Walking into Robinson’s music room, an orchestra playing catchy music instantly caught my ear. I was greeted by a whole choir of beautiful, operatic voices coming together and singing along. It was the first sitz (rehearsal with full cast and orchestra) of H.M.S. Pinafore, two weeks before the opening of the show. The enthusiasm and talent of the cast and of the orchestra was immediately striking. The ambitious production, with a cast of 30 and an overall team of 60 people, promises to be a funny, modern rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic. 

“The enthusiasm and talent of the cast and of the orchestra was immediately striking”

Director, Zoe Morris, has been working on the play since last June. In the spirit of Stanislavski, she has worked with the actors to develop each character’s personality, through characterisation exercises and workshops and has then incorporated these elements into the blocking of the show. Since H.M.S. Pinafore is an operetta, most of the acting is actually channelled through singing rather than dialogue, and to this end, Morris along with musical director, Tristan Selden, has been working very closely with the cast, developing both the quality of their musical technique and the overall visual quality of their acting.

As Zoe puts it, '[Selden] takes care of making it sound beautiful, and I focus on making it look beautiful.' Coming from a musical theatre background, Morris puts an emphasis on the characters themselves being shown to do much more than just singing, focusing on the quality of movement and dancing around without sacrificing the quality of the music.

“A more accessible, funny gateway to get into opera as a genre”

As for the show itself, it was described by one of the leads as a 'more accessible, funny gateway to get into opera as a genre.'  But it is also a satirical piece, revolving around a love story made impossible by questions of class, poking fun at patriotism and the Royal Navy. 

Although both the costumes and set will correspond to the era of the play, Morris promises to incorporate a few modern twists. Georgia Semple and Constance Ayrton, members of the female chorus (the ‘Sisters, Cousins and Aunts’), point out that the original show could be seen as rather sexist in its portrayal of a female chorus as a troupe of air-headed chorus girls, whose main job is to sway in the background and swoon at the mere sight of men. Morris intends to ironise and rework this by giving each character their own personality, portraying them as an active group of people. A (perfectly harmonised) cry of thanks from chorus girls everywhere resounds.

The cast is comprised of a diverse range of actors, some students, some non-students, that all have in common their talent and passion for the piece. While many of them sing in college choirs, some are complete novices, and it made the quality of the ensemble during the rehearsal that much more impressive. 

Review: Dragtime!

H.M.S. Pinafore promises to be a fun-filled performance, rendered possible by an enthusiastic cast and team, and I guarantee that you’ll walk out with your head filled with good music, just as I did leaving the rehearsal.

H.M.S Pinafore runs at West Road Concert Hall Thu 9th February 2017 - Sat 11th February, 7:45pm