SMS Pinafore

This very individual take on Gilbert and Sullivan's 'HMS Pinafore' tried hard to bring a contemporary feel to the old favourite with a comprehensive rewrite, leaving this production of a G&S classic with plenty of 'S' but hardly any 'G'. The plot remained the same however and for those of us who know and love the show, was fairly easy to navigate but I did feel that the production sailed into choppy waters on occasion with a number of the alterations needed to update the piece falling more than a little flat. I am by no means a stickler for the 'traditional' approach to G&S - I wish more societies would move away from the staid template so often followed by slavish worshippers of the D'Oyly Carte tradition - and was looking forward to a fresh take on the classic comic opera. Unfortunately, I was left more than a little disappointed by the end result, with many of the changes seeming to get in the way of the desired effect, shrouding the material in confusion rather than shining a new light on an old favourite, or having anything new or interesting to say.

Updating the setting to a modern cruise ship about to set sail from Liverpool, 'SMS Pinafore' was certainly a well constructed and sturdy looking vessel with a well designed atrium welcoming the passengers as they made their way on board. Costumes were of a very high standard and added much colour to the stage as the cast assembled on deck during the overture. Although the orchestra - the string section in particular - took a little time to warm up, a very energetic company clearly relished the chance to do something new with the show: Little Buttercup became Lady Truckersluck, the cruise ship chanteuse; Dick Deadeye was transformed into Dick DeVille, on-board entertainer; Sir Joseph became plain old Mr Joe Porter MBE, owner of the shipping line... you get the idea. Of course, when altering the setting from that of a 19th century naval vessel to a contemporary cruise ship, there has to be a good deal of rewriting or it just wouldn't make any sense: alas, the problems with doing so pretty soon became apparent however.

With almost all of the original targets of Gilbert's amusingly barbed pen vanishing in a puff of smoke up the Pinafore's funnel, any of the show's more interesting thematic considerations went with them, leaving behind nothing other than a rather quotidian onboard romance. Another unfortunately fatal blow was dealt to proceedings with regard to the awkwardness of the replacement lyrics in the songs. I happen to believe that there is no greater fusion of music and the English language than in the works of Gilbert and Sullivan; the words and music come together like nothing else in the operatic repertoire. It takes a brave soul to tinker with a golden lyrical formula and unfortunately, the result was very much less edifying than it might have been, serving only to demonstrate how good the original is in comparison and ultimately, providing a song-by-song reminder of what we were missing. One only has to read the words 'Carefully on tiptoe stealing' to hear the tune conjured up in the mind and, only after it has registered, realise how cleverly the musical accompaniment fits both the lyric and the characters' intentions like a glove: it's replacement, 'Like a late night country runner' - I'm not making this up dear reader! - really didn't have much going for it at all. Further to that, there were many opportunities thrown up for really creating a more successful and more rounded updating which were curiously overlooked: more on this later...

Performances were, on the whole, of a very good standard with some excellent vocal displays throughout the evening. Deborah Thew excelled (as always) as Josephine, filling the auditorium with a beautiful display of musical magic. She was very much the spoiled brat asked of her in this production and flounced marvellously! Alison Starrs was a blousy Lady Truckersluck and again, strong of voice. Mirriam Lawton as Lola saw her role expanded upon from that of Hebe in the original and despite a tendency to hold back vocally (perhaps a case of assuming the mic would do the work, particularly in the concert finale?) had a sweet and engaging voice nevertheless: a voice she should have more confidence in to really let go. A nice touch came with only providing Mr Porter with one sister and one aunt in the shape of Alison Bradbury and Jane Reynolds both of whom acquitted themselves well: that said, either the Porter family tree has few rather unusual branches or his Aunt has supped deeply from the fountain of youth!

The principal gentlemen also made much of the novelty of their characterisations. 'HMS Pinafore' is very much Captain Corcoran's show and he remained the lynchpin of the on-board antics here too. Martin Bradbury's fine voice had a touch of barely suppressed jollity about it, adding to his characterisation which was very much more 'Butlin's red coat' than naval commander. Martin's breathless energy and knockabout humour suited the production very well. Ralph Rackstraw was in the capable hands of Brent Andrews who had a good voice and coped manfully with some of the high notes too. Mr Joe Porter was in the obviously experienced hands of Gerard Marsden, who included a very waspish extra verse to his introductory patter song - one of very few additions in the show which actually worked - with a thoroughly well-deserved dig at the banking profession which was much appreciated by the audience. Villainous Dick DeVille was brought to life by Ian Ball in a very strong performance indeed. Here was a performer who was very much at home on the stage and had a definite 'presence'. It would be interesting to see him tackle any number of roles in the operetta repertoire without being hamstrung by having the dialogue and lyrical content tinkered with. The rest of the ladies and gentlemen of the chorus threw themselves into proceedings with enthusiasm and particularly worthy of mention was a devastatingly rubber-legged hornpipe; three cheers indeed to Second Officer Colin Watt! Performances all round were of a good standard and it was clear that the whole cast had enjoyed trying something just a little different.

To return to the point I made earlier regarding missed opportunities however... I do think that if alterations are to be made of the sort we saw here there should at least be both a reasonable reason for the exercise and that it should be done well - or at least, followed through consistently. There were too many disappointments for me to try to overlook to really engage with the novelty of the staging and if anything, I wish in many cases the society had gone still further with their updating, or at least followed through the changes and taken them to a more logical conclusion. If you'll allow me to point out just a few examples; if Lady Truckersluck was the ship's singer, wouldn't it have been nice to see both her big numbers staged in the style of a piano bar chanteuse? Dick DeVille's role as shipboard entertainer we had to take on trust as it wasn't built into the narrative other than giving him a cape to wear to suggest that he was perhaps a cabaret magician; Ralph's apparent theatricality and love of poetry was something I gleaned only from notes in the programme, certainly not from his performance; why did Joe Porter have to lose his KCB (and his Liverpool accent)? I know it often beggars belief sometimes, but we really do live in an age where we ennoble the likes of 'Lord' Sugar after all and his gravelly, 'gor blimey' tones haven't altered very much as his wealth has increased either! I thought Lola's more frequent appearance in Act Two could have provided a welcome harking back to Gilbert's original intention (Cousin Hebe initially played a larger part in HMS Pinafore but due to actress problems - t'was ever thus! - he scaled down the role and removed the character's dialogue) but in the end, Lola seemed to have been parachuted in merely to turn the superb patter trio - 'Never Mind the Why and Wherefore' - into a rather garbled quartet, clunky lyrics abounding here too unfortunately. I'm sure also there is an alternate universe where changing the lyrics of Corcoran and Deadeye's duet from 'the merry merry maiden' to 'wanna wanna be-ee' doesn't merit a shocked sharp intake of breath, but it certainly isn't this one...

I know I probably sound like an old curmudgeon but the big issue I had with really engaging with this production was the fact that too many things got in the way of presenting a thoughtful updating. Rather than helping to illuminate or clarify, the changes seemed only to muddy the waters and cause frustration or confusion: where changes were made, they seemed to be either irrelevant or half-hearted. If, as it seemed, there was no enthusiasm for 'HMS Pinafore', it would have made more sense to have tackled a different show, or to have made a much more thorough attempt at creating an updated version which more consistently followed its own logic. Perhaps I'm more of a stickler than I thought but the problem I had was that this production fell between two stools, being neither one thing or another.

The evening's entertainment concluded with an on-board concert performance which was actually rather good, the unfortunate result being that it did seem that a good deal more thought had gone into planning the dessert than in serving up the main course! An imaginative lighting plot (something sadly lacking from the main show) helped to show the set off to full advantage and there were some excellent performances of songs from the worlds of both opera and the stage musical. The orchestra seemed to come to life too and all in all, the concert finale - the cringe making 'Conductor Interview' aside - was incredibly impressive: full marks to everyone involved. The superb gala concert ending demonstrated that here is a society capable of great things: it seemed unfortunate that it also served as a stark reminder of the vast difference in quality from the production of 'SMS Pinafore' which preceded it.

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