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HMS Pinafore

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 3 Published: 12 Dec 2025 London Coliseum Show Dates: 5 Dec 2025-7 Feb 2026

The English National Opera’s revival of their 2021 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore is musically joyous but tinged with distracting comic actions, puerile humour and the tired vestiges of digs at Brexit. Boris still flies aloft while attempts to adapt the flag-waving feel contrived.

Enjoy the fun and the musical quality

As with the original version, there is a front-of-curtain introduction to the show by the outstanding bass-baritone and character actor John Savournin, who later appears as the immaculately attired and ultra-posh Captain Corcoran. It now seems these shows require the appearance of a ‘celebrity’. The good news is that the previous ‘star’, Les Dennis, is no longer around. His presence matched his role only inasmuch as he played a man appointed to a position for which he was totally unqualified. This year we have Mel Giedroyc in two roles: a cheeky cabin boy, supposedly a non-speaking part, although she soon changes that with her interruptions, and Aunt Melanie, constantly seeking attention and fooling around. Ah well!

In contrast, much of the rest is a delight. Opening on the deck of the eponymous ship, we are immediately struck by the scale of the set by designer takis, which uses the double revolve to impressive effect. His crinolines, wigs and hats for the sisters, cousins and aunts form a kaleidoscopic rainbow of colour in contrast to the smart blue and white uniforms of the sailors. The singing of the chorus meets all the demands of the work, as does the orchestra under the baton of Matthew Kofi Waldron. Meanwhile, Lizzi Gee’s choreography is both traditionally naval and comic.

Neal Davies somewhat overly plays the pronunciation of ‘r’s as ‘w’s, which seems to serve only the purpose of getting a laugh out of the word ‘rank’. But as Sir Joseph Porter he engages fully in the role. Clearly from an operatic background, Thomas Atkins sings Ralph’s part with passion while seeming a little uncomfortable at times. Not so Henna Mun, who is clearly focused on her role, even with the nonsense of Rhonda Browne doing Buttercup’s comic turn of clambering over the railings distracting from her delicate vocals.

G&S purists will probably feel uncomfortable with the excesses of Cal McCrystal’s production, while others will enjoy the fun and the musical quality. Perhaps in a future iteration ENO can go the whole hog and give us Pinafore – the Panto.

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Performances

The Blurb:

All aboard for this laugh-out-loud production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s nautical love triangle.

Love isn’t always smooth sailing!

Overview

Join Captain Corcoran and his daughter Josephine as she faces a battle between duty and love on the high seas. While her father makes plans for her to tie the knot with the suitably ranked First Lord of the Admiralty, Josephine has romantic ideas of her own. And after falling for lowly deckhand Ralph, the loved-up pair make plans to elope. That is, until a surprise revelation rocks the boat.

Staging & Score

This laugh-out-loud opera, with presenter, writer and actress, Mel Giedroyc, is set aboard the Royal Navy warship HMS Pinafore. And while the ship remains anchored in Portsmouth, it didn’t stop the opera reaching international shores and becoming the first of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operas to find global success.

Following its premiere in 2021, this Cal McCrystal production was nominated for an Olivier Award for Set and Costume Design in the Outstanding Achievement in Opera category.

With its fast pace, topical humour and quintessential Britishness, the score includes some of the most popular operatic music in the world, enjoyed both on stage and featuring in popular TV shows like The Simpsons and The West Wing. If quick-fire humour floats your boat, we think you’ll love HMS Pinafore.