The ever excellent Opera della Luna triumphs again with this joyous production of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic HMS Pinafore.
The show, featuring a cast of eight multi-talented singer/actors, zips along with verve and wit.
With music from a five piece on-stage band led by director Jeff Clarke, it delivers a reading of Pinafore that sets this tale of love, snobbery and pretensions on the high seas some years earlier than the G&S original.
The result is a salty Dickensian reading that makes new sense of the characters names - Ralph Rackstraw, Deadeye Dick and Bill Bobstay all of whom could have seamlessly fitted into any number of Dickens’ books.
The subject matter too - forbidden love between a Captain’s daughter and a lowly sailor - is a theme that transcends the time gap with ease.
With its toe-tapping score, clever set (constructed before our very eyes) and huge sense of fun, it can’t miss.
There are great performances from all involved but particularly Simon Butriss as the pompous and ridiculous Sir Joseph Porter, Ian Belsey as social climbing Captain Corcoran and Graham Hoadly as both Deadey Dick and Sir Joseph’s Aunt.
* HMS Pinafore plays Lighthouse at Poole until Saturday June 26.
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