HMS Pinafore

This was a wonderful production of HMS Pinafore, or the Lass That Loved a Sailor, a perennial favourite, in Fetcham’s fine village hall. It was peppered with humorous little add-ons, over and above the usual witty G and S text, so we had lots of extra chuckles. Pinafore opened in May 1878, as the fourth collaboration of G and S, and had the second longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time (571 performances) and it became an international sensation. As with so many G and S works, they make fun of the English class system, as well as politics, the Royal Navy, and the rise to powerful positions of people of no great quality or skill, and of patriotism, which I guess in Victorian times was three or four times as strongly felt as now. Once again, an unexpected twist at the end puts everything to rights, and all live happily ever after.

The programme had a bright and beautiful cover, a useful list of musical numbers, brief pieces on the opera and on the work of BLOS and this all whetted our appetites.

A stunning painted backdrop of the Pinafore accompanied proceedings throughout, with the ship’s wheel on a raised platform which formed a focal point. Buttercup had an impressive chest full of goodies to sell. The Captain’s cabin on the side of the stage was finished with a desk, and various other things, including a mean-looking cat o’ nine tails. The ship’s cat was also in evidence and provided some amusing moments.

Both lighting and sound were very effective throughout.

The sailors were clad simply in Breton striped tops. The Captain looked neat and tidy in his uniform, complete with fine bicorne hat. The Rt Hon Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty, looked perfectly splendid, arrayed as he was with plumes and feathers, medals and ribbons. Josephine, the Captain’s daughter, wore some very pretty dresses, I particularly admired the red one. The sisters cousins and aunts provided a beautiful array of fine gowns and colourful hats, their hairstyles appropriate for the time, in some cases wigs were worn.

Selena Edney produced a fine balance of sound, conducting the pianist and the performers. I have to say, diction was excellent throughout, seldom have I been able to hear the text so clearly.

The curtain opened onto the fine set, and we met the jolly sailors singing of life at sea. Buttercup (Julia Tribe) appeared, with her large chest full of things for sale, tobacco and such like, which although well-inspected, seemed to fail to impress. Dick Deadeye (Stephen Taylor) appeared with his little notebook in which he noted down all expenditures, this was a jolly joke, Dick was obviously the ship’s accountant and kept a tight rein on all money spent. We met the lovelorn tar, Ralph Rackstraw, who loves above his station. Ralph, no, pronounced Rafe (a recurring joke throughout) was ably played by Jacob Taylor and he was in fine voice.

Captain Corcoran (Michael Ayres) gave us a super ‘I am the Captain of the Pinafore’, bringing out all the humour of his role then and throughout the performance. Little asides, sidelong glances, his facial expressions, all added greatly to our enjoyment of the show. The Captain’s sweet daughter, Josephine, the object of Ralph, - no Rafe’s - passion, then learnt that she was to be given in marriage to Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty, much to her horror, as she was in her turn very keen on Ralph, - no Rafe. Eleanor Hegarty made a fine Josephine, especially, I thought, in the second half where her acting skills came more to the forefront.

The excitement rose as all awaited the arrival of Sir Joseph Porter and all his sisters and his cousins and his aunts. Paul Winder looked magnificent in full regalia, and delighted with his fine rendition of ‘When I was a lad’, with just the right pace that we could follow the fun of the text very clearly. We delighted too in the marvellous array of the sisters and the cousins and the aunts as they accompanied him in ‘Now give three cheers’ Sir Joseph had to keep fortifying himself from his hipflask, which seemed to be whipped away from him repeatedly. Another amusing touch!

And so the production whizzed on, full of quips and humour, with so many marvellous moments and stunning ensemble pieces. ‘Things are seldom what they seem’, the duet between Buttercup and the Captain was excellently performed, as was Josephine’s ‘The hours creep on apace’. The wonderful section beginning with ‘Carefully on tiptoe stealing’ had a brilliant episode with the Captain and his cat o’ nine tails, where the Captain came off worse, and culminated in a very rousing rendition of ‘He is an Englishman’.  Buttercup’s solo ‘A many years ago when I was young and charming’ with a great chorus by all, was another highlight, thanks to Julia Tribe’s skilful performance.

So of course, we enjoyed the final culmination of this dotty story with 3 weddings in the offing, and everyone filled with patriotic pride – lots of flag waving in the finale, a pity we had none in the audience!  A great evening, thank you BLOS!

 

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