The Cast of ENO’s HMS Pinafore 2025 © Craig Fuller
English National Opera has a long and proud tradition of performing works by Gilbert and Sullivan, although the productions they have presented have differed markedly in style. Jonathan Miller’s 1986 staging of The Mikado, which is still going strong having last been revived in 2019, placed the action in a 1920s hotel and revealed the highest levels of exuberance and professionalism. On the other hand, Mike Leigh’s 2015 version of The Pirates of Penzance, most recently seen last year, was presented on a virtually abstract set and, comparatively speaking, was played straight down the board.
In 2018 Giffords Circus’s Cal McCrystal, who was the physical comedy consultant on the National Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors and two Paddington films, produced an Iolanthe that was extremely dynamic and contained plenty of madcap humour. His HMS Pinafore, which when it premiered in 2021 was the first time ENO had ever presented the operetta, could broadly be described in the same way, but it does feel more uneven, and is arguably less effective as a result.
The operetta, which premiered in 1878 and was a major hit (arguably the pair’s first), is a typical exploration of the absurd values and hierarchies that Gilbert and Sullivan saw at play in Victorian society, but which still feel familiar today. Set aboard the eponymous ship, it sees Ralph Rackstraw and Josephine in love but unable to be together because he is a humble sailor and she the daughter of the Captain. As a result, she seems destined to marry Sir Joseph Porter, who, being based on the real life figure W. H. Smith, is First Lord of the Admiralty, despite never having been to sea. Things have a happy ending, however, when Mrs Cripps, a Portsmouth Bumboat Woman known as ‘Little Buttercup’, admits that in the past she practised baby farming and mixed up the actually high born Ralph and low born Captain Corcoran. Ralph thus becomes the Captain of the ship, paving the way for him to marry Josephine, and thwarting the best efforts of sailor Dick Deadeye, the villain of the piece, to prevent the union.
John Savournin, Neal Davies, Henna Mun, ENO’s HMS Pinafore 2025 © Craig Fuller
The set by takis, which depicts the ship in all its glory, looks as gorgeous as ever, but this revival has quite a different feel to the original production, even if its general strengths and weaknesses remain similar. Before Sir Joseph was played by comedian and actor Les Dennis who, as was even referenced during the performance, is not an opera singer. This time he is certainly played by one, with the highly experienced Neal Davies offering a tremendous interpretation of the role. A television personality is still featured, however, with presenter and actor Mel Giedroyc taking two parts. In 2021 the non-singing role of a Midshipmite, played by a youngster, was introduced, while there was an on-running joke that the person playing one of Sir Joseph’s Aunts was rather confused, and kept getting things wrong. This time around Giedroyc assumes the roles of the Cabin Boy and Aunt Melanie, and while she does not do exactly the same things as the equivalent characters in 2021, she offers something fairly commensurate.
The difficulty is that, while she is a talented performer who can be very amusing, she is employed in ways that undermine the humour of the original, and yet do not prove funny enough in their own right to compensate for what is lost. As Aunt Melanie she is often (deliberately) out of step, or tries to push herself forward to get the man, but such actions are an enormous hindrance to the visual unity of the scenes.
Many new lines have been written by McCrystal and Toby Davies, with the result that some scenes that involve Giedroyc as the Cabin Boy have a completely different tone to the originals. There are an enormous number of laughs to be found in Gilbert’s original lines if they are delivered entirely straight, but all of the additions interrupt their flow. The fault lies not with Giedroyc, but with McCrystal’s approach, which pervades the entire evening. For example, when Josephine’s ‘Sorry her lot who loves too well’ should simply hold us with its sheer beauty, Buttercup’s clumsy descent from the ship in the background during it undermines the song too much for too little reward.
This is not to say that the jokes that are presented never carry the day, and visual, verbal or musical references to popular British television shows such as Morecambe and Wise, Dad’s Army and Blankety Blank work well enough. Things also improve immensely in Act II as the pace increases to a level that makes the humour that is striven for come across more strongly. A new dimension is introduced as the ship spins around to reveal its stern from the water, and jokes aplenty flow as Buttercup struggles to row onto the stage, the Captain has difficulties clambering aboard her boat from the ship and Giedroyc cheekily ‘swims’ past them both! ‘Never mind the why and wherefore’ sees Captain Corcoran, Sir Joseph and Josephine go on several tours of the ship as multiple encores abound, the performers get increasingly exhausted, cannons boom and ‘stage hands’ naughtily rearrange the letters of ‘HMS Pinafore’ on the stern. It is telling, however, that one of the most successful songs is ‘The merry maiden and the tar’, which is presented with none of the visual distractions that the other numbers feature. This reveals that when the performers are first rate, the steps they execute do not need to be obviously extravagant in order to hit the mark completely.
John Savournin, Henna Mun, Thomas Atkins, ENO’s HMS Pinafore 2025 © Craig Fuller
Matthew Kofi Waldren conducts extremely well, while the cast is notably strong. Thomas Atkins reveals a beautiful tenor as Ralph Rackstraw and conveys the right sense of youthful longing, while Henna Mun displays a highly sensitive soprano as Josephine (Eleanor Sanderson-Nash plays the role for three matinees in January). John Savournin, with his splendid bass-baritone, proves what an expert he is in the Gilbert and Sullivan style, and his portrayal of Captain Corcoran is perfect right up to the moment when he instantly changes accent to tie in with his demotion. Rhonda Browne, with her persuasive contralto, is an engaging Mrs Cripps who in ‘I’m called Little Buttercup’ deliberately puts on an appealing act in order to help sell her wares. Trevor Eliot Bowes, with his superb bass, makes Dick Deadeye comical enough, while never losing sight of the point that, like Iago, the villain is the cleverest character. There is also excellent support from Marcus Farnsworth as Bill Bobstay and Alaric Green as Bob Becket. The role of Cousin Hebe can be a thankless one as there is not that much to do, but time and again Bethan Langford catches the eye with her astutely observed expressions and gestures.
The staging includes an extended tap dancing routine, choreographed by Lizzi Gee, at the start of Act II. This involves assistant choreographer Spencer Darlaston-Jones and some extremely able principals, who are eventually joined by the entire male chorus. This works because it is a complete addition to the operetta, so does not undermine anything that is already there, and a routine that is executed by everyone during the curtain call is similarly effective. The show also has some genuinely heartwarming moments, including during ‘He is an Englishman’ when the cast members wave a wide variety of flags, thus demonstrating what an international language music is. Nevertheless, this production will probably work best for those looking for some general entertainment during the festive season or the dark days of January. Staunch Gilbert and Sullivan fans could end up feeling short changed.
By Sam Smith
HMS Pinafore | 4 December 2025 - 7 February 2026 | London Coliseum
the 07 of December, 2025 | Print
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