung as always, but with some injections of humour, that were well-accomplished.

Sue Wookey gave us a very different Buttercup, but as always sang with great vigour, and it was lovely to see the relationship developing between her and the Captain, nicely played.

David Laurie was a rather more laid back Sir Joseph Porter than we usually see, nicely sung, and again with some amusing moments.

Melanie Roberts, Jessica Hallett and Louise Thonger as the Porter Sisters, looked lovely in their red dresses, and created a very interesting group, again singing well.

It was a surprise to see Emma Crew playing ‘Deb’ Deadeye – but she acted the part to the hilt, being unpleasant and knowing, I loved the transformation at the end, where she became a willing partner for Sir Joseph.

Graham Gibbs, Peter Davis, Geoff Kirby and Peter Johnson, played the main crew members, with everyone having a named part, which they all undertook with energy, making this a good looking, high standard and enjoyable production.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.