HMS Pinafore

13th - 17th April 2010

at The Hub

A few words from the director . . .

Synopsis - Act 1

The British warship H.M.S. Pinafore is at anchor off Portsmouth. The sailors are on the quarterdeck, proudly "cleaning brasswork, splicing rope, etc."

Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth "bumboat woman" (dockside vendor) – who is the "rosiest, roundest, and reddest beauty in all Spithead" – comes on board to sell her wares to the crew.  She hints that she may be hiding a dark secret under her "gay and frivolous exterior".  Ralph Rackstraw, "the smartest lad in all the fleet", enters, declaring his love for the Captain's daughter, Josephine.  His fellow sailors (excepting Dick Deadeye, the grim and ugly realist of the crew) offer their sympathies, but they can give Ralph little hope that his love will ever be returned.

The gentlemanly and popular Captain greets his "gallant crew" and compliments them on their politeness, saying that he returns the favour by never ("well, hardly ever") using bad language, such as "a big, big D".  After the sailors leave, the Captain confesses to Little Buttercup that Josephine is reluctant to consider a marriage proposal from Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty.  Buttercup says that she knows how it feels to love in vain. As she leaves, the Captain remarks that she is "a plump and pleasing person".  Josephine enters and reveals to her father that she loves a humble sailor in his crew, but she assures him that she is a dutiful daughter and will never reveal her love to this sailor.

Sir Joseph comes on board, accompanied by his "admiring crowd of sisters, cousins and aunts" . . .

Yadda yadda yadda: let’s face it, a G & S story is always utterly ridiculous and ‘topsy-turvy’, and people come for a bit of fun and some songs they can sing.  Who needs a story, as it’s bound to turn out that children were swapped at birth and someone else can marry someone else’s child – Woo!!!!

What I am hoping for…

This show will be lots of fun, short (aiming to be down by 9.45pm at the VERY latest!), a great experience in a new venue with fantastic costumes designed by a professional! (The ladies’ hats are already works of art!) This show is going to be bright, fun and airy and above all funny. The show will be very, very English, as it should be and full of pomp and circumstance.

I am moving the show from the Victorian era to the Edwardian era, for aesthetic reasons – Basically the set and costumes will be much nicer (Think Titanic and you’re on the right lines)

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